MLB cancels games, delays the regular season

Commissioner Rob Manfred officially announced MLB will cancel the first two series of the season after the last offer by owners was rejected by the player’s union on Tuesday. This wipes out the season-opening series in Cleveland for the Royals, as well as the home-opening series against the White Sox. As it stands now, the season would begin on April 8 at home against Cleveland. Manfred has said they will not make up the canceled games.

Owners and players met for 15 hours on Monday, giving hope that perhaps the two sides were making progress. The two sides agreed to push back MLB’s self-imposed deadline of February 28 to reach agreement before canceling games. Today, owners made what was described as their “best-and-final offer”, but it was rejected by the union, leading to Manfred’s announcement.

At issue are the competitive balance tax, which punishes teams for spending over a certain amount and was set at $214 million last year, the minimum wage, which has not kept up with inflation, and how many players should be eligible for arbitration, with the union looking to expand it to players with two years of service time.

Manfred addressed the media today, disputing the “best-and-final” offer characterization. He also said MLB will regroup and decide a course of action.

The union has issued a response.

The last time the season was shortened due to a work stoppage was in 1995, when each team played 144 games after the strike ended on March 31. The season was shortened in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic to just 60 games.