Though the sides have tweaked their proposals in recent days,
the core economic issues are still the major roadblock to a new deal. The
players want free agency at 29.5 years of age if they've achieved five years of
service time, or simply after six years of service time, whichever comes first.
They would also prefer the arbitration process to begin after two seasons
instead of three.
Owners won't agree to such a massive overhaul of the system,
according to a person familiar with the league's thinking. Both free agency
after six years and arbitration after three seasons have been tenets of the
economic process in baseball for decades.
On Tuesday, players added potential revenue-generating ideas,
such as allowing advertising patches on jerseys and a 12-team postseason, to
their offer. But they also asked for the luxury tax threshold to be raised to
$240 million. It was $210 million last season.
To accommodate the playoff grid in a 12-team postseason, the
union offered up each league realigning to two divisions, one with eight teams
and one with seven.
The league wasn't moved by any of the proposals, which still
include changes to free agency, arbitration and revenue sharing among the clubs.
Last week, the league tweaked its own offer,
adding an NBA-style draft lottery to its proposal as well as the elimination
of draft pick compensation. Previously, the league proposed a 14-team postseason
while agreeing to free agency for all players at 29.5 years old. It also offered
to eliminate arbitration and instead use a formula -- FWAR in this case -- to
determine salaries for players who normally would be eligible for arbitration.
With only 2002 and 2006's exceptions, each time since 1972 a
baseball labor contract has expired there has been a work stoppage, either by a
players strike or an owners lockout. Here are baseball's eight work stoppages
with type, length, games missed and issues.
Year
Stoppage
Days
Games
Key Issues
1972
Strike
14
86
player pensions, binding arbitration
Work stoppage lasted from April 1 - 12 Result: Players union and owners reach accord on a new collective bargaining agreement.
Owners eventually agreed to add an additional $500,000 to the pension fund.
Players forfeit payment for games missed during strike, but gain the right to salary arbitration.
1973
Lockout
12
0
salary arbitration
Work stoppage lasted from Feb. 8 - 25 Result: Camps open late but season starts on time with a new three-year collective bargaining agreement.
Owners raise their contribution to the pension plan and increase minimum salaries from $13,500 to $15,000 in the first year and to $16,500 in the third year.
1976
Lockout
17
0
free agency, re-entry draft
Work stoppage lasted from March 1 - 17 Result: Federal judge John Oliver issued order making pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally free agents,
upholding a ruling made the previous year by baseball arbitrator Peter Seitz.
Commissioner Bowie Kuhn orders camps opened and a new Basic Agreement is negotiated.
1980
Strike
8
0
free agent compensation
Work stoppage lasted from April 1 - 8 Result: Final eight days of spring training lost, but season starts on time and a four-year agreement is reached,
with a clause allowing the free agency issue to be re-opened in 1981.
1981
Strike
50
712
free agent compensation
Work stoppage lasted from June 12 - July 31 Result: Players' strike cancels 712 games. Owners lose right to have clubs directly compensated for the loss of free agents. Owners win right to retain players for six years and to be compensated with other players, as well as amateurs from the draft.
1985
Strike
2
0
salary arbitration
Work stoppage lasted from Aug. 6 - 7 Result: Owners agree to contribute $33 million for the next three years to the pension fund and $39 million in 1989. The players' minimum salary increases from $40,000 to $60,000.
1990
Lockout
32
0
salary arbitration, salary cap
Work stoppage lasted from Feb. 15 - March 18 Result: Camps open late. Owners raise their annual pension fund contribution to $55 million. Salary arbitration eligibility agreed to for 17 percent of the players with between two and three years of experience. The minimum salary increases to $100,000.
1994-95
Strike
232
938
salary cap, revenue sharing
Work stoppage lasted from Aug. 12 - March 31 Result: Postseason is cancelled. Judge's ruling ending labor dispute orders that 1995 and 1996 seasons must be played under previously existing labor conditions. New agreement is signed in March of '97 with implementation of a luxury tax on big-market owners for overspending.
Strike Stats
Here is what was avoided in 2002
Bear Stearns estimated 157,000 barrels of beer would have gone unconsumed at cancelled games.
A-Rod would have lost $118,000/game. MLB didn't have to return 600 million in TV revenue.
The City of Baltimore did not lose the estimated 60.7 million in revenue.
ESPN didn't have to replace 150 hours of programming.
Players did not give up 16.9% of their base salary.
