A path to an agreement between Major League owners and players remains unpaved, but one obstacle was removed Monday, writes Tom Verducci
A path to an agreement between Major League owners and players remains unpaved, but one obstacle was removed Monday. Players dropped their request to expand free agent eligibility, according to a source familiar with a face-to-face bargaining session held in New York.
The players had sought changes to three pillars of past collective bargaining agreements: free agent eligibility, arbitration eligibility and revenue sharing. The owners have told players those issues are non-starters. The Feb. 16 scheduled start of spring training remains in question because of the glacial pace of negotiations and the lack of progress on core issues. There have been two bargaining sessions since the lockout began Dec. 2. The players’ proposal Monday came 11 days after the last session. One optimistic sign is that this session was held in person rather than by videoconference, which led to the two sides agreeing to meet again Tuesday.
The union previously had proposed a system that paved two paths to free agency: the current six years of service time as well as five years for those at least 30 ½ years old. For instance, under that proposal, Joey Wendle, 31, of the Marlins would be a free agent after the 2022 season with 5.088 years of service time rather than waiting until after the 2023 season, when he would have accrued six years of service time.
Owners were never on board with the concept of lowering the threshold to free agency, which has remained unchanged since its inception in 1976. It now appears free agency will stand as is. The average age of a free agent is 31.
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