Report: MLB, MLBPA Scheduled to Meet Again Tuesday

Folks, could we be seeing a light at the end of the lockout tunnel?

Unlike their first meeting, which took place via Zoom, MLB and the MLBPA met in person on Monday in Manhattan and based on the following report from Yahoo! Sports writer, Hannah Keyser, it didn’t go terribly:

MLB and the Players Association will meet again tomorrow. The pace has officially picked up.

— Hannah Keyser (@HannahRKeyser) January 24, 2022

As our own Rich Sparago mentioned earlier today, Monday’s meeting in Manhattan could be a turning point for these negotiations. Wanting to meet again the following day certainly seems like a good sign.

In addition to this, Evan Drellich of The Athletic reported that the MLBPA made some modifications to their proposals. The Players Association initially wanted to propose an age-based system that would allow players to reach free agency in less than six years. Instead of going forward with that, they’ve dropped this proposal, as MLB didn’t show much interest in coming to an agreement on the issue. Their proposal for revenue sharing between teams is also getting altered, which is another area MLB and the owners reportedly don’t feel like budging on.

It appears the MLBPA is comfortable making concessions in these areas and will be focusing on getting some kind of agreement on revenue sharing, as well as having team-controlled players reach arbitration after two years of MLB service instead of three. Drellich notes that what young players face in the game has been what’s most important to the Players Association, so it appears they’re willing to let some important topics go to make progress in one important way.

Honestly, this is the most optimistic anything has sounded regarding labor talks since the lockout started at the beginning of December. Let’s hope that momentum in negotiations begins to form with meetings on consecutive days, and with spring training being scheduled to start shortly, maybe it’s the exact kind of pressure both sides needed to get something done. We can hope, at least.

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