The average salary in 1994 during the last strike was 1.1 million. In 2002 it was 2.8 million.
The 8 previous work stoppages have resulted in MLB losing 1,736 games.
Baseball would have lost an estimated 13 million spectators due to a strike.
The 2002 Issues
Revenue Sharing
The Owners Say: We need more of it. If our richer teams give some percentage of their revenues to our poorer teams --
not from all of their revenues, mind you, just a
percentage from the local revenues -- teams will be on more of an equal financial footing and
competition, theoretically, will improve. It helps everyone.
The Player Say: We're all for improving the ability of the small-revenue teams to pay. But not if it's going to
hinder the ability of the big-revenue teams to shell out mega-deals to mega-stars. And we don't want to
reward poorly managed teams by handing them revenue-sharing checks.
Outlook: This may be the biggest sticking point in the
negotiations. At last look, owners wanted to up the revenue shared from $186 million to $253 million,
with each team basically kicking in half of its local revenues. Players countered with a plan that
would up the percentage from its current 20 percent to about 22.5 percent. The two sides differ on what
formula should be used to distribute the money, too. Owners want the money to be evenly divided among all
the teams. Players want something that gets more money to the more needy teams.
The Luxury Tax
The Owners Say: We're willing to tax teams that exceed a set amount on player payroll. We'll do it for a couple of reasons.
One, to try to prop up the poorer teams (that's where the taxes will go). Two, maybe a tax will discourage the
richer teams from going overboard on salaries.
The Player Say: We agreed to this last time and it didn't really work. There's no need for it. We believe a decent revenue
sharing plan should take care of any problems. We're concerned with any plan that puts a limit or penalty on
how much a team can spend on its players.
Outlook: This one will be a stickler, too. The last luxury tax plan -- this is also called a competitive balance tax --
didn't slow salaries at all. The current proposal calls for a 50 percent tax on each dollar over $98 million
spent on player payroll. The money would go into a discretionary fund run by the commissioner's office.
Contraction
The Owners Say: Baseball has to eliminate at least two teams, and maybe more, as a means of weeding out the financially weaker
teams. That will give a bigger slice of the economic pie
to those who remain. And it will help the league in a couple of ways. First, because of the improved
economics, the remaining teams will be better able to compete for talent and the competitive imbalance will
improve. Second, fewer teams mean more concentrated
talent, which improves the game as well.
The Player Say: The owners can't simply eliminate teams without our OK. It's not that we're so adamantly against contraction.
Some of us say it's a negotiable point. Many of us agree that the talent level has thinned too much. But an
elimination of teams would mean a loss of a lot of our jobs. That has to be negotiated.
Outlook: Arbitrator Shyam Das will decide before July 15 whether owners can unilaterally impose contraction. If Das rules
in favor of the owners, contraction is alive and kicking and the players can't do much about it. If he rules in
favor of the players, contraction could be dead, at least for now. Or, if the owners want to press on, it
could be used as a huge bargaining chip for the players.
Drug Testing
The Owners Say: Steroid use is a big concern. It undermines the credibility of the game. More than that, it could be
costing us a boatload of money. A lot of these players
using steroids may end up on the disabled list with all sorts of pulls and strains and side effects we still
don't know about. And we still have to pay them! Granted, home runs and increased scoring sell. But it's
definitely not good for us, or America's pastime, to be viewed as a haven for pumped-up athletes on illegal
performance-enhancing drugs. We are for banning steroids and other drugs and for some sort of testing to make
sure the ban is effective.
The Player Say: We've fought off any attempt at drug testing in the past with the argument that it's an invasion of privacy. But
we may be willing to talk this time around. Steroid use may have helped many of us get stronger, hit more home
runs and get bigger contracts, but it has hurt those of us unwilling to use the illegal drugs. And many of us
believe the continued use of steroids endangers the health of our peers. A return to a cleaner, safer game
won't be easy. But many of us are willing to listen to ideas on how we might go about doing it.
Outlook: Some kind of compromise is possible, but not without plenty of teeth gnashing. There seems to be enough vocal
leadership in the union for some kind of testing
program, but there are plenty of problems both in detecting steroids and in figuring out what to do with
players once they are found to be using. It's such a complicated task, it seems unlikely the two sides can
agree on any comprehensive plan that will immediately have any major impact.
