JUPITER, Fla. — Major League Baseball’s players union rejected the owners’ offer ahead of the league-imposed 5 p.m. ET deadline Tuesday and commissioner Rob Manfred announced the cancellation of Opening Day – and the first two series of the 2022 season.
MLB had said it needed an agreement by the deadline before cancelling regular season games without pay, that are scheduled to begin March 31.
MLB claimed the two sides were close to a deal in the wee hours Tuesday morning and that the union’s tenor dramatically changed, reflected by their proposals.
“We thought there was a path to a deal last night and that both sides were closing in on the major issues,’’ an MLB spokesman said. “They couldn’t make us a CBT proposal last night, so we agreed to extend the deadline to exhaust every option.
“The MLBPA had a decidedly different tone today and made proposals inconsistent with prior discussions. We will be making our best offer by the 5 p.m. deadline for the MLBPA that’s a fair deal for players and clubs.’’
The union vehemently disagreed with the notion that the tone had changed and said that it always remained far apart in core economic issues, despite reaching a compromise on a 12-team playoff field and dropping their request to expand the arbitration-eligibility pool.
San Francisco Giants pitcher Alex Wood was among the players to speak up on Twitter as the deadline approached.
“The last 24hrs I’d say there was cautious optimism on the players side because the owners were actually at the table negotiating with us toward a deal,” Wood wrote. “What we’re asking is more than fair. If there’s no deal the optimism from MLB was a PR illusion to make it look like they tried.”
The major differences between the two sides are on the luxury tax, bonus pool and minimum salary.
The union is seeking a luxury tax threshold of $238 million in 2022, $244 million in 2023, $250 million in 2024, $256 million in 2025 and $263 million in 20026.
MLB’s final proposal: $220 million, $220 million, $220 million, $224 million and $230 million.
The union is seeking a pre-arbitration bonus pool of $85 million that rises by $5 million per year. MLB has offered a $30 million pool that remains stagnant.
MLB has proposed a $700,000 minimum salary that rises by $10,000 a year. The union is seeking $725,000 with $20,000 raises for the first two years.
