Collective Bargaining Agreement

Joe Torre, MLB’s executive VP for baseball operations, briefed reporters on some details of the general managers’ meetings this afternoon. Here are some notes from his discussion with reporters…

• There were no discussions about roster limits in September, but MLB hasn’t ruled out adapting roster sizes late in the year. “It’s something that we’re seriously considering,” Torre said. Rosters expand from 25 to 40 each September and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see MLB reduce roster size for the regular season’s final month.
• The GMs discussed potential changes to the replay process. MLB may add replay for fair or foul calls, but there’s ongoing discussion about the drawbacks and benefits of expanding replay in this way.
• Realignment was not up for discussion today. It's the domain of commissioner Bud Selig and appears to be linked to the ongoing talks for a new collective bargaining agreement. 
• Player safety in Venezuela did come up in today's meetings. Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos was kidnapped in Venezuela last week before being recovered by authorities, so there’s concern about the safety of MLB players in Venezuela.

Baseball's owners and players made "significant progress" toward a new collective bargaining agreement today, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The current CBA expires in December, but completing a new deal before then would facilitate offseason decisions for teams by providing them with knowledge about the game's structure going forward.  An agreement is possible this week, writes ESPN's Jayson Stark.

Earlier today, ESPN.com's Buster Olney reported that the sides are discussing possible alternatives for Type A free agents. Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus hears that there’s been some talk of greatly reducing the number of compensatory draft picks in the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations (Twitter link).

It might stink to be Kelly Johnson this offseason.  Sure, he'll be signing for millions of dollars, but it's possible that if he wants to explore the open market as a Type A free agent, he'll be saddled with the cost of a draft pick.  For example, having to give their #23 overall pick to the Blue Jays next year might deter the Cardinals from making a serious offer to Johnson.  Like so many non-star free agents who are offered arbitration, Johnson could be in a bad place because of his Type A status.

As part of the ongoing collective bargaining agreement discussions, the owners and players union "seem focused on two possible solutions for the Type A quandary," writes ESPN's Buster Olney.

The first idea: instead of the new team giving a potential first-round draft pick to the old one, the old team would simply receive a supplemental pick sandwiched between the first and second rounds.  In a way, this would be like making all players Type Bs.  For example, instead of the Red Sox receiving the Tigers' #19 pick in the 2011 draft for Detroit signing Victor Martinez, maybe they would have received a pick in the 30s, not from the Tigers.  This solution seems reasonable.

A second idea would deter teams from offering arbitration to non-star free agents in the first place.  Olney equates this to the NFL's system, where a star free agent must be paid 120% of his previous salary or the average salary of the top five highest-paid players at his position, whichever is higher, or else be granted unrestricted free agency.  That could mean $8.5MM or more for someone like Kelly Johnson, which could deter the Jays from offering arbitration.  The current free agent arbitration system works this way to a lesser extent.  Johnson will get a raise if he accepts, despite a down year.  This is the reason a Type A free agent like Francisco Rodriguez has no chance of getting an arbitration offer. 

Olney says one unresolved question is whether Type A adjustments would be made for the 2012 season or for '13.  I think some teams would cry foul if the changes were made for '12.  At any rate, Olney is optimistic for a labor agreement within the next two weeks.

MLB's collective bargaining agreement expires five weeks from now. Here's the latest on what the upcoming CBA will look like and when we might hear an announcement:

• The players and owners expect some sort of luxury tax system will exist under the new agreement, according to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark. The luxury tax technically expired when the 2011 season ended and created a "hang-up" in the negotiations, according to Stark. 
• Owners continue to demand hard slotting for draft picks and the union won't budge, so the sides are at a "standoff," Stark reports. 
• The MLBPA aims to ensure that teams no longer surrender top picks for signing Type A free agents starting this offseason. However, the owners will only make this change in return for hard slotting, according to Stark.
• Rob Manfred, MLB's executive vice president of labor relations, is the point man on the Dodgers' ownership issues and the collective bargaining agreement, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (on Twitter). The sale of the Dodgers has slowed CBA talks, but it appears the sides will reach a deal within a few weeks.

Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement expires this offseason, but the owners and players are working toward an agreement and it won’t be a surprise if they announce a deal soon. Here are the details on the collective bargaining process:

• The MLB Players Association is willing to start taxing draft bonus spending, but they're adamantly against a hard-slotting system, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. Slotting is the final major issue to resolve in talks between MLB and the players' union.
• We should expect a new collective bargaining agreement by the end of the week, according to MLB.com's Barry Bloom (on Twitter).