The past twenty-four hours have been grim for the sport of baseball, to say the least. At 5:00 p.m. EST yesterday, March 1, the 2022 Major League Baseball season was officially postponed.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred addressed the public and frantic, frustrated reporters from Jupiter, Florida yesterday evening. He announced that due to the team owners and players failing to reach an agreement, after 91 days of the ongoing lockout, the Major League Baseball season would, in fact, be delayed, with the first two series for each team being outright canceled. These games will not be made up, according to Manfred, and players will not get paid for each game missed.
“The calendar dictates that we are not going to be able to play the first two series of the regular season, and those games are officially canceled,” Manfred said during the press conference. “My deepest hope is we get an agreement quickly. I’m really disappointed we didn’t make an agreement.”
MLB has canceled the first two series of the season.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 1, 2022
After nearly seventeen hours of negotiating on Monday, the owners, represented by Manfred, sent the Players Association a so-called “final offer”, which proposed the minimum player salary to be increased from $675,000 to $700,000, a 12-team postseason, as well as a slight $5 million increase for the pre-arbitration bonus pool, but no increase for the CBT thresholds. The MLBPA rejected this offer, leading to Manfred officially delaying the season.
This official cancellation marks the first time in 28 years that MLB games were lost due to a lockout, with the last one coming in 1994-95. That year, notably, saw the cancellation of 948 games and the entire 1994 World Series. The 2021-22 lockout is the eighth work stoppage in MLB history, and the fifth to cost games. It also marks the third consecutive irregular MLB season, as 2020 saw a shortened 60-game season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2021 season was ravaged with COVID restrictions, outbreaks, and venue capacity limits.
“What Rob Manfred characterized as a ‘defensive lockout’ is, in fact, the culmination of a decades-long attempt by owners to break our Player fraternity,” the MLBPA said through a statement. “As in the past, this effort will fail. We are united and committed to negotiating a fair deal that will improve the sport for Players, fans, and everyone who loves our game.”
.@STR0 makes his feelings clear on the MLB commissioner. 😬 pic.twitter.com/6gRRCIy0Ui
— theScore (@theScore) March 1, 2022
Manfred, notably, has the power to lift the lockout immediately, but will not do so as the players could then strike, similar to what occurred in 1994.
“Players want to play; everyone knows that,” MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said. “But the reason we are not playing is simple: A lockout is the ultimate economic weapon. In a $10 billion industry, the owners have made a conscious decision to use this weapon against the greatest asset they have: the players. But the group won’t be intimidated.”
As of this point, it is unknown when or even if the 2022 MLB season will begin, but with Opening Day shifted back, the earliest day it can begin is April 7 (and it’s likely that it will be pushed back even further, barring a miracle agreement being made within the next week). One thing is for certain: these events are a dark cloud on MLB and the sport of baseball as a whole.
What do you think of the MLB season officially being delayed, and games being canceled? Let us know, by either leaving a reaction below or by sending us a tweet at @celebsecrets.
