MLB News: 162-Game Season Still Possible if Deal Reached Today
Last week, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred officially cancelled, not postponed, the first two regular season series after the league and the MLBPA were unable to agree on the terms of a new CBA. Many baseball fans assumed that Manfred’s announcement spelled the end of any hopes of a full, 162-game season.
Evidently, there’s still a sliver of hope that a full season will be played. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported on Monday night that a 162-game season can be preserved if the MLB and MLBPA can get a deal done by the end of Tuesday.
Tuesday marks another seminal day in baseball labor talks, sources tell ESPN. With a deal, a 162-game season is back and players report Friday. Without one, MLB cancels another week of games and a future deal becomes far more complicated.
News at ESPN: https://t.co/xqi8ZCkC0f
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 8, 2022
Why might this deadline be different? Passan explains.
“The urgency to strike a labor deal ratcheted up Monday as the league suggested that Tuesday was the deadline for a 162-game season and for the players to receive full pay and full service time. The union has held firm, even after MLB canceled the first week of the season, that 162 games of pay and service time are central to any deal struck, and it has threatened to withhold expanded playoffs without them.”
Passan also reported that MLB offered to increase the competitive balance tax (CBT) threshold from $220M to $228M. The players’ association requested $238M on Monday. The two parties will have to find common ground on one of the most contentious topics in the CBA negotiations.
If somehow MLB and the MLBPA can check the rest of the boxes, which is much, much easier said than done, 23 of the 30 owners must ratify a potential CBA. The players must approve a deal as well.
Deal or no deal, Dodgers Nation will have the update ready for you!
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