Tuesday Bantering: A New Hope

Yesterday’s “deadline” came and went without an agreement, so they have set today as a new deadline.

They met for 15 hours yesterday, breaking their former record for 14 hours and 45 minutes for one day of negotiations.

I guess the owners have given up on their want for 14 teams to make the playoffs. Now it is 12. I’m not thrilled with the idea of so many teams making the playoffs. I think it devalues the season.

The players aren’t asking for expanded arbitration anymore. That was a big hope for the new agreement, let the younger players make a bit more money.

The owners have raised their ceiling for the ‘Competitive Balance Tax’ (the salary cap). It will be $220 million and grow to $230 million by 2026. And they have stopped demanding that the penalties become larger.

The owners have offered to raise the minimum salary to $675,000. Players were asking for $775,00, growing to $895,000 by 2026.

And the owners have raised their ‘bonus pool’ for pre-arbitration players to $25 million, from the $5 they started. The players asked for $100 million.

It doesn’t look as if the players are gaining much if this is true. But then, they wouldn’t be losing as much as they would from the owners’ first offer.

Use the thread to discuss any news/rumours that come out of the day. I’m hopeful, but I will be out tonight, and likely won’t be around if a deal gets made.