Lead negotiators representing Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association are set for “informal” talks on Thursday as the risk of further shortening the 2022 season grows.
The two sides broke off talks when negotiations failed before Tuesday’s league-imposed 5 p.m. ET deadline, extending a lockout by baseball’s team owners in the first work stoppage in 26 years.
Several prominent players, including Mike Trout and Anthony Rizzo, have supported the position from players that they won’t compromise on all elements of the deal and are fighting for the interests of baseball’s next generation.
Owners are reportedly comfortable pulling up to one month of the regular season off the table.
The union unanimously rejected what MLB deemed its “best offer” for the sides to salvage a March 31 Opening Day.
“I had hoped against hope I wouldn’t have to have this press conference where I am going to cancel some regular-season games,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday afternoon. “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.”
This is the ninth work stoppage in MLB history, and 2022 becomes the first MLB season since 1995 to lose games over a work stoppage.
–Field Level Media