On Tuesday, MLB postponed the March 31 Opening Day and canceled the first two series of regular season games after a deal was not struck.
The collective agreement determines the conditions for hiring players. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred noted that players would not be paid for canceled games.
The league has indicated it is willing to continue negotiations, while the union has said team owners are trying to crack the players’ united front.
“We have worked hard to avoid a result that is bad for our fans, bad for our players and bad for our clubs,” Manfred told reporters earlier this week. “I want to reassure our fans that our failure to reach an agreement was not due to a lack of effort on either side.”
Initially, the league canceled all spring practice games through March 7, with MLB opening day scheduled for March 31. The commissioner said the games were canceled, not postponed, because it was not possible to reschedule matches between leagues.
The earliest spring practice games can start currently on March 18th.
The players’ union on Tuesday criticized the league’s decision to postpone opening day and cancel regular games, saying in a statement that players and fans are “outraged but sadly not surprised.”
“From the very beginning of these negotiations, the goals of the players have been consistent – to promote competition, provide fair compensation for young players and maintain the integrity of our market system,” the union said. “Against a backdrop of rising revenues and record profits, we are looking for nothing but a fair deal.”
The league locked players out on December 2, preventing them from using team facilities and preventing free agents from signing new contracts. The stop is due to a disagreement over how to distribute an estimated $11 billion in annual revenue.
The owners say they have been hit by a decline in attendance due to the Covid-19 pandemic and they have pushed to sign a new CBA similar to the most recent one.
Meanwhile, player salaries have declined in recent years, especially for non-star players. The union pushed for a change in the league’s restrictive freedom of action rules and a reduction in financial penalties for teams that spend heavily.
Wayne Sterling of CNN, Steve Almasi, Kevin Dotson, Jill Martin and Eric Levenson contributed to this report.