MLB Insider Not Sounding Confident About Labor Talks

The good news is that MLB and the players association met today in Florida for the third straight day, and new record during this round of what's so far been fruitless negotiations. The bad news is the massive gulfs that still exist between the two sides. MLB Insider Jeff Passan reports:

Five days before the deadline MLB says will postpone regular-season games, here's the gap between the sides in their latest proposals:

CBT: $31M
Pre-arb bonus pool: $95M
Minimum salary: $135K/player
Draft lottery: 3 picks

That's a lot to cover in less than a week. Like, a lot.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 23, 2022

As Passan notes, the difference in the hotly-contested "pre-arbitration bonus pool" fund is still nearly $100M. That's actually more than it was weeks ago when talks first began. And the sides are not much closer on the other major economic roadblocks, minimum-salary proposals and the threshold for the competitive balance tax (CBT), i.e. the luxury tax. 

Passan finishes by saying "that's a lot to cover in less than a week. Like, a lot." That does not sound good. 

Perhaps the best way to sum up the way things have appeared to be going in these "negotiations" was posted recently by the Action Network:

A look into every single MLB/MLBPA negotiation:pic.twitter.com/ALLpoAiyma

— Action Network MLB (@ActionNetMLB) February 17, 2022

MLB has already set Feb. 28th as the drop-dead date of when a deal needs to be done in order to get the season started on time on March 31st. 

Photo Credit: GREG LOVETT/THE PALM BEACH POST / USA TODAY NETWORK