Players drop free agency proposal

NEW YORK (AP) » Lockedout Major League Baseball players removed the first of three major obstacles to a labor contract, withdrawing their proposal for more liberalized free agency when the sides met face-to-face Monday for the first time since the management lockout began Dec. 1.

During a bargaining session that lasted a little more than two hours at the Midtown Manhattan office of the Major League Baseball Players’ Association, the union also modified its revenue-sharing proposal, asking the amount shifted from big markets to smaller ones be cut by what it said was $30 million, a figure management disputed. Players earlier asked for a $100 million reduction.

Management is adamant not to decrease revenue sharing. Clubs also maintain they will not budge on salary arbitration eligibility, which players want to restore to its pre-1987 level when it was two years of major league service.

Another meeting in the contentious talks is scheduled for Tuesday, the first consecutive sessions since the bargaining collapse last fall that led to baseball’s ninth work stoppage, its first since 1995.

Neither side commented publicly on the proposal, a response to management’s offer on Jan. 13 — made during an online session that was the first bargaining over core economics after a 42-day break. Details of the union’s proposal were discussed by two people familiar with the negotiations who spoke on the condition of anonymity because no public statements were authorized.

While there was significant movement in one of three areas clubs claim are both key to a deal and non-negotiable, the Feb. 16 start of spring training remains threatened.

Opening day is scheduled for March 31, and a deal would have to be reached by late February or early March for an ontime start, given the need for players to go through COVID-19 protocols and then have at least three weeks of training and some exhibition games.