AP

Locked out MLB players reject offer of federal mediation

Feb 3, 2022, 8:46 PM | Updated: Feb 5, 2022, 9:41 am

FILE - A rain-covered logo is seen at Fenway Park before Game 1 of the World Series baseball game b...

FILE - A rain-covered logo is seen at Fenway Park before Game 1 of the World Series baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018, in Boston. The mood for Major League Baseball fans is a little glum these days as the players' union and owners continue to bicker over finances. The owners locked out the players on Dec. 2 and unless an agreement between the two sides is reached soon, the spring training schedule is in trouble. The first games are slated for Feb. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

(AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — The start of spring training likely will be a casualty of Major League Baseball’s lockout, which will threaten opening day unless the drawn-out talks lead to a deal in less than a month.

After a half-year of bickering over the sport’s economics, baseball’s warring factions couldn’t even agree on whether to have a mediator.

The Major League Baseball Players Association on Friday ruled out a third party intervening, one day after MLB asked for help from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

“Two months after implementing their lockout, and just two days after committing to players that a counterproposal would be made, the owners refused to make a counter, and instead requested mediation,” the union said in a statement.

“After consultation with our executive board, and taking into account a variety of factors, we have declined this request. The clearest path to a fair and timely agreement is to get back to the table. Players stand ready to negotiate.”

Owners locked out players on Dec. 2, immediately following the expiration of a five-year collective bargaining agreement. There have been just three in-person negotiating sessions on core economics since, on Jan. 24-25 and this past Tuesday, plus a digital session on Jan. 13. The sides are still far apart.

“With camps scheduled to open in less than two weeks, it is time to get immediate assistance from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to help us work through our differences and break the deadlock,” MLB said in a statement.

“It is clear the most productive path forward would be the involvement of an impartial third party to help bridge gaps and facilitate an agreement,” the league said. “It is hard to understand why a party that wants to make an agreement would reject mediation from the federal agency specifically tasked with resolving these disputes, including many successes in professional sports.”

No negotiating sessions are scheduled on the primary economic issues. The sides met three times this week on non-core topics.

“We don’t need mediation because what we are offering to MLB is fair for both sides,” tweeted pitcher Max Scherzer, who agreed to a $130 million, three-year contract with the New York Mets on the day prior to the lockout.

“We want a system where threshold and penalties don’t function as caps, allows younger players to realize more of their market value, makes service time manipulation a thing of the past, and eliminate tanking as a winning strategy,” Scherzer wrote.

George H. Cohen, director of the FMCS from 2009-13 after many years as an outside lawyer for the baseball players’ association, mediated disputes involving the NFL, NBA and Major League Soccer.

“A mediator’s objective is to try to persuade the parties that it’s in their best interests to try to resolve their problem directly — namely to control their own destinies,” he said. “In the end, it’s the parties that reach an agreement. All I did was to provide them a forum and an opportunity and some thinking that goes into it.”

Players blame owners for the lockout. Commissioner Rob Manfred said his side was being proactive, not wanting to risk a late-season strike similar to the one that wiped out the 1994 World Series.

Players are upset payrolls declined to $4.05 billion last year, the lowest in a fully completed year since 2015. They are asking for an expansion of salary arbitration eligibility, a significant increase in luxury tax thresholds and minimum salaries, a decrease in revenue sharing and new rules to prevent what they allege is service time manipulation by clubs.

Teams say they will not expand arbitration or decrease revenue sharing, and that intensive negotiations on the luxury tax are for the final stage of bargaining.

The lockout entered its 65th day Friday and shows every sign of rolling past the scheduled start of spring training workouts on Feb. 16. Given that at least three weeks of training and exhibition games are required and the need for several days for players to report to camps and go through COVID-19 protocols, opening day on March 31 will be threatened if there is no agreement by the end of February or early March.

There is little chance of negotiations next week, when owners are scheduled to meet from Tuesday to Thursday in Orlando, Florida. Management’s bargaining team is expected in Orlando for the session.

Players do not start accruing salary until opening day, and teams generate a large portion of their revenue from opening day through the World Series.

Baseball’s ninth work stoppage is its first since a series of strikes and lockouts set back the sport from 1972 to 1995.

The players’ association has made $5,000 stipends available to its members from the $178.5 million in cash, U.S. Treasury securities and investments available on Dec. 31, 2020, according to its latest financial disclosure form filed with the U.S. Department of Labor.

There is a wide disparity in income among players. Of the 1,670 who appeared on a major league roster last year, 1,145 earned under $1 million, including 771 below $500,000 and 241 under $100,000. The 100 highest-paid players accounted for 50.6% of earnings.

___

More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Associated Press

Ex-Packer Guion gets 1 year for domestic violence assault

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Former Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Letroy Guion was sentenced to one year in jail after pleading no contest in a domestic violence assault at his home last fall. Brown County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Walsh also ordered Guion on Tuesday to serve three years’ probation and complete a domestic […]

1 year ago

Joe Jarzynka...

Associated Press

Durant eager for Suns debut vs. Hornets after knee injury

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kevin Durant has been through quite a bit during his 15-year NBA career — but joining a new team midway through the season is a new one for the 13-time All-Star. The 34-year-old Durant doesn’t seem all that worried. Durant makes his highly anticipated Phoenix Suns debut on Wednesday night against […]

1 year ago

FILE - Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores stands on the sideline during the second half of an N...

Associated Press

Judge: NFL coach can press discrimination claims in court

NEW YORK (AP) — NFL Coach Brian Flores can pursue some of his discrimination claims against the league and its teams in court rather than through arbitration, a judge ruled Wednesday. The written decision by Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan was issued months after lawyers for the league tried to get the lawsuit moved to […]

1 year ago

Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Alex Stalock cools off in the first period during an NHL hockey game ...

Associated Press

Kane trade reinforces hard reality of Blackhawks rebuild

CHICAGO (AP) — After days of speculation, the harsh reality of the Chicago Blackhawks’ situation was reinforced by one move in a flurry of transactions ahead of the NHL trade deadline. Showtime is over, at least in Chicago, and a seemingly bright future is, well, way off in the distance. The reverberations of Chicago’s decision […]

1 year ago

FILE -  Yves Jean-Bart, president of the Haitian Football Federation, wearing a protective face mas...

Associated Press

Disgraced ex-Haitian soccer president announces he’s back

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s former soccer federation president whose lifetime ban from sport over sexual abuse allegations was overturned last month announced Wednesday that he is reclaiming his position. Yves Jean-Bart’s defiant announcement could lead to a standoff with FIFA, which already has appointed an emergency management committee to lead the Haitian Football Association […]

1 year ago

FILE - Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers walks off the field after an NFL football game against the ...

Associated Press

Rodgers says decision on future will come ‘soon enough’

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers says he will make a decision on his future “soon enough” as the four-time MVP quarterback ponders whether to play next season and if his future remains with the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers, 39, discussed his future while speaking on an episode of the “Aubrey Marcus Podcast” that […]

1 year ago

Locked out MLB players reject offer of federal mediation