MLB says it will make final CBA offer to players' union prior to 5 p.m. deadline

JUPITER, Fla. — Talks broke down between MLB and the MLB Players Association on Tuesday afternoon, leading the league to declare that it will make a final offer for a new collective bargaining agreement before a 5 p.m. EST deadline.

«We thought there was a path to a deal last night and that both sides were closing in on the major issues,» a league spokesperson said Tuesday afternoon. «They couldn't make us a CBT [competitive balance tax] proposal last night, so we agreed to extend the deadline to exhaust every option.

»The MLBPA had a decidedly different tone today and made proposals inconsistent with the prior discussions. We will be making our best offer before the 5 p.m. deadline for the MLBPA that's a fair deal for players and clubs."

A union source disagreed with the optimism expressed by the league after a marathon 16.5-hour bargaining session Monday into Tuesday. At that time, both sides made concessions on several issues, but major obstacles to a deal remained.

The sides remain far apart on two main issues and have smaller differences on several others.

Prior to its final offer, MLB's proposal had $25 million in a pre-arbitration bonus pool each year for the length of the deal, while the union wants to begin with $85 million in the pool and go up by $5 million each year. On CBT thresholds, the league's prior offer before its final one started at $220 million and was flat for three years before going up to $224 million in Year 4 and $230 million in Year 5. The union wants to start at $238 million with raises to $244 million, $250 million, $256 million and end at $263 million.