MLB Rumors: MLBPA, Owners 'Far' From Agreement in CBA Talks Ahead of Monday Deadline

The 2022 MLB season appears to be in danger of being delayed as talks between the league and the MLBPA reportedly have not yielded much progress amid the ongoing lockout.

ESPN's Jesse Rogers reports that both sides remain "far from an agreement" ahead of Monday's deadline to set a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, despite Sunday's conversations going well. Evan Drellich of The Athletic confirmed that "the gap on key issues remains large," and the sides plan to meet earlier than originally planned on Monday.

Rogers added that Sunday's negotiations were "productive," though he also cautioned that it isn't necessarily a reason for optimism.

"Productive doesn't necessarily mean progress towards a deal by tomorrow, but at least they're still talking," Rogers stated.

Pre Drellich, negotiations are beginning to take a quid-pro-quo approach. For example, the league is trying to eliminate qualifying offers in exchange for increasing the CBT tax threshold. MLB is reportedly willing to go above its starting point for the CBT tax rates of $214 million, but not by much.

Drellich also stated that neither side made any new formal proposals on Sunday. But he said there was ample discussion, such as, "if we did X, could you do Y, and so forth."

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported that a sticking point on the players' side is the league's proposal to expand to a 14-team playoff format. The union reportedly believes there isn't "enough incentive for two division winners that did not finish with best overall record in league and receive bye into Division Series."

If both sides can't agree to a new CBA by Monday, it will lead to Opening Day being pushed back from its original date of March 31.

The league said last week that it plans on sticking to tomorrow's deadline. As a result, regular-season games will be canceled, and salary won't be paid for those games if a deal is not reached.