MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday that MLB will cancel the first two series of the 2022 regular season.
The announcement came after the MLB Players Association and MLB owners failed to come to an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement before the league’s deadline.
Games will be canceled due to labor strife for the first time since 1995. The current lockout has lasted 90 days — the second longest work stoppage in MLB history.
“Players and fans around the world who love baseball are disgusted, but sadly not surprised,” the MLB Players Association said in a statement.
The Giants’ first two series of the season were a four-game trip to San Diego followed by three games, from April 4 to April 6, in Milwaukee.
The MLBPA and MLB negotiated for nine straight days in Jupiter, Fla., including a 16-hour marathon to start this week. But MLB’s self-imposed deadline to save a March 31 Opening Day has now come and gone.
Manfred commended the union for negotiating and trying to come to a deal. He added that the league wants to bargain for an agreement as quickly as possible.
Notably, Manfred said the owners “never used the phrase ‘last, best and final offer’” with the union. The negotiations are deadlocked, Manfred said, but MLB isn’t going to use the legal term “impasse,” which carries serious complications.
Manfred claimed that “the concerns of our fans are at the very top of our consideration list.” The owners’ hardball negotiating tactics haven’t reflect that.
In their final proposal, the owners offered a competitive balance tax threshold of $220 million for each of the next three seasons. MLBPA’s most recent offer on the issue started at $238 million — a figure accounting for inflation and extra revenue generated by expanded playoffs.
On minimum salaries, MLB haggled over seemingly chump change for billionaire owners. Instead of meeting the union’s ask of $725,000 minimum salary that increases by $20,000 annually, management lowballed them in that area too.
And Manfred pointed to the calendar as a reason to cancel games. That’s coming from the side who locked out the players then waited 43 days to make an offer.
Now nobody knows when baseball will start. The longer the two sides fail to reach a deal, the more damage will be done.
This story was updated to include MLBPA’s statement.
