After nine straight days of meetings failed to produce a new collective bargaining agreement, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced that the start of the 2022 regular season will be delayed while the owners and players continue to work toward a deal.
”We worked hard to avoid an outcome that's bad for our fans, bad for our players and bad for our clubs,” Manfred said. ”I want to assure our fans that our failure to reach an agreement was not due to a lack of effort by either party.”
Prior to Manfred’s announcement, the owners made their ”best and final” proposal to the players ahead of the deadline, which reportedly featured no changes to the current competitive balance tax thresholds and marginal raises to the league’s minimum salary.