How to settle the MLB lockout and write a new Basic Agreement
By Bill Felber
It’s time to end the Major League Baseball lockout and settle on terms of a new Basic Agreement. And that means it’s time for both MLB and MLBPA to compromise.
There could be some movement soon. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman is reporting that the Major League Baseball Players Association (MPBPA) is preparing a response to the set of proposals proffered by Major League Baseball (MLB) earlier this month in the wake of the lockout. That would be important because it would show some flexibility on both sides.
There’s probably still close to a month of negotiating time remaining before the lockout threatens the start of the 2022 season. But progress must be seen soon because numerous issues remain to be settled, and several of those are “core issues.” Those “core issues” won’t be settled easily or in one step.
Judging from statements made to date, the toughest probably involve any changes to the existing free agency, salary arbitration, and service time arrangements.
Each of those involves real money. They are probably what drove MLB to institute the lockout strategy in the first place.
It’s also important to acknowledge that the game’s revenue streams have taken a few fundamental hits the past few years. The COVID-19 pandemic shut down stadiums for all of 2020, essentially wiping out attendance, parking, and concessions revenues. Fans largely returned in 2021, but the COVID aftermath lingered. League-wide attendance was down 15 percent from 2019, with 28 of the 30 teams reporting declines in that basic revenue stream.
It is then necessary to begin by believing that the decline represented a recoverable blip rather than the start of some sort of long-term trend.
If the two sides are both willing to yield to the other on some of their core desires, then the lockout can be ended in time to salvage most of all of spring training, and certainly in time to start the regular season as scheduled. That will, however, take legitimate compromise on both sides. Here’s how.