Less than 12 hours into the lockout, the sides publicly staked out their positions with far more detail than either had previously revealed.
It was clear, after Manfred, Clark and union lead negotiator Bruce Meyer publicly revealed for the first time significant parts of the discussions, why pessimism, at least in the short-term, is warranted.
Each detailed proposals made by the other and called them “extreme” and “radical,” the pernicious sorts of words that seeped into the public dialogue during last year’s contentious negotiations over the length of the season during the heart of the coronavirus pandemic.
On Thursday, it spilled into the open, first with Manfred’s note and 9 a.m.
And with the union looking to make gains, it identified a suite of areas in which to do so: removing artificial restraints on free agency, ending tanking, getting players paid more at younger ages and fixing service-time manipulation.
After the union’s latest proposal Tuesday, MLB approached Meyer with a request: take some of the MLBPA’s asks off the table, including the potential reduction of time under team control before free agency, the ability to earn additional days of service time and any discussion of revenue sharing.
The league offered to raise it to $214 million and scale it to $220 million by the end of a new agreement, though it would include more onerous penalties for exceeding it.
Further, both sides are open to the idea of a bonus pool that could enrich players with zero to three years of service time who reach certain incentives, whether it’s All-Star appearances or MVP and Cy Young votes.
Revenue sharing: The union proposed the $100 million reduction — almost certain to be a non-starter among the smaller-market teams enriched by the redistribution — so larger-market teams would have more to spend in free agency.
In an early proposal to the union, the league did offer a $100 million salary floor — with a $180 million CBT threshold.
Whether the public comments were a sign of things to come or a temporary airing of grievances should reveal itself in the coming weeks, when the parties are likely to meet again.
“I think there were some misrepresentations in the letter,” Clark said.
“Shortening the period of time that they control players makes it even harder for them to compete.
Coming off a week in which a $1.4 billion free-agent spending spree invigorated the offseason, the counterargument — the most positive reaction fans have is when a free agent joins the team for which they root — was resonant among the union, which treats free agency as the ultimate right.
Every point, from here on, will be parsed, dissected and picked apart until a deal materializes.