On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick, who covers the San Francisco Giants, discusses the latest with the state of the Major League Baseball lockout. On Thursday, for the first time since the lockout began on Dec. 2, MLB made a core economics proposal to the MLB Players Association. To absolutely no one's surprise, the players were not impressed with the league's proposal. The league's proposals ranged from modest to absurd, including a bizarre attempt to address service time manipulation that would see teams rewarded with a draft pick if prospects ranked in the top 100 (inherently subjective) win Rookie of the Year or finish in the top three in MVP or Cy Young voting in their first three years after being placed on an Opening Day roster in their first year.

In other areas, MLB's proposal included only modest change, and more importantly, the league did not address the players' biggest concerns. There was no change to the competitive balance tax, currently $210 million. The players have proposed an increase to $245 million. There were no changes to arbitration and free agency. The MLBPA has sought to have players reach arbitration a year sooner (two years instead of three).

There were, however, some areas where it's not impossible to see an agreement come together. Both sides have proposed a lottery system for the bottom teams in the draft. The league proposed the bottom three teams enter a lottery; the players have proposed eight. The league has proposed expanding playoffs to 14 teams; the players have proposed expanding it to 12. The league also continued to propose a universal designated hitter, something that the players have wanted for a long time, as it adds another player on every roster.

Ultimately, it's hard to call this a productive meeting. Spring Training is likely to be delayed as the teams continue to negotiate, and Ben believes the regular season is likely to be delayed as well. Eventually, economic pressure on both sides caused by missing games seems most likely to incentivize the coming together on a new agreement. It's just a matter of when that happens.

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