Quote:
Originally Posted by itsmb8
MLB and the Players Assoc need to go to arbitration. Both sides lay out exactly what they want, the arbitrator decides who gets what.
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Those of us who have been through arbitration hearings shudder at the thought of that in baseball. It seems simple; but it is not. Start with the arbitrator. If he/she has absolute ability to dictate a solution, full discretion, the only real issue is who that person is. I don’t think there is any one person to whom both sides would agree to give that power. So a fallback would be a “baseball” arbitration, where each side makes a final proposal, and the arbitrator is bound to pick one of them. Still tough to imagine a person with that authority that both sides would trust.
A mediator is a better tool here, IMHO. Not a person who decides the deal; but someone with good communication skills who is given the authority to convene meetings and require submissions. The best mediators can talk very candidly to each side about what is at stake, appeal to their fears, appeal to their better instincts. The best mediation technique is to lock the negotiators in a room, or better yet two rooms with a conference room in-between, and not let them out until they have an agreement. I once had a mediator deny me coffee until I worked on my client to be reasonable. It worked!