MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred Provides Worrying Update on ‘Stalemate’ in Lockout Negotiations

The lockout in Major League Baseball is not over yet, as the players’ union didn’t accept the final proposal from the owners on February 28. And with this, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has announced more delays in the regular season of MLB.

Notably, the owners had given a deadline of February 28 to the players’ union to accept the proposal for the new CBA. But, the players’ union led by Max Scherzer and other senior MLB players declined the final proposal that didn’t meet the demands of MLBPA.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred cancels league games

Moreover, the owners had already warned the players’ union about the cancellation of league games. If the players’ union doesn’t agree to the CBA before the deadline. The two sides met for nine straight days in Florida, in order to get the new CBA at the earliest. And the major points of the negotiations were the minimum salary and competitive balance thresholds, among other core economic issues.

However, the non-stop nine days meeting ended up extending the lockout and cancellation of regular-season games. Commissioner Manfred canceled the first two series of the season. Meaning, instead of 162 games, MLB teams will play only 156 games, each. With the cancellation of the games, apart from owners, players are also in the loss. As they will also lose their salary on a daily basis.

After the deadline crossed without any agreement between the two parties, Manfred said, that the negotiations are at a standstill. He said, “our negotiations are deadlocked right now.”

Read more: MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred Provides Update On Lockout to Worried Fans Waiting Outside Stadium

Manfred says the last five years have not been good for MLB

Manfred also expressed that the last five years have been very difficult for MLB from a revenue point of view. Notably, in the past two years, the pandemic has also damaged the revenue of the league.

“The last five years have been very difficult years from a revenue perspective for the industry given the pandemic,” added MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.

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Now, only time will tell when the games will resume and fans will get their chances to watch the games in ballparks.