For the second week in a row, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association negotiated late into the night, and while no deal had been finalized by the time the talks concluded early Wednesday morning, the two sides had created some momentum — and with it, cautious optimism that a negotiated agreement A new collective may be imminent.
The MLB bid – which came nearly 12 hours into the 17-hour negotiation session – included a spike in Competitive Balance Tax Threshold, the issue that took center stage during the bargaining talks.
The two sides met face-to-face twice earlier in the day, then communicated by phone from their respective offices in midtown Manhattan for the remainder of Tuesday and into the early morning hours of Wednesday.
Shortly after 3 a.m. on Wednesday, a league official said the MLBPA had requested time to speak with its board before formally responding to the league’s latest proposal. The two sides will resume talks later Wednesday morning, when the union was expected to issue its response.
According to a source, the league’s bid included a minimum of $230 million in 2022 — a $10 million increase over its most recent bid — rising to $232 million in 2023, $236 million in 2024, $240 million in 2025 and $242 million in 2026. .
In addition to the $20 million surcharge and $40 million over the initial threshold, there will also be a third surcharge for clubs that total $60 million above the threshold.
MLB has also raised its overall offer on minimum salary, starting at $700,000 in 2022. This number will rise to $715,000 in 2023, $730,000 in 2024, $750,000 in 2025 and $770,000 in 2026 .
Among the other proposals in the MLB Show, per source:
• Total pre-arbitration awards of $40 million (up from $30 million in the last proposal; MLBPA’s last request was $80 million).
• Draft Lottery that awards the top six (two more than the NBA, four more than the NHL).
• Large market teams cannot choose in the lottery in consecutive years, while small market teams cannot do so in three consecutive years.
• Players cannot be selected more than five times per season.
• The top two New Player of the Year winners in each league will be awarded a full year of service time regardless of their actual number of days in the main tournaments.
• A team with a Rookie on the Opening Day roster can win additional Draft Picks if that player is placed in this year’s Rookie vote.
• A 12 postseason team.
MLB announced last week that the first two series of the regular season will not be played for each team. No further matches have been canceled, although it is expected that they will be on Wednesday if the two sides do not strike a deal.