Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association are negotiating again Thursday in hopes of reaching an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement and putting an end to the owner-imposed lockout. Talks have started up again less than 24 hours after the league announced it was canceling more regular season games. The two sides reportedly reached an agreement to continue talking about the international draft — possibly the biggest sticking point in negotiations this week — on Thursday morning.
The international draft had emerged as one of the hot-button issues in collective bargaining negotiations. With that settled, the chances of an agreement that would end the owner-imposed lockout (now in its 99th day) would seem improved, as the sides have each ceded ground to get closer on core economic issues. There is even a chance that MLB would still play a 162-game season if a deal is reached Thursday, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. The league said Wednesday that Opening Day would be pushed back until at least April 14.
CBS Sports will provide live updates on the latest in CBA negotiations throughout the day. You can follow along below.
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File under: Promising
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Mark your calendars?
April 14 was the date MLB said was the earliest they’d start the season after yesterday’s talks broke down. But things could be ramped up sooner, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.
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Cross those fingers
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This time they mean it
For those keeping score at home, this is the fifth time MLB has set a “deadline” in the last nine days. Hope for a full season remains, however.
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MLB offer details and another ‘deadline’
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the $ figures on the latest MLB offer, which are closer to MLBPA’s numbers than any proposal before. The league has also set another “deadline” for 3 p.m. ET. So MLB only wants players to take 75 minutes to talk this over. As we’ve seen, though, those deadlines don’t have much teeth.
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MLB submits offer
MLB has already submitted its counterproposal to the MLBPA. Hopefully we learn details soon.
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What to expect if there is a deal
If something gets hammered out in the next 24-36 hours, players could report to spring training as early as this weekend. There’s also the matter of the players who don’t currently have a team. We saw a free-agent frenzy in the hours before the lockout, and we’ll likely see one in the hours after the lockout ends. Carlos Correa, Kris Bryant and Trevor Story are among the key names without a team at the moment.
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Apparently still a chance for 162
MLB has canceled two weeks’ worth of regular season games so far. But there is still the chance for a full season, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Remember, the league cannot unilaterally shorten the season, players would have to sign off on anything under 162 and salaries and service time questions would need to be adressed.
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Welcome back
Another day, another CBS Sports live blog of baseball labor negotiations. Things ended on a sour note yesterday when MLB canceled more regular season games and said Opening Day wouldn’t be until April 14 at the earliest. However, the two sides continued to talk last night and this morning and reportedly have an agreement on how to handle a potential international draft.
With that hurdle seemingly out of the way, the sides will focus again on economic issues, including the Competitive Balance Tax and how much money will go in a bonus pool for pre-arbitration players.
We’ll see how things play out today.