Collective Bargaining Agreement News & Rumors

Despite the uncertainty surrounding baseball’s upcoming collective bargaining agreement, general managers around the league say they’ve been able to operate as usual to this point in the offseason. None of the six GMs who discussed the topic with MLBTR yesterday said uncertainty about the CBA has slowed them down significantly.

“I think this time, early in the offseason, is always slow,” Mets GM Sandy Alderson said. “A club like ours is not anxious to give up draft picks.”

The Mets are one of many clubs that will remain relatively quiet until they see which ranked free agents obtain offers of arbitration from their former teams seven days from now. In the meantime, the Mets are in limbo, since major changes to the free agent compensation system remain possible.

“There’s some uncertainty about compensation as it relates back to the CBA,” Alderson continued, “but as I said, I don’t think uncertainty is all that meaningful right now because we’re waiting.”

Other general managers have been too busy for the pace of the CBA talks to slow them down. Cardinals GM John Mozeliak, for example, has already conducted a managerial search this offseason — and his team wrapped up its World Series title less than three weeks ago. The CBA will affect Mozeliak once the players and owners reach an agreement, but the Cardinals have been too busy for it to slow them down so far.

“It doesn’t feel like it yet,” he said.  “It doesn’t seem to be creating any type of paralysis on movement that I’m aware of.”

Like Mozeliak, Cubs GM Jed Hoyer is conducting a managerial search. Hoyer reads up on CBA talks when possible, but at this point he’s more concerned with hiring a manager and improving his team’s run prevention than the collective bargaining process.

“It’s something that’s on the back of our minds,” Hoyer said. “Hopefully it happens soon and when it does we’ll look over the details and make decisions.”

Pirates GM Neal Huntington hasn’t had to adjust to a new front office or hire a manager like some of his peers in the NL Central. He says it’s basically business as usual in Pittsburgh, but acknowledges there’s some hesitation.

“You have to be aware of what the rumblings and rumors are on what could change and what the impact would be,” he said. “At the same time, you’ve got to conduct business and keep moving forward to improve the quality of play on the field.”

Chris Antonetti of the Indians echoed Huntington's thoughts, explaining that the uncertainty surrounding the new labor agreement slows offseason movement down to a degree — especially when it comes to ranked free agents.

“To some extent it can,” he said, “depending on the compensation issues. But there are other players where that doesn’t really affect [discussions]. You’re still able to conduct some business, but once we have clarity on the CBA, I think that will give everyone the framework they need to progress.”

Though GMs have been able to work uninhibited to this point, they’ll want certainty within the week. Arbitration decisions for ranked free agents are due next Wednesday and it will be significantly easier for teams and players to progress if the sides announce a CBA, and the uncertainty that currently surrounds issues such as draft pick compensation disappears.

CBA negotiations are temporarily on hold, but once the two sides resume talking, a deal could be reached quickly, reports Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. Stark says that players and owners are "on the precipice" of a new labor deal, with discussions potentially resuming Thursday and moving quickly from there. Danny Knobler of CBS Sports (Twitter link) believes a deal could be announced as soon as Friday.

Two of Stark's sources agree that a deal will be consummated soon, with one saying the two sides are "within striking distance" and the other saying they're "on the verge of an agreement." Specifics on a few issues still need to be worked out, but barring any unexpected setbacks, none of the issues should prevent a new agreement.

Stark also hears that free agent compensation won't be eliminated, but will be modified so that teams only surrender a top draft pick when signing "elite" free agents. Earlier today, we heard that Type B compensation is expected to be eliminated as early as this offseason, and that compensation for Type A free agents might be tweaked as well.

While most of the news concerning a new deal is positive, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes that many teams aren't happy about changes that could limit amateur draft spending. One executive called the proposed changes "incredibly short-sighted," saying they'd hurt many clubs.

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.