For a few days, we knew that the MLB was going to file, today, an offer to the players in an attempt to agree on the terms of a new collective agreement.
And as expected, the offer — MLB’s first since the work stoppage kicked off — was ridiculous. We suspected it, but it’s official: the players didn’t like what they saw.
Obviously, we knew it was going to happen and the momentum towards a signature is not there at all. It will still be a little longer.
Why? Because large files are to be negotiated. And we’re not talking about the universal choice hitter, who seems to be acquired at this point.
Giving a draft pick to clubs that don’t manipulate the serving time of big prospects and imposing a different lottery for the draft are among the ideas being proposed today, according to Jeff Passan.
We expect to see the players respond shortly, a matter of not falling too far behind and avoiding losing games.
Among the issues that are going *relatively* well, there is the process to raise the minimum wage. The players want to widen the gap between the rich and the “less fortunate” in MLB and the bosses have made an offer to do so.
We are far from the cut to the lips, but the MLB does not seem against the concept.
What really disappointed the players, in fact, was the salary level of the luxury tax. The MLBPA hasn’t seen the bosses make any push to raise the luxury tax or even for revenue sharing.
And once again, the minimum wage file is at the heart of the negotiations.
Lowering when a guy becomes a free agent is not in MLB’s immediate plans. The players want to go from six to five years of service in terms of autonomy, but the bosses don’t.
So yes, there is still a long way to go. At least everyone is at the negotiating table.
