In a positive development in talks for a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), MLB and the Players Association pushed back the deadline to decide on whether or not an international draft will replace the current international free agent signing system.
In the last few hours, owners were pushing for the international draft to substitute the current signing period for young free agents, mostly from Latin America, but players didn’t like the idea at all. The topic put a halt on some very important progress made by the two parties in the last two days on core economic issues.
Now, however, the sides agreed to establish a July 25 deadline to solve the issue once and for all: if the sides agreed on an international draft, the current qualifying offer and the draft pick attached to free agents would disappear. If no deal is reached, the qualifying offer and international signing systems will remain as they currently are.
MLB, MLBPA agree to negotiate on international draft until July 25. Draft pick compensation will be removed if they agree by then to remove it. Status quo on international entry and draft compensation if no deal by then. The union says it is awaiting a counterproposal from MLB.
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) March 10, 2022
MLB has a path towards a CBA agreement
With that being the major roadblock in CBA negotiations on Wednesday, there is now a clear path for MLB and the union to bridge the small gaps in key economic issues and announce a deal within the next couple of days, if there aren’t any surprises.
MLB cancelled games through April 13 last night, but there is some hope that, if a deal is reached this week, there still could be 162 games played.
If a deal is reached soon, free agency could begin as soon as tonight and spring training could potentially start next week. Stay tuned, because there could be some good news soon for fans of all teams, including, of course, the New York Yankees and Mets.
At long last, it appears that baseball is around the corner, and fans are on the verge of, finally, enjoying the sport they love and so passionately follow.