The lockout that has delayed spring training for the Braves and the 29 other MLB teams centers around money, as baseball’s labor disputes always do, but in tangled ways.
MLB hasn’t had a salary cap, and it won’t have one after this lockout ends, either. Instead, the fight is over how various measures might combine to encourage or discourage spending by owners on players.
As the two sides negotiate this week in Jupiter, Florida, here are five pivotal issues that ultimately have to be resolved and how each could affect the Braves:
1. Luxury tax
The issue: In lieu of a salary cap, MLB has a luxury tax – also known as the competitive balance tax – that severely discourages spending beyond a certain payroll level by even the wealthiest clubs.