Negotiating in Bad Faith – Player Union Star Slams MLB “Ploy” Amidst Lockout Meetings

The story continues to develop. The plot thickens, and yet another day passes without successful negotiations to resume MLB proceedings. The newest development came early on Thursday with news breaking that the league had requested a federal mediator be appointed. However, Mitch Garver of the Minnesota Twins has put out a series of tweets that can potentially stand to disrupt the faith that parties had in the process.

The parties seem to be getting impatient; with the lockout lumbering for over 60 days and several negotiation sessions already concluded, a breakthrough was expected by now. To add to it all the deadline to get the season started is looming on the horizon and will be drawing the parties to the table. There has been a creeping agreement from both factions on minor issues; but the big ticket items still remain in flux. Ranging from key economic considerations to rules governing free agency, the chasm remains wide.

Opinion on the MLB lockout

Mitch Garver of the Minnesota Twins, in a slew of tweets, has raised some severe questions about the league’s negotiating tactics. He has said that the league has even been “dragging their heels” on negotiations and that has led to the delays. Stating that it is the fans that he feels bad for who will suffer on account of lost games in the season.

Garver went on to say that the League’s tactic to request a federal mediator was only a ploy. A ‘tactic’ by which they were attempting to show that they were bargaining in ‘good faith’.  And he stated that it remains the players’ priority to get to the table ‘as soon as possible’ to ‘get ready for the 2022 season.’

To end his series of tweets, Garver ended hanging it up in the balance.

The reasons for the hold-up

The lockout began on Dec. 2 after the League and the players union could not reach an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement. The sides have met 4 times since then, but no progress has been made. Reportedly, none of the sessions have been able to provide significant discussions to lead to a new collective bargaining agreement. The stoppage is even more evident for the relative peace enjoyed by the sport. This is the first hiccup after more than a quarter-century of labor peace.

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And while the factors separating the sides is not as significant as the last time of the stoppage, the effects are nearly identical. With Spring training scheduled to have started mid-February; there seem no signs that things will start on schedule. Some in the industry, on both the league and player sides, fear that the March 31 opening day could be at risk if no resolution is reached by the end of February.

There are several issues to tackle. The players union have made clear that their demands are mainly financial. These include several measures, including, getting more players paid at earlier ages, removing draft pick penalties for signing free agents, and penalties for exceeding the luxury tax. The Union have also made clear their intention to fix service-time manipulation and disincentivizing tanking.

The MLB league, on the other hand, wants to keep player salaries flat, has sought expanded playoffs and the preservation of current rules governing free agency, arbitration, and revenue sharing.