As MLB and the MLBPA meet again today, there is a chance that if a deal gets done, the cancelled games from the 2022 regular season schedule could be made up by being tacked onto the end of the schedule.
There have been a ton of important issues surrounding these CBA talks, most notably the CBT thresholds and the amount of pre-arbitration bonus pool money.
Another major sticking point has been expanded playoffs.
The owners have sought a 14-team field, while the players have sought a 12-team field.
The two sides had reached an agreement on expanding the postseason to 12 teams last week during negotiations in Jupiter.
In these current labor talks, the expanded postseason will include 12 teams, as the players have sought, and not 14, as the owners desired.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 8, 2022
12 Teams It Is
As Bob Nightengale notes, the two sides are working off of their agreement to expand the postseason to 12 teams instead of 14.
This seems to be what they are set on.
The owners were able to drop their request for 14 teams last week in Jupiter and meet the players in the middle.
According to Jon Heyman, there were rumors that the players would be willing to re-open discussions for a 14-team field if the owners compromised on certain things, but the two sides could not agree on the format for a 14-team playoff field.
The owners wanted a best-of-three series with the higher seed hosting all three games, while the players wanted it to be best-of-five, with the higher seed starting out with a 1-0 advantage, essentially being awarded a “ghost win.”
The owners were not in favor of the ghost win format.
It appears that 12 teams is what they will be working off of going forward, and that the idea of a 14-team setup is now a thing of the past.
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