MLB and the MLBPA met "late into the night throwing different things on the table" as the two sides try to reach a new CBA prior to the current deal expiring at 11:59pm ET tomorrow night, according to MLB Network's Richard Justice. Negotiations "have really picked up speed in the last 24 hours as we come down to this deadline," as talks are "very fluid." Justice: "Both sides this morning said for the record they remain optimistic, but there is no deal.” The tenor of the talks are "not like the old days, where each side had their hand on the other’s throat." It appears there are a "lot of issues that are negotiable," but on the "other hand, there are a lot of issues and the deadline is looming” ("Hot Stove," MLB Network, 11/29). FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal cited sources as saying that MLB team owners have "backed off the international draft as a requirement" for a new CBA. Sources added that players and owners are "still far apart on new luxury-tax rules," though an agreement on those terms "often is the last part of any deal." The sources said that the owners' "willingness to back off" the international draft "stemmed from desire to move talks forward." However, that has "yet to achieve desired effect" (TWITTER.com, 11/28). In N.Y., Christian Red cites sources saying that the owners had "offered to end the policy on draft-pick compensation in free agency -- currently teams who sign a free agent who has received a qualifying offer must surrender a draft pick -- in exchange for establishing an international draft" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/29).
TAKING STOCK: In Boston, Michael Silverman writes the potential for the first work stoppage in 21 years is creating "one of the most tone-deaf developments in the sport’s recent history." The owners "can be the heroes by backing away from an unnecessary sticking point." The international draft/compensation pick issue is a "really big deal, important to each side, but this missive is not about weighing the pros and cons of each side." The greater point is that the "contentious nature of the struggle is a clear and eloquent shout that the idea is too radical for right now." Silverman: "It’s a stretch. The owners would like it, but they don’t need it, and the players are absolutely right to dig in their heels on the issue." Rather than "meet defiance with defiance and institute a lockout, the owners appear to have taken a deep breath, looked around, taken stock of the world around them and backed away from the draft" (BOSTON HERALD, 11/29). NBCSPORTS.com’s Craig Calcaterra writes the "idea of an international draft is a bad one." The MLBPA was "assumed to be relatively indifferent to the idea or, at most, was thought to be prepared to use the international draft as a bargaining chip to obtain something greater for itself." Their opposition to the idea, however, "proved to be surprisingly strong." Several high profile MLBers "showed up at bargaining sessions yesterday to personally voice their disapproval of the idea" (NBCSPORTS.com, 11/29).
HOW YOU SPELL RELIEF: MLB Network’s Tom Verducci reported a lot of GMs believe the active MLB roster will expand to 26 as part of the new CBA, and the teams can "work on any sort of governance, which I think you have to have in terms of the number of pitchers, or maybe the minimum number of batters a relief pitcher faces." Verducci: "You cannot give these manager carte blanche with another relief pitcher." He said there are two issues "really harming the attractiveness of the game" -- all the "relief pitching changes and the fact that there’s just too much dead time in a Major League Baseball game.” Verducci said adding another relief pitcher is just “exacerbating the two biggest problems in the game" (“High Heat,” MLB Network, 11/28).
STOPPING THINGS IN THEIR TRACKS: MLB's winter meetings are scheduled to start next week, and ESPN.com's Buster Olney cited sources as saying that club officials are "aware of the possibility that teams won't participate if there is not sufficient progress" in the discussions. If the owners "take the formal step of locking out the players once the current agreement expires, teams likely would not send representatives to the winter meetings" in DC. Much of the work done at the winter meetings is "based on the rules" of the CBA. Without those rules in place, the business of baseball would "largely screech to a halt" (ESPN.com, 11/28).
NO PEACEFUL, EASY FEELING: MLB Network’s Brian Kenny said the last CBA negotiation was “so peaceful ... we expected this to be done and be a fait accompli.” Verducci said, “The last two you were like, ‘Oh, they just got it done.’ You didn’t even see any strife in advance of the agreement. This time, a little bit different." MLB Network’s Ron Darling noted there are not “that many new players in the room, but there are a lot of new titles” ("MLB Now," MLB Network, 11/28).
