Beware the Self-Inflicted Wound

A CBA Win for MLB Owners Might Cost Them in the Future

I wrote a piece last month outlining why I was skeptical that a new CBA would be reached in time to get the season started as scheduled on March 31. MLB owners seem absolutely committed to not ceding ground to the players on the core economic issues, including the Competitive Balance Tax (or Luxury Tax) and how young players are paid. The owners have relentlessly utilized gains they made in the last two CBAs to hold MLB salary increases well below the rate that revenues have increased over the last few years.

Waiting for a New CBA

Back in the early months of the COVID-19 era, I spent a lot of time writing about the negotiations between MLB and the Players Union as they tried to agree on playing some sort of season. I remember that when the talks began, I was reasonably optimistic that a deal would be made relatively quickly. It seemed that both sides had an incentive to come together for the country and give all of us a welcome distraction from the pandemic.