Major League Baseball has made the final move to ensure a timely start to spring training. The offer was Saturday’s, and it is the first of many that Major League Baseball will make. It comes after a long period in labor negotiations which saw little progress for the players’ union.

The 73rd Day of the lockout, which has been the longest in history of baseball, saw 16 documents from clubs totaling 130 pages. This included all the key areas and a mixture of previous offers.

This one-hour session, which was the fifth in core economics since the lockout started, came on the weekend for the first time. While the sides disagreed on luxury tax rate and threshold, there were major disagreements on revenue-sharing as well as how to respond to players’ service time manipulation allegations. MLB stated that it is opposed to salary arbitration being expanded or revenue sharing being reduced.

According to the players union, it was going through the offer and deciding when and how to reply.

Baseball’s ninth work stoppage — and first since 1995 — began Dec. 2 following the expiration of a five-year labor contract. Tuesday will see the closure of training camps. Catchers and pitchers were scheduled to begin workouts in preparation for the 2022 season, which remains uncertain.

MLB will not publicly admit any delay until it is clear that preseason exhibition matches cannot start as planned on February 26.

The opening day for the season is March 31. Players don’t begin earning salary until after that. An agreement must be reached by February/March to ensure a timely start.

The session was attended by three representatives from each side, and players and owners were able to join via Zoom.

MLB retained its proposal for luxury-tax thresholds in 2022 and 2023. This was an increase of $210 million to $214 millions. Each team increased its proposal by 2 million each year in the three final years of a deal. This was $216 million for 2024, $218 millions in 2025, and $222,000,000 in 2026.

Players proposed that a threshold for luxury taxes of $245,000,000 be set. This would increase to $273 million by 2026.

MLB has also proposed raising the tax rate to 20% to 50% for teams that exceed the initial threshold. The second threshold is 32% to 75%, and the third threshold is 62.5% or 100%.

Non-monetary penalties are still being sought by teams, but the union considers this too harsh.

MLB has dropped the plan for a team to lose a third round pick for crossing the first threshold. Instead of dropping 10 slots, the MLB proposes that a team could lose a second-round choice for crossing the second threshold.

Union members are concerned that teams might refuse to cross the threshold and penalize draft picks.

On free agency, clubs maintained their proposal to eliminate the loss of an amateur draft pick for a team signing a free agent — an area of dispute that led to a 50-day in-season strike in 1981.

The clubs agreed to keep the plan in place that any team losing an agent for free will be eligible for draft pick compensation, based on their revenue sharing status and whether they have been above the threshold.

There would be four levels for a player who has been a free agent and had not spent the whole season with ONE team.

— $25 million in guaranteed salary or $18 million average annual value (AAV),

— $55 million or $23 million AAV,

— $100 million or $30 million AAV,

— $150 million or $40 million AAV.

Initial thoughts of the union were that indirect compensation would discourage teams from keeping eligible free agents. They have requested that luxury tax status not be included in this formula.

Other areas

— MLB proposed raising the minimum salary from $570,500 to $630,000 or, alternatively, a tiered minimum of $615,000 for initial major leaguers, $650,000 for players with one year of service and $725,000 for those with two years — the latter an increase from $700,000 in the previous proposal. The minimum salary for players this year was $775,000, with the possibility of increasing to $875,000 in 2026.

— MLB offered to increase the pre-arbitration bonus pool from $10 million to $15 million, while the union is at $100 million under a structure that clubs said they would accept. MLB projected that the pre-arbitration bonus pool would be $200 million higher in 2022-25 than it was five years ago.

Pre-arbitration player WAR and appearances on all-MLB teams would make it more lucrative.

For example, Milwaukee’s pitcher Cobin Burnes would have grown from $608,000 to $2.6million last year, Toronto’s first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., from $635,400 up to $2 million, Cincinnati’s second baseman Jonathan India, from $570,500 up to $1.34million, and Tampa Bay outfielder Randy Arozarena, from $581,000.00 to $1.3 million.

— To address allegations of service time manipulation, over which the union has filed six grievances since 2015, MLB offered to award two draft picks — one amateur, one international — for a players’ accomplishments in his first three seasons. The union is opposed to an international draft, even though this pick has been increased from the previous one.

— To counter roster churn, MLB proposed a limit of five optional assignments of a player to the minor leagues each season.

— Addressing the Mets’ decision not to sign Kumar Rocker after selecting him 10th in last year’s amateur draft, clubs offered to guarantee a drafted amateur who participates in the pre-draft physical program a contract of at least 75% of slot value, with a stipulation that a player who passes a pre-draft physical cannot be flunked for his post-draft physical.

— MLB remained at three teams in a proposed draft lottery, while players are at eight.

— MLB is proposing an expansion of the playoffs from 10 teams to 14, while the union is offering 12.

— Both sides would expand the designated hitter to the National League.

— MLB wants uniform advertising patches, which the union says it would accept subject to an overall agreement.