MLB Canceled Games. What will happen now?


JUPITER, Fla. – On Tuesday, Major League Baseball and the players union failed to sign a new employment contract by the league’s self-determined deadline.

After nine days of face-to-face discussions, MLB submitted what it considered the best and last offer. The union refused, and just minutes after the deadline, Commissioner Rob Manfred held a press conference. The first two series of the regular season have been cancelled.a move he saiddisaster“Just a month ago.

Manfred, St. “We worked hard to avoid a result that was bad for our fans, bad for our players, and bad for our clubs,” said Roger Dean Stadium, home of the Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins’ spring practice session. I want to reassure our fans that our failure to reach an agreement is not due to a lack of effort on both sides.”

The games are the first to be missed due to a business shutdown since the 1994-95 player strike that resulted in the loss of more than 900 games, including the 1994 World Series. This remains the longest job cut in baseball history, followed by this Locking.

There are many questions about what will happen next – and more to come – but some answers are known.

The collective bargaining agreement is the business document between management (in this case the owners of MLB’s 30 clubs) and workers (players) and governs the league. The parties have been discussing a new five-year CBA since last spring.

The last two deals seemed to tilt the balance of power and economy even more in favor of the owners. And players, fed up with salaries that can’t keep up with club revenues, the greater reliance on young players and relatively less pay, and the lack of competition between some teams, are looking for a range of changes. The owners, however, believe that the players have a fair system.

Negotiations between the parties did not begin after their owners locked the players on Dec. until 13 Januaryand they were erratic until a frenzied push the last week before the deadline to cancel the games.

After a 16 ½-hour marathon negotiation session that bled through Monday’s Tuesday morning, MLB said it believes enough progress has been made to extend the deadline to Tuesday 17:00. However, the union said it was wary of quiet optimism because of the large gaps remaining.

Tension rose on Tuesday When MLB resented the union’s counter-proposal in the afternoon; He accused the League of changing its tone, which angered some players; He said he would submit his so-called best and last offer before the deadline. The players rejected this offer, and then Manfred canceled the games.

There are many. Among the biggest areas of disagreement as of Wednesday: league minimum wages, a new bonus pool created to reward young players not yet eligible for salary arbitration, and the luxury tax system. Try to read more about them here, here and here.

A series in baseball is anywhere from two to four games. For example, to defend Atlanta, games from March 31 to April 5 were deleted from the schedule with Manfred’s announcement. These were originally a season-opening four-game streak against the Marlins in Miami and a two-game streak against the Mets in New York. So, roughly, at least 150 games have been canceled across MLB.

(Spring training games, originally supposed to start on February 26It will start before March 12, starting Wednesday, according to Atlanta’s website.)

More regular season games are at stake as the labor dispute continues. He chose the MLB deadline because he believed that at least four weeks of spring training — two weeks shorter than usual — was necessary to avoid a spike in injuries. But the union believes three weeks of spring training is possible.

Players’ salaries are publicly available, but their owners’ income is largely not. But the Braves have recently offered a rare glimpse into the numbers of a successful team through their status as the only team controlled by a publicly traded company in the United States. The team reported 104 million dollars profit in 2021and its home-game revenue was $6 million.

Other than opening day, April isn’t a particularly good month to participate, especially for teams in colder, rainier climates. Schools are still in session.

However, it is unclear how much television revenue could be lost as each club’s local deals are different. Some of these deals don’t require the team to have roughly credited the network so far. 20 matches missed. The big money in MLB’s national television deals comes from the postseason. (The 14-team extended end-of-season that club owners sought was worth $100 million per year. Players wanted a 12-team format.)

As for the players: Based on base salaries of just over $3.8 billion last season, they would lose $20.5 million for each day deleted from the 186-day regular season schedule. calculations made by Associated Press.

Star shooter Max Scherzer, who signed a deal with the Mets in the off-season to pay him $43.3 million a year, will lose an estimated $233,000 for every day he loses during the regular season. (Players’ paychecks begin when the regular season begins, with the 162-game regular season spread over 186 days.)

The majority of players still make the league minimum wage of $570,500 in 2021. According to the union, 60 percent of players who entered a game in the major leagues last year were paid roughly the league minimum wage. (MLB’s latest proposal calls for a minimum salary to be increased to $700,000 by 2022, while players are asking for annual increases of $725,000 and greater.)

The teams have already begun to explain their ticket policies regarding cancellations. For example, Mets, said tickets for the originally scheduled opening day He would be honored for the first game of the season – whenever it happens.

This is a point of contention between MLB and the union. This issue will likely linger, given that the parties have been arguing fiercely for months over the schedule and payout for the 2020 season shortened by the coronavirus pandemic.

The union believes it has precedent for changing the regular season schedule. in 1990, 32-day lockout cut his spring training in half, but the full schedule of regular season games was played, starting a week later than usual.

Asked to explain the league’s stance on canceling matches rather than rescheduling, Manfred spoke about the logistical challenges of season-long interleague play. As for the negotiation of missed pay and service times for these matches, he said, “Our position is that games not played are not paid to players.”

The union’s situation is different. The union’s chief negotiator, Bruce Meyer, said players will either demand full pay and service time for missed games or request that missing games be rescheduled. “If the league has unilaterally decided to cancel the matches, then the players must be compensated for those matches in order to make a deal,” he said.

On Wednesday, it is unknown. The parties are legally bound to bargain in good faith, so they will keep trying. Although both organizations are headquartered in New York City, recent face-to-face meetings have been held in Florida to place players in training.

Negotiation teams for both sides went home after Tuesday’s deadline. Union president Tony Clark said the union would have stayed if MLB had wanted to continue speaking at Roger Dean Stadium on Tuesday.

“We made the final proposal so you decide for yourself who should take the next step,” Manfred said.

“MLB and our clubs hope this will be resolved soon,” a league spokesperson said on Wednesday. “But we are not aware of current clubs’ plans to take employees off.” Everything could change if many more games are missed.

The owners – a group of billionaires – have more resources and more credit lines than players.

Manfred said on Tuesday that the past few years have been “very difficult in terms of revenue for the industry given the pandemic.” Manfred in October 2020 said MLB’s 30 clubs had accumulated $8.3 billion in debt from various lenders. The number rose to $9 billion last year, according to MLB.

But players are hoarding what Scherzer, a top union representative, once called a “pretty good war chest” to help prevent a business shutdown. Its total assets of nearly $90 million at the end of 2017 had grown to $192 million three years later, according to federal filings by the union.

Clark said medical benefits for players re-start on April 1 each year. The union said it will use its reserves to cover players’ medical care.

Since the lockout started, the players have been training, throwing and hitting on their own as they have not been admitted to the team facilities. Many players already go to special facilities in the off-season. They are expected to continue to do so until spring training begins.

Since many players live in Arizona during the off-season, the union has built a staff stadium and facility in Mesa, Arizona for players who need a place to train during this period.

Some players updated LinkedIn profiles and Bryce Harper, winner of the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award, offered his services to another league.





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