TORONTO — Maybe the type of negotiation Major League Baseball is having with its players is fitting for this algorithm-driven era of parallel realities. Social media manipulators have made it easier than ever for consumers to choose their own truth, all within echo chambers that reinforce the message. Whatever you want to believe is out there on the right timeline.
The debacle Wednesday — when the latest round of collective-bargaining agreement negotiations tripped near the finish line after owners linked creation of an international draft to the elimination of draft-pick compensation for qualified free agents — sure feels like a product of the times.
Commissioner Rob Manfred lopped off another week of games from the 2022 schedule, and postponed opening day until at least April 14, when he and the players association couldn’t agree on a structure for the issue moving forward. There were disputed versions of what caused negotiations to short-circuit ahead of a 6 p.m. ET deadline after gaps on key economic issues had narrowed to the point a deal seemed within reach.
Players expected a full counterproposal from owners they could take to a vote at 5 p.m., but instead were given a suite of options to deal with the international draft/qualifying issue. They chose none of them and instead returned with an idea the league had first proposed — eliminating the compensatory draft picks for a year and if the sides didn’t figure out an international draft, restoring the system — but the deadline had passed so games were chopped.
One industry source described the international draft as “holding the deal hostage.”
Yet, the duelling statements had barely landed on social when the sides decided to pick the matter back up Thursday morning. If quick progress is made, a full 162-game schedule might still be possible. That would be helpful in eliminating thorny issues around pay and service time in a shortened season, but would yet again underline how all of the MLB-imposed deadlines thus far have been fake deadlines.
Nothing more than artificial pressure to get the players to bend? Clever deal-making to avoid tainting the season?
Depends on what’s in your feed.
“In a last-ditch effort to preserve a 162-game season, this week we have made good-faith proposals that address the specific concerns voiced by the MLBPA and would have allowed the players to return to the field immediately,” Manfred said in a statement. “The Clubs went to extraordinary lengths to meet the substantial demands of the MLBPA. On the key economic issues that have posed stumbling blocks, the Clubs proposed ways to bridge gaps to preserve a full schedule. Regrettably, after our second late-night bargaining session in a week, we remain without a deal.”
Replied the players association: “The owners’ decision to cancel additional games is completely unnecessary. After making a set of comprehensive proposals to the league earlier this afternoon, and being told substantive responses were forthcoming, Players have yet to hear back. Players want to play, and we cannot wait to get back on the field for the best fans in the world. Our top priority remains the finalization of a fair contract for all Players, and we will continue negotiations toward that end.”
That an international draft could so spectacularly blow up a deal people on both sides felt was close is more symptom of the dysfunction between them, than cause.
While both agree the issue had come up previously in talks, they didn’t see eye-to-eye on its fit in the puzzle. Players felt linking the qualifying offer draft pick issue was a surprise Tuesday, while MLB argued inclusion of the international draft and its connection to the compensatory pick led to some other economic concessions.
Further complicating matters is that on Feb. 10, after the owners’ meetings in Orlando, Fla., Manfred told reporters that “we’ve agreed to a universal designated hitter and the elimination of draft-choice compensation” and added that the changes will improve the free-agent market “by reducing, actually eliminating the drag from compensation.”
Context, of course, matters and that was part of a different offer rejected by the players. Agreement on a concept then doesn’t necessarily mean agreement as part of different package now.
The maddening nuance of it all helped the Manfred haters quadruple-down while simultaneously fuelling the players-are-greedy set, which along with the inevitable animus between owners and players triggered yet another social-media outrage cycle.
Key now is for both sides to quit arguing in the mentions and finish a deal so near the finish line.
An international draft was always going to be a difficult issue for players and slap-dashing it into a complicated and hard-fought CBA at the last minute was clearly disruptive. Still, by working together, they can clean up an area of the game that’s sorely needed a makeover.
Hence, the players’ proposal of a one-year runway to iron out the concept, at the risk of reinstating compensatory draft picks should a system not be implemented, makes a lot of sense.
Owners can then reset the conversation by delivering the full counteroffer players were expecting, and rather than trying to restart negotiations to save the 75th anniversary of Jackie Robinson Day on April 15, the sides can resume mapping out an April 6-7 opening day.
There’s a lot of ill-will to push aside and mistrust is a major factor — players feel Manfred keeps parachuting in last-second asks, owners feel the union keeps baiting-and-switching — but international draft/compensatory picks aren’t the hills for a full season to die on.
First, the sides need to get off their parallel tracks and back to their shared reality, where the industry needs a full season. At this point there’s little reason for them not to deliver one.
