MLB lockout talks progress, but clock ticks as spring training nears
Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Cody Bellinger (35) steals second base as St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Tommy Edman (19) takes the late throw at Dodger Stadium in the 2021 National League Wild Card game.
Robert Hanashiro | USA TODAY Sports
Now that the controversial Hall of Fame process is out of the way, with Barry Bonds again denied entry into Cooperstown, Major League baseball is on the clock as it tries to get its season started on time.
Players have been locked out since December, when MLB entered the ninth work stoppage in league history. Spring training is supposed to start next month, and regular-season opening day is scheduled for March 31.
The two sides are finally negotiating. The league and officials from the MLB Players Association met twice this week and will do so again in New York on Thursday to discuss the framework for a new collective bargaining agreement. Talks resumed last week for the first time since the lockout went into effect.
“Any day spent at the bargaining table is a good day,” said former MLB executive Marty Conway. “Two straight days is a good sign.”
Topics addressed include increasing minimum salaries, rules around the arbitration system, service time manipulation and revenue sharing among MLB clubs.
“At this point, you’re trying to move past posturing and personalities, which dominate the first few sessions,” said Conway, who is now a sports business professor at Georgetown University. “You have new people at the table who haven’t really negotiated with each other. It had to evolve past that to really get into the issues.”
Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. and Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark speak during a press conference before Game 3 of the Championship Round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic between Team USA and Team Puerto Rico on Wednesday, March 22, 2017 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California.
Alex Trautwig | Major League Baseball | Getty Images
Finding common ground
Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to team sites in the middle of next month, and spring training games start Feb. 26.
But first teams need to fill out their rosters, and none of that is happening at the moment. Though more than $1 billion in deals were secured before the work stoppage, top free agents like Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman and Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa remain unsigned.
Conway predicted there would be “real progress over the next several weeks” because players don’t want to miss regular-season games and the paychecks that go along with them.
They may be willing to forego some of the preseason, which is held in Arizona and Florida. But gearing up for a 162-game regular season requires conditioning, and players have to consider how important that is to them.
“Do you feel like you need three weeks?” Conway said. “Do you need two weeks? What is it?”
There are certain key areas where the league and players share some common ground….
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