IRVING, Texas — Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred arrived in town and was part of the labor negotiations Tuesday with the two sides exchanging proposals trying to bridge the colossal gap between MLB and the Major League Players Association.
The union presented a proposal Tuesday morning, and after 30 minutes, the MLB negotiating team – including seven owners – departed and retreated back to their hotel for four hours.
MLB officials, displeased with the morning proposal, offered their own counter proposal in an afternoon meeting that began at 4 p.m. ET and ended 35 minutes later. The two sides then went into private caucus rooms.
Bruce Meyer, chief union negotiator, and Andrew Miller of the union’s executive committee then agreed to meet in a private session with MLB deputy commissioner Dan Halem and Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort.
Both sides have accused the other of stall tactics and are pessimistic that a deal can be struck before the 11:59 p.m. ET deadline Wednesday when the collective bargaining agreement expires.
They have had face-to-face negotiations for only three hours since the Thanksgiving holidays.
If an agreement is not reached, or there is no momentum towards the deal, MLB could halt the negotiations and impose a lockout Wednesday evening or Thursday.
The lockout would freeze free agent signings, trades, and all baseball activities, including the shutdown of baseball facilities for players’ off-season workouts. It would be MLB’s first work stoppage since 1994-1995.
Despite the pessimism, MLB officials and the union planned to stay in the Dallas area until Thursday morning after the CBA expiration. There are about 65 players in attendance for the meetings holding out hope that a lockout can be averted.
The union insists that a lockout would be counter-productive, and agitate the players, saying they’d rather reach a desirable deal even it takes extra time than being pressed into an agreement.
But even if there’s no agreement by Wednesday, both sides are optimistic their differences can be resolved before the start of spring training.
“Honestly, I can’t believe there’s a single fan in the world who doesn’t understand that an offseason lockout that moves the process forward,’’ Manfred said last week, “is different than a labor dispute that costs games.’’
The next artificial deadline likely would be about Feb. 1, two weeks before pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to spring training before any games are missed.
“I think when you look at other sports,” Manfred said, “the pattern has become to control the timing of the labor dispute and try to minimize the prospect of actual disruption of the season. That’s what it’s about. It’s avoiding doing damage to the season.”
The union sent its first economic proposal in April, which MLB immediately dismissed. MLB responded with its proposal in August, which the union also quickly dismissed. They have each exchanged proposals the last two months, including the two proposals on Tuesday, but a Grand Canyon-sized gap remains
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB’s looming lockout: Sides far apart in Tuesday negotiations