Major League Baseball Cancels Several Regular Season Games
Mar 1, 2022, 2:49 PM | Updated: 2:55 pm
(Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
(Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
If there is going to be a 2022 Major League Baseball season, it will not take place before the second week of April.
Following a lengthy lockout and many days of failed negotiations between Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association, both sides were unable to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement before the league’s imposed 5 pm EST deadline on Tuesday afternoon.
Due to the failure to reach an agreement, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced that the first two series of the 2022 regular season will be canceled.
Manfred added that the canceled games will not be rescheduled or made up, and the players will not be compensated for the games that are missed.
“I had hoped against hope I wouldn’t have to have this press conference where I am going to cancel some regular-season games,” Manfred said Tuesday following another failed session of negotiations. “We worked hard to avoid an outcome that’s bad for our fans, bad for our players, and bad for our clubs. Our failure to reach an agreement was not due to a lack of effort by either party.”
The news of canceled games comes just over 12 hours after both sides went late into the night and early hours of the morning at the negotiating table, with multiple reports surfacing that there was optimism growing towards a deal getting done.
Instead, the players spoke out on Tuesday to share that these reports were not accurate:
Some of the topics discussed included:
- Adding a DH to the National League
- Expanding the postseason to 12 or 14 teams (League wants 14, players want 12)
- Eliminating infield shifts
- Implementation of a pitch clock
- Raising competitive balance task
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the MLB and MLBPA will continue negotiations in New York City. When and where has yet to be determined as both sides will regroup and determine their next course of action.
Overall, it’s a sad day for baseball as there will be cancellations due to work stoppage for the first time in 27 years.
When will the lockout end?
It’s hard to say. Both sides seemed determined to get what they are asking for, with little-to-no good faith negotiations taking place in order to find common ground.
Get used to having no baseball for a while, folks. The way that things have unfolded over the past four months, this could take a lot longer to sort out before players finally report for Spring Training.
