Major League Baseball announced on Wednesday that two more series would be removed from the schedule, meaning no games would be played until April 14 the earliest.
The latest “cancellation” made it seem like a 162-game season could not be saved, but that may not necessarily be the case.
MLB reporter Jayson Stark noted that the language in commissioner Rob Manfred’s press release used the phrase “removed from the schedule” rather than “canceled.”
MLB told Stark that there was no significance to that, but he added that his sources said there is still a belief a 162-game season could be played if a deal is reached on Thursday.
Audacy’s MLB insider Bob Nightengale also reported that the two sides could still resurrect a full season in negotiations on Thursday and MLB reporter Ken Rosenthal also said a 162-game season has not been ruled out, though noted things would need to move quickly.
MLB has imposed these “deadlines,” which it has had no issue moving multiple times, to try and get the players’ association to reach a deal in order to save the season and avoid cancellation of games.
Each time games have been “removed from the schedule,” it has been followed with reports that a 162-game season was still on the table.
How they would still play a full season is still unclear. There are various routes they could take, such as doubleheaders or tacking games on at the end and just extending the postseason into November.
Whatever the case may be, the self-imposed deadlines in recent weeks seem to be more of a negotiating ploy to get a deal done than anything else.
However, there are still plenty of hurdles to clear, such as the international draft, competitive balance tax and bonus pool issues, among others. If the lockout does continue to beyond this week, it will be hard to envision how likely it will be to play a full season.
But, as of Thursday March 10, there still seems to be a glimmer of hope.
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