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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.
MLB's best-and-final offer:
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 1, 2022
- No changes to CBT thresholds (220/220/220/224/230)
- A $5M increase on pre-arb bonus pool from $25M to $30M
- An increase of minimums from $675K to $700K, moving up $10K/year
The MLBPA's previous offer:
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 1, 2022
- CBT thresholds at 238/244/250/256/263
- Pre-arb bonus pool at $85M with $5M annual increases
- Minimums at $725K going up $20K a year
Manfred addressed the media today, disputing the “best-and-final” offer characterization. He also said MLB will regroup and decide a course of action.
Rob Manfred: “We never used the phrase last, best final offer with the union. We said it was our best offer prior to the deadline to cancel games. Our negotiations are deadlocked right now... but that’s different than using the legal term impasse, and I’m not going to do that rn"
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) March 1, 2022
Rob Manfred said he believes MLB made the most recent offer in every area. "You draw your own conclusion as to who ought to go next."
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) March 1, 2022
“The concerns of our fans are at the very top of our consideration list.” — Rob Manfred, on the day MLB canceled regular-season games, during a league-initiated lockout
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 1, 2022
The union has issued a response.
Statement from the Major League Baseball Players Association: pic.twitter.com/rmpciPsQm4
— MLBPA Communications (@MLBPA_News) March 1, 2022
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.
Poll
How many games will each MLB team play this year?
This poll is closed
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4%
156
-
41%
130-155
-
22%
100-129
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14%
Less than 100
-
15%
There will be no season this year
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