MLB Postpones Spring Training Games Through March 5 amid Lockout, CBA Negotiations

Amid the ongoing lockout, Major League Baseball has postponed the start of spring training games. 

MLB issued a statement on Friday announcing spring training games won't start before March 5 and the two sides will begin in-person meetings for daily sessions on Monday:

"We regret that, without a collective bargaining agreement in place, we must postpone the start of Spring Training games until no earlier than Saturday, March 5,” the league said in a statement. All 30 clubs are unified in their strong desire to bring players back to the field and fans back to the stands."

"The clubs have adopted a uniform policy that provides an option for full refunds for fans who have purchased tickets from the clubs to any Spring Training games that are not taking place. We are committed to reaching an agreement that is fair to each side. On Monday, members of the owners’ bargaining committee will join an in-person meeting with the Players Association and remain every day next week to negotiate and work hard toward starting the season on time."

The MLBPA issued a statement responding to the postponement of spring training games:

MLB and the MLBPA met on Thursday for a negotiating session in which the union presented a counterproposal to the league. 

The proposal included expanding Super 2 eligibility to the top 80 percent of players with two-plus years of service time and an increase in the pre-arbitration bonus pool from $100 million to $115 million. 

That came after MLB's most recent offer from Feb. 12 included increasing the pre-arbitration bonus pool to $15 million and marginally raising the luxury-tax threshold over the next five years from $214 million in 2022 to $222 million in 2026. 

Per The Athletic's Evan Drellich, the MLBPA was "underwhelmed" by the league's proposal last week. 

Commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters after the owners meetings that a four-week spring training is necessary before the start of the regular season. 

Under that time frame, spring training would have to begin no later than March 3 to make the currently scheduled start of the regular season on March 31. 

During the same press conference, Manfred said that losing regular-season games because of the lockout would be a "disastrous outcome for this industry, and we’re committed to making an agreement in an effort to avoid that."

Pitchers and catchers were originally scheduled to report for most teams on Tuesday. Spring training games were going to begin on Feb. 26 in Arizona and Florida. 

MLB imposed the lockout at 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 1 when the previous collective bargaining agreement expired. It marked the league's first official work stoppage since the 1994-95 player strike.