Today was supposed to be the day that San Francisco Giants pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training. But thanks to the MLB lockout, that's not happening. Spring Training is OFFICIALLY delayed.

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick details the latest with the MLB lockout. He talks about MLB's proposal on Saturday, and the MLBPA's response. Predictably, the players didn't come away pleased. This has been an ongoing theme during these negotiations. Notably, the two sides are still mostly talking about the same issues, they just disagree on the money. They continue to agree on the principle of a pre-arbitration bonus pool. The league proposed a pool of $15 million in its latest offer (up from $10M in its last); the players have proposed $100M (down from $105M in their first proposal). So the two sides are very far apart on the money.

They're also far apart on the Competitive Balance Tax (CBT), also known as the luxury tax. The league is proposing very modest increases, while also proposing harsher penalties for exceeding the threshold. The players, meanwhile, are proposing a substantial increase and are obviously not interested in harsher penalties for exceeding the threshold. Also in the league's proposal on Saturday was a modest increase in the league minimum salary (two options were presented: one a flat rate, the other a tiered rate based on service time).

Ben also discusses some of what's going on regarding rights and pay for Minor Leaguers. The league is arguing in a class action lawsuit that they shouldn't have to pay Minor League players during Spring Training, and that the players are the ones who benefit from the instruction. They paid someone $775 an hour to come to these conclusions, which is pretty bad optics for the league. Ben also talks about the fact that rights for Minor Leaguers has increasingly become a part of the mainstream conversation around the sport, which is undoubtedly a sign of progress. In recent years, because of pressure from advocates for Minor Leaguers, the league has agreed to increase the pay for MiLB players, and this year they will begin to guarantee housing.

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