Saturday will be an important day in the labor dispute between Major League Baseball owners and the players’ association.
Commissioner Rob Manfred ended 2½ days of owners' meetings in Orlando on Thursday by saying management would make a new proposal to the players on Saturday.
If the players do not accept the proposal, the start of spring training, scheduled for the middle of next week, will almost certainly be delayed.
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SIGN UP HERE “There’s no change right now,” Manfred said at a news conference in Orlando. “We will have conversations with the players’ association about the calendar -- we understand where it is -- but until we see how (Saturday’s) session goes, no change.”
Spring training games are scheduled to begin February 26. Manfred said clubs do not intend to use minor-league players for major-league events, meaning spring training games would not be played without an agreement.
Manfred said he was optimistic that an agreement could be struck in time to start the regular season on March 31, as scheduled.
But the clock is ticking.
MLB
During the pandemic-shortened season of 2020, teams had 21 days of training camp to prepare.
“We thought 21 days was a problem in 2020 and injury data supports that,” Manfred said. “We’d like at least 28 days, more like four weeks makes sense.”
For that to happen, there needs to be an agreement by at least the first few days of March.
“I see missing (regular season) games as a disastrous outcome for this industry and we’re committed to making an agreement in an effort to avoid that,” Manfred said. Owners “understand how important it is to our fans to get the game on the field as soon as possible. We want a fair agreement with the players’ association, and we want to do it quickly.”
Manfred’s use of the word “quickly” was interesting. He ordered the lockout on December 2. Owners then waited 43 days to make a proposal to the players’ side.
“Phones work two ways,” Manfred said.
The Commissioner said club owners are ready to move forward on a universal designated hitter, a draft lottery to combat tanking, an end to draft-pick compensation on free agents, an increase in the minimum salary (it was $570,500 in 2021), and a bonus pool that would reward the performance of young players not yet eligible for salary arbitration. However, the two sides remain far apart on the amount in that pool. Multiple reports have said the players are seeking a bonus pool worth $100 million while management has come in at $10 million. Maybe the gap will close when management makes its new proposal on Saturday.
Management would also like to expand the number of postseason teams from 10. According to Manfred, the owners do not want to significantly change the revenue-sharing system.
All these topics are subject to union approval and, so far, the two sides have agreed on little.
As this dispute continues to play out, hundreds of free agents, at a time when players are usually arriving at spring camps, don’t know where or when they’ll be going.
Minor-league prospects and non-roster players have a better idea. Many teams around baseball are getting ready to host minor-league prospects and non-roster players at their spring-training sites beginning next week. The Phillies will open a camp for prospects and non-roster players beginning Wednesday in Clearwater, Florida.
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