Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred announced the first work stoppage in 27 years delaying the start of the 2021 baseball season.
Opening day was supposed to be March 31. Now at least the first two series of the season are canceled. The earliest spring training can begin is March 8, according to the commissioner.
“Our failure to reach an agreement was not due to a lack of effort by either party,” Manfred said.
Manfred went on.
“The most unfortunate thing, that agreement, the one we offered to our players, offered huge benefits to our players and fans,” Manfred said.
With the cancellation of the opening two series, the Mets will miss a series against Washington and Atlanta, all games were to be played at home. The earliest the Mets would play a regular season game is April 7 in Washington.
Currently, there are no plans to make those games up. Players will not be paid for missed games.
“Our position is that games that are not played, players will not get paid for,” Manfred said.
MLB had three months to negotiate with the players but saved it until the last 10 days to do so. The self-imposed deadline by the owners was not met and now both sides suffer the consequences.
“If it were solely in my ability or the ability of the clubs to make an agreement, we would have an agreement,” Manfred said.
Seemingly with every day that passes after March 8 more games will be announced as canceled. MLB made the last proposal. Manfred made it seem like the onus is on the players to now negotiate.
“Every single issue in the basic agreement, we have made the last proposal. You draw your own conclusion as to who ought to go next,” Manfred said.
The sides could not agree on a new collective bargaining tax, player minimum salary, and a pre-arbitration bonus pool among other issues. Eventually, the sides will have to reconvene and make a deal. Hopefully, too much of the season doesn’t pass by then.