Arbitration Changes
The Owners Say: We'd like to tweak the system so that we can cut a player if, within five days of exchanging salary
figures, we so desire. (Right now, once figures are exchanged, the player is considered signed to a
contract.) We'd also like to eliminate a level of
eligibility, known as "Super-Two" and offer a minimum contract to those players in that class instead.
The Player Say: We absolutely oppose the idea of dumping a player once the exchange of figures has taken place. And losing the
"Super-Two" level of arbitration is a step backward. Frankly, the whole arbitration process is demeaning and
often fruitless -- but it's better than just taking what the owners offer and waiting six years until you can be a free agent.
Outlook: The vast majority of players who file for arbitration -- 87 percent from 1990-2001 -- settle on a contract before
going in front of the arbitrator. Those who don't: Through the 2001 season, the owners had won 250 cases,
the players 191. Still, this issue is important to the union, and the two main issues -- the owners' desire to
take away the "Super-Two" classification and to be able to dump a player after the arbitration process has
started -- are big sticking points.
\
Fighting Penalties
The Owners Say: Fighting cannot be tolerated. Players who engage in fighting should be fined and suspended without pay. This
isn't hockey, for heaven's sake. Fine 'em, suspend 'em, fine those who come to their aid and streamline any
appeals process.
The Player Say: Fining's fine, as long as it's not out of hand. And a suspension, same thing. But we absolutely will fight the
notion that we don't get paid while we're suspended.
Outlook: This is one of those proposals that is out there for the compromises, so one side can say, "Hey, we gave you
that," when they're looking for a little leeway on another point of negotiation. Don't expect the
suspensions without pay to get passed without a lot of arguing. But owners will get something out of this so
they can say they're cracking down on violence in their sport.
Minimum Payroll
The Owners Say: We're more than willing to set a minimum payroll to ensure that every team at least has a base for
competing. We'd like a maximum payroll, too -- a salary cap -- but we know that's not happening.
The Player Say: Nope. Don't want it. To set a minimum payroll is anathema to everything we believe. The free market
should set how low a payroll can be. Or, as everyone always points out, how high it can go.
Outlook: It doesn't seem that a minimum payroll is necessary, and it's certainly not welcome by the players, especially if
a revenue sharing plan or luxury tax, or some combination, is passed. That'll help ensure the
small-revenue teams have a hefty enough payroll,
according to the union. Still, a figure for a minimum payroll -- $45 million, to be exact -- is on the table.
Maybe negotiable, maybe not.
Worldwide Draft
The Owners Say: With the increasing globalization of the game, we want to include players from Latin America, Asia, Australia
and elsewhere in a 40-round amateur draft that includes "domestic" players. That way the talent pool is widened
and, at the same time, we can get a handle on more players from more places so that there is a fair and
equitable division of talent. We also want to be able to trade draft picks.
The Player Say: We can talk. We've countered with a 16-round draft, with eight rounds for international players and eight for American players. The rest would become free to sign
with any team.
Outlook: There will be some tweaks and compromises. The current draft is 50 rounds and covers only "domestic" players,
generally meaning players from the U.S. and Canada, players who attend an American school or players who
come from a U.S. territory (mainly Puerto Rico). Getting a system in place to deal with international players is
vital to the long-term growth and future of the sport -- and that means it's important to both owners and players.
Competitive Balance Draft
The Owners Say: This is another way to address the competitive imbalance many of us see in baseball today. Generally speaking,
the eight teams with the worst records will be able to take minor league players from the eight playoff teams
in a draft each December. Because it's usually the low-revenue teams that don't make the playoffs, this
will effectively enable low-revenue teams to draft
players from high-revenue teams.
The Player Say: We don't, as a rule, like plans in which players are treated as so much coinage. But this could be workable.
We'll want to get a firm hold of this and make sure any plan where players are drafted and forced to change
teams is fair to everyone.
Outlook: There are wrinkles to be considered. The owners propose that any team that finishes in the top half of local
revenues but finishes in the bottom eight of the league would be ineligible to draft. On the flip side, a
small-revenue team (bottom half of local revenues) that somehow makes the playoffs can't have its players picked
off. A compromise can be reached, it seems.
Information Bank
The Owners Say: We want a way to verify offers made to free agents. This is the only way we can get a true handle on what the
market is so we won't overspend on free agents. Our plan: Have an independent party verify offers.
The Player Say: No, no, no. This used to be called collusion. It's just a way of conspiring to keep salaries down. What if you
have two employers fighting over a player? It's not in the player's best interest that each knows what the other is offering.