Lockout Update: 3/8-3/9/2022
A Philadelphia Phillies fan arrives for a spring training exhibition baseball game between the Phillies and the Toronto Blue Jays in Clearwater, Fla., Tuesday, March 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Despite the crickets surrounding the negotiations most of Monday, we did receive copious amounts of information later in the night. As this article is being written Tuesday, negotiations are going late into the night. The goal? End the lockout. If the lockout does not end within the next 24 hours, we will almost positively have games subtracted from our original one-sixty-two.
While no official meetings were held with the whole group on Tuesday, the lawyer from the MLBPA met with the MLB and the rest of Rob Manfred’s team. There were also multiple zoom meetings between both parties to discuss the possibility of compromising equally to reach a deal quicker. While there wasn’t a ton of negotiating, the MLB did make the MLBPA and the public aware that the regular-season schedule will face permanent cancelations unless a deal is done by the end of today. As negotiations continued into the evening hours yesterday, Manfred pushed back the deadline; although, he did not specify when the new deadline is. This should give us some hope that a deal is imminent.
When a deal is reached, Opening Day will be pushed back to mid-April for the players to have an appropriate Spring Training. This deadline will also determine whether or not players get full pay, and if players receive a full year of service time.
Despite the flexibility that was discussed Monday, the luxury tax still seems to be the biggest problem. While the majority of the owners would benefit from an increase in the luxury tax, some of the smaller-market owners are wary of the CBT increasing. Even some of the higher-market owners and presidents spoke out against this possibility. Yankees president Randy Levine was the first team president or owner to make an official statement about the lockout. “It’s embarrassing… We’re all on the same team,” he said.
Yesterday, the MLB made a proposal that had a slight increase in the luxury tax. While it is progress, the MLBPA is not yet satisfied. This has angered many fans, for it is a rare occurrence that any team goes over the luxury tax anyway.
Rumors and reports were flying around Tuesday night, but the main things that we got were the following:
- The MLB proposed a twelve-team playoff pool.
- The MLB wants to add a third surcharge for teams who go over the luxury tax.
- The MLB wants to remove the qualifying offer and institute an international draft.
- The MLB proposed a luxury tax that starts at $230 million and slowly increases to $242 million.
- The pre-arbitration pool is set at $40 million.
As negotiations are moving fast, stay updated on all of the news related to the lockout through Philly Sports Reports on Twitter. More updates are to come.
