Greg Lovett-USA TODAY NETWORK

This is a roundtable we did not want to do. We had such high hopes earlier this week… that were all then crushed. But now, here are are, all wondering when the 2022 MLB Season will actually begin. We don’t have any insider knowledge that we’re sharing with you — this is just what we think.

Mike Mayer

The owners have been willing to miss games since they instituted the unnecessary lockout back in December and negotiations haven’t progressed to the point where it feels like a deal gets done in the near-future. Now that Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that RSNs would stop paying teams after 25 games missed, I’m inclined to think that is the real deadline for the owners.

With that said, I would estimate we should the first regular season game of 2022 around April 18th.

Alex Horowitz

As the calendar inches closer to April, the pressure will be on the league to get a deal done. Despite being far apart in talks now, I believe both sides ramp up conversation with each new day. I say we see Opening Day on April 15.

Patrick Glynn

Jackie Robinson Day wouldn’t be a bad idea (both this year and long-term), as Alex predicted, but for some reason I think the owners *still* believe the players are going to cave to their latest offer—or at least close to it. I just haven’t seen any evidence the owners really want to get spring training and regular season games started as soon as possible. The only way the owners get the players to cave is by canceling more games, but they’ll just be met with a still-unified player front. The players are in it for the long-haul, as they’ve said time and time again, and the owners think they’re bluffing. This is all to say, I don’t think we get games until the end of April at the earliest, largely because the owners either don’t have ears or choose not to use them. I’ll call the start of the season on May 2.

Michelle Ioannou 

April will be here before we know it. At the rate these talks are going, I’m just not optimistic. I don’t see Opening Day happening in April, or at least until the end of April. Selfishly, my birthday is April 26 and what better gift can I get than some long awaited baseball?

Aaron Pags

The 2022 season start date is in the hands of baseball’s 30 owners. MLBPA wants to be at the table until they reach a deal, while the owners use public relations tactics to sway national opinion. When they (the owners) are ready to give a little to continue to gain a lot, that is when we will see Major League players back on the field. How long could that take? With a group of individuals accustomed to dominating business negotiations, I fear that they await a players union breakdown. This group of player leaders appears deadset not to cross the line in the infield dirt at the table. Money dominates these discussions, but pride keeps the numbers apart.

Owners are proud of their organizations and players of their trade, leaving fans to wait on too two prideful collections to remember this business partnership has a third associate–us fans. I hope for the first week of May, but on March 4, that hope fades with every nonadvancing 90-minute conversation between the two (of three) sides with representation at the table.

Rich Sparago

I’m holding out hope that the season will begin on April 15. There are two main reasons. First, as others have noted, April 15 is Jackie Robinson Day, and this is the 75th anniversary of his breaking the color barrier. While MLB is incredibly tone deaf, I have to think they realize, especially given the racial sensitivities in the world right now, that not having games on April 15 would be a public relations nightmare, the likes of which they have not seen to date and cannot withstand at this point.

Next. the first paycheck for the players in April 15. They players, unless something is negotiated, will miss that check. It will be a way for MLB to prove its point-we cost you a paycheck, because we can. Then, the the game can get back on the field, and this whole saga can come to an end, or at least a five-year pause. I think the players are ready to go, and will accept any reasonable deal to get to spring training by mid-March with an April 15 start. Maybe I’m too optimistic, but the stars seem to align for Opening Day at Citi Field on April 15.