No deal as labor talks wrap up; lockout a ‘very likely scenario’

IRVING, TEXAS — The clock ticked down Wednesday toward the expiration of Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement at 11:59 p.m. and a likely management lockout ending the sport’s labor peace at 9,740 days over 26 1/2 years.

After successfully reaching four consecutive agreements without a stoppage, players and owners have appeared headed for a confrontation for more than two years.

“The lockout seems like a very likely scenario,” pitcher Max Scherzer, a member of the union’s executive committee, said Wednesday after finalizing his contract with the New York Mets.

Management negotiators left the union’s hotel about nine hours before the deal was set to expire and both sides said talks would not resume in the evening. Players said MLB did not make any new central economic proposals this week.

The union demanded change following anger over a declining average salary, middle-class players forced out by teams concentrating payroll on the wealthy and veterans jettisoned in favor of lower-paid youth, especially among clubs tearing down their rosters to rebuild.

“As players we see major problems with it,” Scherzer said of the 2016 agreement. “First and foremost, we see a competition problem and how teams are behaving because of certain rules that are within that, and adjustments have to be made because of that in order to bring out the competition.”

Management, intent on preserving salary restraints gained in recent decades, rejected the union’s requests for what teams regarded as significant alterations to the sport’s economic structure, including lowering service time needed for free agency and salary arbitration.

Many clubs scrambled to add players ahead of a lockout and an expected signing freeze, committing to more than $1.9 billion in new contracts — including a oneday record of more than $1 billion Wednesday.

Two of the eight members of the union’s executive subcommittee signed big deals: Texas infielder Marcus Semien ($175 million) and Scherzer ($130 million).

Much has changed since the 232day strike that cut short the 1994 season, led to the first cancellation of the World Series in 90 years and caused the 1995 season to start late.

The average salary dropped from $1.17 million before the strike to $1.11 million but then resumed its seemingly inexorable rise. It peaked at just under $4.1 million in 2017, the first season of the latest CBA, but likely will fall to about $3.7 million when this year’s final figures are calculated.

That money is concentrated heavily at the top of the salary structure. Among approximately 1,955 players who signed major league contracts at any point going into the regular season’s final month, 112 had earned $10 million or more this year as of Aug. 31, of which 40 made at least $20 million.

There were 1,397 earning under $1 million.

AP FILE Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Max Scherzer leaves the field in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series against the Atlanta Braves on Oct. 17. Scherzer is a member of the MLB players union’s executive committee.