Happy Wednesday, Athletics Nation?
“I see missing games as a disastrous outcome for this industry, and we’re committed to making an agreement in an effort to avoid that.”
That’s what Rob Manfred said in February, as urgency was heating up to reach a new Collective Bargaining Agreement in time to ensure a full 2022 season. But yesterday, that disastrous outcome became an inevitability when the players rejected the league’s latest proposal, prompting the league to cancel each MLB team’s first two series of the scheduled regular season.
Per Evan Drellich of The Athletic, the league projected optimism in the wake of a marathon of Monday meetings, and extended their self-imposed February 28 deadline until 5 p.