MLB, MLBPA Reportedly Fail to Make Significant Progress on New CBA on Saturday

For the sixth straight day, talks between Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association for a new collective bargaining agreement reportedly didn't make much of an impact. 

Per USA Today's Bob Nightengale, there was "small movement" during Saturday's negotiating session. 

ESPN's Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers reported the MLBPA "significantly" backed off its Super Two requests and revenue sharing asks and changed its competitive balance tax proposal.

Passan noted MLB team owners were still caucusing but that it was unclear if or when the two sides will meet again. 

Per The Athletic's Evan Drellich, the league "reacted badly" to the union's proposal and players "were outraged" by the response. 

Nightengale noted it will take a miracle to get a deal done by Monday, with one union official saying it was a "very hostile meeting." There is a meeting scheduled between the two sides for Sunday.

Last week, Passan reported the union adjusted its initial request to give all players with at least two years of service time arbitration eligibility. Instead, the request was for 80 percent of players to go into arbitration with a pre-arbitration bonus pool of $115 million. 

The competitive balance tax has been one of the central issues between the two sides. MLB.com's Mark Feinsand reported Feb. 12 that the league proposed increasing the CBT from $214 million in 2023 to $216 million in 2024, $218 million in 2025 and $222 million in 2026. 

Last month, the MLBPA proposed raising the CBT threshold to $245 million in 2022 with fewer penalties for teams that exceed the mark. 

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters Feb. 10 after the owners meetings that a four-week spring training would be necessary before the regular season.

The league announced Friday that the earliest spring training games can start is March 8. 

Given Manfred's timeline, the latest spring training can begin without delaying the scheduled start of the regular season is March 3. 

The season is supposed to start March 31.