The agreement was approved by the union’s executive board in a 26-12 vote. It is awaiting ratification from all players, a person with knowledge of the balloting said. The person spoke to The Associated Press under condition of anonymity, as no announcement was made.
MLB made an offer to the players on Thursday. They had until Wednesday at 3:25 p.m. to take it. The union announced that the player vote was completed at 3:25 p.m. MLB’s owners had yet to approve the deal.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Below is the original story by AP.
Major League Baseball and its players locked out gained momentum towards an agreement on Thursday, after bickering parties agreed to negotiate an international amateur draft. Management made a counteroffer.
MLB informed players that if an agreement is reached by Wednesday at 3 p.m. and ratified later in Thursday, players could report to spring training on Friday, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. Because no announcement was made, the person spoke under condition of anonymity.
The 162-game schedule would also be preserved by a deal on Thursday. Opening day would be April 7, which is a little over a week after March 31, according to the person.
The sides reached a deal on the 99th day in a lockout that had delayed the season. They agreed to a July 25, deadline to create an international draft that would begin in 2024.
Talks to end the lockout were stalled on Wednesday over the draft issue. Rob Manfred, the commissioner of baseball, cancelled 93 more games, bringing the total to 184. He stated that opening day would not be earlier than April 14.
Recent days have seen a narrowing of many economic differences between the sides.
MLB raised its luxury threshold proposal for tax to $230 million earlier this week. On Thursday, it increased its final year 2026 to $244 millions. This was almost half the amount of the union’s $250m midpoint.
MLB proposed a $700,000. That is $10,000 less than the minimum salary for players. However, MLB raised its minimum salary in 2026 by $10,000 to $780,000. Matching players.
MLB increased its offer for the pre-arbitration pool bonus pool from $40million to $50million — players were at $65million, with $5 million annually increases.
Both sides expressed hope that an agreement could be reached soon for the first time in nearly a year of negotiations.
The agreement reached Thursday allowed both sides to move past the logjam. If a draft draft agreement is reached before July 25, compensation for amateur draft picks would be eliminated and free agents would start with the 2022-23 offseason.
If there is no agreement between the sides by July 25, compensation for amateur-draft picks would be in effect.
The agreement does NOT affect the current offseason’s qualified agents free of charge who are still subject to compensation: Carlos Correa and Freddie Freeman, Michael Conforto and Nicholas Castellanos.
Manfred didn’t use the term “canceled” for the games that were wiped from the calendar, but he left 162 games out of play due to the ninth baseball work stoppage. This was the first since 1995.
“We talked these last few days about taking the first two series and finding ways to get them back into the schedule,” Arizona Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall stated. These four series, according to what I hear now, are out.
MLB proposes an international draft where teams would alternate picking from different quadrants in the first round for a period of four years. Similar to the 2012 amateur draft, which covered residents of Canada, Puerto Rico, and the U.S.A., a slotting system would be implemented.
The proposal for the international draft includes hard slots that cannot be negotiated individually. MLB estimates $17million in additional spending by international teams to draft international players, in addition to the $166.3million spent by the 30 teams in 2021 and $6 million for non-drafted players. The draft would begin in 2024.
International players would lose their right to choose which team they sign with. The year a player turns 16 would be the age of the draft.
Francisco Lindor, Mets shortstop, tweeted that “the narrative being promoted also ignores many historical factors, including corruption from clubs.” This issue goes beyond Latin players and amateur players. It affects all players and the future of the game.
