MLB
What the MLB lockout means for players
MLB announced a lockout early Thursday morning when the current collective bargaining agreement ended. What does that mean for the players and their future?
Major League Baseball and the MLB Player’s Association had a collective bargaining agreement which ended at midnight on Thursday. In this agreement, it states how much pay players will receive, how long the season will be, and things like arbitration. Since the league and the Player’s Association had not been able to come to an agreement on the new terms, the league announced a lockout in hopes to speed up a negotiation.
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How does the lockout affect the players?
During this time, the players and teams are not allowed to have any contact of any kind and there will be no free-agent signings or use of facilities allowed until something can be agreed upon. As the new season won’t start for another three months, there is plenty of time for them to reach an agreement. Economically, it wouldn’t make sense to shorten the season, so it’s likely that they will come to some conclusion to avoid that happening.
What do the players want?
Mostly, they want more money. More specifically, they want to be paid more while they are younger. At the moment, the players feel like they aren’t being paid well enough until they have been free agents for six years, and would prefer to be paid better while they’re in their prime ages. The way the system is set up now also keeps players in the minor league for longer in order to shorten their major league time, which the players are not happy about. They would also like to set some guidelines in order to avoid “tanking” which they believe limits payrolls.
What would a new collective bargaining agreement mean?
A new CBA could mean a lot of different things. It’s possible we could see changes to the postseason, caps to the amount of pitchers on a team roster, and arbitration changes. If the Player’s Association have it their way, they could be looking at faster routes to free agency or higher tax thresholds. Time will tell.