Downriver Today

The flowers might still bloom on schedule, but pre-season baseball has hit a road bump. The start date for Spring Training games has been pushed back a week, as Major League Baseball (MLB) and the MLB Players Association (MLBPA) continue to negotiate a deal.

“We regret that, without a collective bargaining agreement in place, we must postpone the start of Spring Training games until no earlier than Saturday, March 5,” the league said in a statement published on mlb.com. “All 30 clubs are unified in their strong desire to bring players back to the field and fans back to the stands.”

The Players Association made its latest proposal in late February, responding in two core economic areas: Super 2 eligibility and the pre-arbitration bonus pool, according to mlb.com.

“The union lowered its ask regarding Super 2, proposing that the top 80% of players with two-plus years of service time become arbitration-eligible,” the report on mlb.com said. “MLB has been clear for months that expanding eligibility is a non-starter, but agrees with the goal of increasing pay for younger players.“

The players asked for all two-year service-time players to be eligible for arbitration, though the 80% figure would still be a sizeable jump from the current system, which awards Super 2 eligibility to the 22% of two-plus players with the most service time, mlb.com noted.

The latest proposal also included an increase in the MLBPA number for a pre-arbitration bonus pool, to $115 million from $100 million, the mlb.com report said. The union had initially proposed a $105 million pool, then lowered that number to $100 million two weeks ago before raising it recently. MLB offered a $15 million pool, up from its initial $10 million offer. The concept for such a pool was initially the union’s, though the league came on board in an effort to satisfy the MLBPA’s desire to get top young players paid earlier in their careers.

“MLB’s most recent proposal included movement on a number of core economic issues including minimum salary, the pre-arbitration bonus pool, the Competitive Balance Tax, and service-time manipulation,“ mlb.com reported.

The MLB set Feb. 28 as the date by which a deal must be made to ensure that Opening Day games will take place as scheduled on March 31, according to mlb.com.