The clock is ticking and negotiations have finally, with a week until MLB’s soft deadline of Feb. 28 to reach an agreement without delaying the start of the 2022 regular season, begun labor discussions in earnest.
Who knows where we would be had both parties been meeting like they did on Monday, for 90 minutes of combined side sessions and direct negotiations? But no, it took months of posturing and preening to get here and, even with all the talks on Monday, there wasn’t much movement.
Pre-arbitration salary pools, Super-2 status, the competitive balances tax, draft lottery differences, and many many many MANY other proposals appear far from agreed upon, but it is encouraging the atmosphere during the discussions appear to be brighter than previous iterations, and the sides plan to meet every day this week.