The MLB has just informed the players union that a labor agreement must be reached by Monday, February 28th, or else the regular season will officially be delayed and players will have to forfeit their salary for every missed game.
According to reports, players would lose about $20.5 million for each day delayed.
“A deadline is a deadline,’’ an MLB official said after three days of negotiations. “Missed games are missed games. Salary will not be paid for those games.’’
The MLBPA did not make a public comment as an organization, but some players have spoken out against the MLB’s harsh deadline.
“It’s fascinating MLB setting a hard deadline to play a full season for Monday,’’ San Francisco Giants pitcher Alex Wood said in a tweet. “They locked us out. Had barely any contact for two months post-lockout. Have yet to make a single good faith offer to even initiate real conversations to get a deal done. Just make a real offer.’’
Both sides have yet to get any closer to a compromise, with the players wanting a minimum salary of $725,ooo with a yearly increase of $35,000 and the MLB instead proposing a minimum salary to $640,000 with a yearly increase of $10,000.
The next negotiation session is taking place today in Jupiter, Florida.
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