March 01, 2022
It's been a tough task to write about the Phillies over the last 89 days of the MLB's lockout, as the team is sort of frozen in partial assembly. The front office is going to have to address needs at several positions, ranging from the outfield to the bullpen to the rotation and probably even shortstop.
And nothing has changed for three months.
But if reports from a marathon bargaining session between the owners and the players Monday are to be believed, it sounds like a deal is imminent and the season will probably find a way to start on time with a shortened spring training.
Here's a look at some of the latest from USA Today's Bob Nightengale:
The two sides agreed to a 12-team playoff pool instead of the desired 14 teams sought by MLB. The league also offered to raise the following: the minimum salary to $675,000 (after previously offering $640,000); the pre-arbitration pool to $25 million (previously offering $20 million); and the luxury tax to $220 million (from $214 million) for the first three years of the collective bargaining agreement, $224 million in 2025 and $230 million in 2026. MLB also lowered its demands and will now keep the same penalties as the previous CBA after originally trying to double the taxes.
In return, the union dropped its proposal to expand the salary arbitration class and keep it at two years, with the top 22% of the two-year service class. The union originally wanted players with two years of service to be eligible for salary arbitration.
Still, a person directly involved in the negotiations who did not want to be identified, said the sides remain apart in the luxury tax threshold, minimum salary and the bonus pool. Another executive said the union was offered more money in the minimum salary and bonus pools, but instead opted for a 12-team postseason instead of 14 teams. The people requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations. [USA Today]
The playoff expansion, up from 10 teams last year, is likely the point that will stick out to most fans. How do these new agreed on (though still obviously fluid) points affect the Phillies as they try and make the playoffs for the first time since Barack Obama's first term?
Whether it's 12 teams, as is being reported Tuesday or 14, which is what the owners are desperate for, the playoffs will be diluted in 2022 and onward, sort of like the NFL's were the past two seasons with the 7-seeds on both sides getting decimated.
The product might be worse, and depending on the format, seeing a seven seed beat a two seed in a three game series might take the wind out of the sails of a marathon 162 game season. But — the expansion helps a team on the fringe of contending like the Phillies a ton.
A postseason rotation for a team that lacks starting pitching depth, and one that has hitters that go through hot and cold streaks like Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins definitely has a fighting chance to do some damage in the playoffs. It also gives them an easier path to postseason play.
With two more wild cart slots in play last year, the Phillies would have been the 7-seed, and would have faced the Brewers in the first round, a team they actually beat five of seven times in 2021.
With more tickets to punch, 82 wins might be all it takes to get a chip and a chair in the tournament. And that's actually good news for Philly.
This is also good news for the needy Phillies, who have never in their history exceeded the luxury tax number. Having $6 million more to spend (which is the MLB's latest offer) tax free could be the difference between them coughing up the dough to bring in multiple impact players in what is sure to be a while free agent period starting as soon as the CBA negotiations conclude.
Under the current tax threshold the Phillies are expected to have $35 million in space. That will move to $41 million or more and give them the ability, perhaps, to spend on an expensive piece like Kris Bryant while still being able to bring in mid-level free agents to fill in other holes.
There are a lot of other changes coming that will not have a huge impact on the Phillies specifically but will on the league as a whole. If the league does indeed find a way to end service time manipulation, it's good news for a player like Bryson Stott's hopes of breaking spring training with the big league club.
If the league implements a lottery for the top pick in the draft it will certainly help make teams a tad more competitive, and if a deal increases the minimum MLBs salary it helps everyone.
The league has moved back its own deadline for starting the season on time (on March 31) to 5 p.m. Tuesday. We'll see if they can get this thing across the finish line.
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