After meeting for nine straight days at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, FL, MLB and the Players Association didn’t reach a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) before Monday’s deadline.
Monday had several important breakthroughs in negotiations that led MLB to believe there could be a deal soon, so they decided to extend their deadline to Tuesday.
The sides, however, just couldn’t reach a deal, as the union didn’t like MLB’s “take it or leave it” offer near the buzzer.
As a result of the failure to meet the deadline, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred cancelled the first two series of the season in a press conference shortly after the last meeting.
What’s Next? Nobody Knows
Now, there is a sense of uncertainty regarding the future of the game and, more specifically, the 2022 season.
“Welp, that didn’t go as planned. All parties are headed home today. Hopefully the progress they did make here in Fla. can still lead to a deal sooner rather than later. Fingers crossed for the sport,” were the words, via Twitter, of ESPN reporter Jesse Rogers.
Welp, that didn't go as planned.
All parties are headed home today. Hopefully the progress they did make here in Fla. can still lead to a deal sooner rather than later.
Fingers crossed for the sport.
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) March 2, 2022
The next steps in the CBA talks are unclear at this point: the sides didn’t completely cut off the dialogue, but there isn’t a meeting scheduled as of Wednesday afternoon.
The one thing we know for sure is that they won’t be meeting today and they are leaving Florida.
There should still be a sense of urgency to negotiate, because the fact that Manfred already cancelled the first two series doesn’t actually buy the parties much more time: they need a deal to avoid calling off more games.
The union naturally needs to play as many games as possible, but they won’t do it at the expense of their future earnings.
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