The odds of the 2022 Major League Baseball regular season starting on time are growing longer, as a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between team owners and the players' union has yet to be finalized. Negotiation would mark the end of an owner-imposed lockout, which began in early December.
Although the league could lift the lockout at any time and resume operations under terms of their old CBA, there's no reason to believe that action will be taken. Consequently, both parties remain at a crossroads, in regard to critical economic issues that affect the game. Opening Day is scheduled for Mar. 31, and MLB has told the players' union that Feb. 28 is essentially the latest they can reach a deal without delaying the season, in some capacity.
"This is one of the most critical weeks in MLB history, when you consider all the damage it would do to this sport, to start missing regular season games," The Athletic senior MLB writer Jayson Stark told The DA Show on Wednesday. "When Rob Manfred, back in November, did that press conference and talked about the reasons that a lockout was such a good idea, it was to try to avoid this. To try to, theoretically, spur conversation during the winter so the season wasn't in jeopardy.
"Yet, Feb. 23, where's the evidence they've ever felt any sense of urgency to avoid what we just described?... The lockout day didn't do it. Christmas Day didn't do it... We're looking at a deadline, five days from now -- it may be a soft deadline -- to start the regular season on time. Is that going to be that thing that convinces them the collateral damage of missing regular season games just isn't worth it? Get back to me in a week, because I'm worried."
Representatives from the league and players' union held in-person meetings on both Monday and Tuesday in Florida, and made only little progress toward a new CBA. The core economic issues on the table include salary arbitration, the competitive balance tax, service time, and pre-arbitration bonus pool. According to The Athletic insider Evan Drellich, both sides will reconvene on Wednesday.
During the lockout period, all normal and traditional offseason activities have been shut down. Communication between the teams and players on 40-man rosters is prohibited, and players can't use team workout facilities. The owner-imposed lockout marks the game's first work stoppage since 1994-95. Details on the latest negotiations and proposals can be found here.
The entire MLB lockout conversation between Stark and DA can be accessed in the audio player above.
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