New Urgency In Labor Talks As Deadline Set, Games Are Officially Cancelled

With labor talks between MLB and MLBPA moving at a glacial pace, baseball has now officially lost some games due to the standoff. MLB announced that spring training games from Feb. 26 through March 4th have been cancelled.

MLB: “We regret that, without a collective bargaining agreement in place, we must postpone the start of Spring Training games until no earlier than Saturday, March 5. All 30 Clubs are unified in their strong desire to bring players back to the field and fans back to the stands.”
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 18, 2022

“We regret that, without a collective bargaining agreement in place, we must postpone the start of Spring Training games until no earlier than Saturday, March 5," announced MLB. "All 30 Clubs are unified in their strong desire to bring players back to the field and fans back to the stands.”

MLB has set a deadline of Feb. 28th for the lockout to be lifted in order to have the season start on time on March 31st.

The two sides are scheduled to meet again on Monday. But as Jon Heyman points out, the time has arrived for lengthy, meaningful discussions, or the start of the regular season is in jeopardy.

This new format for MLB/MLBPA talks where a proposal is given by one side and the other barely grunts has to go. Time is short so longer sessions with face-to-face give and take are needed now.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 18, 2022