Yesterday or even maybe earlier this morning, Major League Baseball and the Major League Player’s Association left the negotiating table without a deal however, according to reporters who are camping out in the parking lot there seems to be significant progress. According to reports, the two sides did in fact agree to a 12-team playoff pool instead of the desired 14 teams sought by MLB.
Earlier in the day, Evan Drellich, Ken Rosenthal, and Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reported that the league took a “more threatening” tone to the MLBPA and voiced a willingness to miss a month’s worth of regular-season games (Twitter link).
Related Article: The latest headlines around the 2022 MLB Lockout
Auto-renewals for MLB.TV packages put on hold
Amid the ongoing lockout and labor fight between Major League Baseball and the MLBPA, yesterday MLB.TV announced that it will not automatically renew season television and/or audio packages for the 2022 season. According to MLBTV.com tweet, “We will not bill for 2022 subscriptions today… Notification about renewal will occur once a new CBA is in effect. All current subscriptions will remain active until then. Subscribers, check your email for important updates.” Over the weekend on social media, there was a campaign that was gaining traction for subscribers to cancel their accounts as an objection to the stalled negotiations for a new CBA.
MLB Players Ready for a Long Haul
The players have generally taken an exceptionally united front, even in the wake of what was seen to be a counterproposal from the league late last week. The Associated Press has estimated that each day of canceled games would result in a collective $20.5MM of missed salary for the players. “Players would lose $20.5 million in salary for each day of the season that is canceled, according to a study by The Associated Press, and the 30 teams would lose large sums that are harder to pin down.”
Major League Baseball players have been planning for long negotiations and potential loss of salary by taking measures to stockpile funds. Such measures include holding back full licensing revenues for years; a spinning their licensing department into a separate company, MLB Players Inc. MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes reported over the weekend that the league’s strike fund is “exponentially” larger than it has ever been (Twitter thread). According to MLB Insider Robert Murry, he reported that “The MLBPA has organized a “fully staffed” stadium and facility for players to train in Mesa, AZ, according to sources familiar with the situation.” (Tweet Link)
Lastly, an important note, that according to SportsTrac, any 40-man rostered player or current MLB free agent can apply for a $5,000 monthly stipend from the MLBPA on March 1st. Additionally, the amount of money will increase to $15,000 on April 1st should the lockout continue. (Twitter Link)
Related Article: Max Scherzer Details MLBPA Wants in Latest Interview
