The stalemate in the baseball labor dispute continued without a resolution on Sunday and a high-ranking MLB executive said the two sides are deadlocked.
The players association submitted a proposal on Sunday that Glen Caplin, a special assistant in baseball operations, harshly criticized after the 90-minute session.
“We were hoping to see some movement in our direction to give us additional flexibility and get a deal done quickly,” Caplin said in a statement. “The Players Association chose to come back to us with a proposal that was worse than Monday night and was not designed to move the process forward. On some issues, they even went backwards.
“Simply put, we are deadlocked. We will try to figure out how to respond, but nothing in this proposal makes it easy.”
According to The Athletic, the MLBPA’s latest offer called for a prearbitration pool of $80 million, down $5 million from their previous offer. MLB is offering $30 million.
The offer also grants MLB the ability to make three on-field changes with 45 days’ notice beginning with the 2023 season: a pitch clock, larger bases and shift restriction. Previously, MLB needed to give one year’s notice.
MLB also would like to implement an automated strike zone for 2023 with 45 days’ notice but the MLBPA didn’t include that in the latest offer.
MLB deputy commissioner Dan Halem and MLBPA negotiator Bruce Meyer held a one-on-one meeting after the session.
It isn’t yet known when the next negotiating session will be held.
So far, the lockout has led to the cancellation of the first two series of the 2022 campaign. Another week’s worth of games could be canceled in the coming days.
