MLB's Rob Manfred Believes 2022 Season Will Start on Time Despite Lockout, CBA Talks

As things stand, Major League Baseball isn't delaying the start of spring training and hopes to start the regular season on time. 

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters there is "no change right now" to spring training as negotiations with the MLB Players Association about a new collective bargaining agreement continue. 

"We're going to have a conversation with the MLBPA about the calendar...until we have that conversation and until we see how this session on Saturday goes, it's no change," he said. 

Asked about the March 31 start date for the regular season, Manfred said he is "an optimist, and I believe we will have an agreement in place" to begin on time. 

Manfred made his comments during a press conference on Thursday on the final day of the MLB owners meetings in Orlando. 

News of spring training potentially being delayed has been expected as the two sides continue their negotiations. 

Per ESPN's Jeff Passan, the most recent meeting on Feb. 1 "led to no significant progress" between the two sides and almost assuredly signaled spring training wouldn't begin on time: 

"Major chasms between the sides remain on a number of key issues, almost all of which tie back to the game's core economics, which have shifted significantly in recent years in favor of teams. The average salary for players has dropped in four consecutive seasons, and players are seeking to reverse that in multiple areas."

As Manfred noted, the next negotiating session between the owners and union will come on Saturday.

Pitchers and catchers remain scheduled to have their first workout for most teams on Feb. 17 and 18. The first spring training games are scheduled to be played Feb. 26. 

"You're always one breakthrough away from making an agreement," Manfred said. He added that the owners have agreed to implement a universal designated hitter and eliminate draft-pick compensation for teams that lose a qualified free agent. 

MLB implemented the lockout on Dec. 2 when the previous CBA expired. 

Passan reported on Feb. 3 that MLB requested immediate assistance from a federal mediator to help resolve the lockout. 

The MLBPA denied the request, saying in a statement "the clearest path to a fair and timely agreement is to get back to the table. Players stand ready to negotiate."

Several players have taken to Twitter in the past week to express their unhappiness with Manfred and team owners over the state of negotiations:

Per The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich, some of the key issues in the CBA negotiations include raising the minimum salary, arbitration, the luxury-tax threshold, a draft lottery and service-time manipulation. 

The lockout marked the end of 27 years of labor peace between the owners and MLBPA. MLB hasn't had any lost games because of labor strife since the 1994-95 player strike resulted in the cancellation of the final two months of the regular season and entire postseason in 1994, as well as a shortened 1995 campaign with 144 regular-season games.