MLB and the Players Association had a late night of negotiations on Tuesday, and while the hope was to have a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) by midnight to lift the lockout and play ball, that didn’t happen.
Both sides agreed to extend the deadline to have a full 162-game season for Wednesday, and they are still bargaining.
There are several hurdles to overcome, including the competitive balance tax (CBT), the minimum salary, the pre-arbitration bonus, and now the international draft.
The current pace is slow, however, and we may be in for another late night of waiting around for news, according to MLB insider Jon Heyman.
Things Are Moving Slowly At This Hour
“Things are moving slow so far today in MLB/player talks. Hope was to try to wrap things up late this afternoon but tonight may still be in play. If a deal does get done today, they would play the full 162 with the 6 games made up on off days and by extending season a few days,” he tweeted.
Things are moving slow so far today in MLB/player talks. Hope was to try to wrap things up late this afternoon but tonight may still be in play. If a deal does get done today, they would play the full 162 with the 6 games made up on off days and by extending season a few days.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 9, 2022
MLB and the union are entering dangerous territory: if they don’t secure a deal today and MLB doesn’t extend the deadline, there could be more cancelled games, which would be a worst-case scenario for fans.
If, however, negotiations keep advancing and gaining momentum, there could be a new CBA deal that lifts the lockout and guarantees 162 baseball games in 2022.
It’s certainly worth mentioning that MLB now seems open to rescheduling games and extending the end of the regular season somewhat, when they were reluctant to do that earlier in negotiations.
Everybody is hoping to get some good news on Wednesday night, no matter the time.
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