A five-hour negotiating session Monday between Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association produced no tangible results toward resolving the ongoing lockout, according to multiple media reports.
The sides met at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Fla., the spring training home of the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals. Players were supposed to be in camp now and spring games were due to begin this coming Saturday, but all contests have been postponed through at least March 5.
Opening Day is still scheduled for March 31, though the clock is ticking on that date with commissioner Rob Manfred having said that four weeks of training will be necessary before the season commences.
Per multiple media outlets, management’s latest proposal featured an increase of the pre-arbitration bonus pool from $15 million to $20 million, but the union is seeking $115 million.
The owners also changed their proposed draft lottery — in an attempt to stop teams from tanking to help their future outlook — to include the bottom four teams instead of the bottom three teams. The MLBPA wants eight teams to be in the lottery.
In addition, ESPN reported that the owners backed off their proposal to have the MLBPA oversee minor league players with the potential for the number of minor league jobs to be reduced. According to ESPN, MLB still might make such a move on its own in the future. Also, the owners backed off a limit of five options per player from the major leagues to the minors, with the union seeking a cap of four, per ESPN.
The major financial issues at the crux of the lockout, including the competitive-balance salary floor, salary minimums and revenue sharing between teams were not discussed, ESPN reported.
