MLB games will be canceled, season shortened if lockout goes past Monday
from Zac Wassink with YardBarker.com/www.yardbarker.com
Representatives for MLB owners and the MLB Players Association met for the third consecutive day to attempt to solve financial disagreements linked with the ongoing lockout that began shortly after midnight ET on Dec. 2. Per ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the sides aren’t relatively close to putting pen to paper on a deal:
Five days before the deadline MLB says will postpone regular-season games, here's the gap between the sides in their latest proposals:
CBT: $31M
Pre-arb bonus pool: $95M
Minimum salary: $135K/player
Draft lottery: 3 picksThat's a lot to cover in less than a week. Like, a lot.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 23, 2022
The work stoppage has already forced the cancellation of spring training games through at least March 5, and previous stories claimed regular-season schedules would be impacted if the lockout continued past 11:59 p.m. ET this coming Monday and into the early hours of next month. According to multiple reporters, owners confirmed Wednesday that the lack of an agreement by the end of Monday will result in the cancellation of regular-season contests that won’t be rescheduled…
As Bob Nightengale of USA Today pointed out, players would, in such a situation, not be paid in full for a shortened campaign:
If the season is shortened, MLB says the players would not be paid in full. If the players are not to be paid in full, the union can turn around and refuse to approve expanded playoffs, a loss of about $100 million in revenue.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) February 23, 2022
Nightengale added it seems to be a matter of when, not if, additional spring training contests will be scrapped.
While the owners and players are set to talk again Thursday, The Athletic’s Evan Drellich repeated others and reminded fans the sides “remain far apart in many important areas” ahead of the Monday deadline…
According to The Associated Press (h/t ESPN), the MLBPA has not yet agreed to the Monday deadline. That, however, may matter little unless the two sides are at least within reach of an agreement by the last night of February.
In a statement released last week, the MLBPA said: “Nothing requires the league to delay the start of spring training, much like nothing required the league’s decision to implement the lockout in the first place.”
Opening Day, still scheduled for March 31 as of Wednesday night, is undeniably in serious jeopardy.