MLB Cancels First 2 Series of 2022 Regular Season After Failed CBA Talks

For the first time since 1995, Major League Baseball's regular season will be delayed because of a work stoppage.

Commissioner Rob Manfred announced Tuesday that the league is canceling the first two regular-season series for all 30 teams after the owners and MLB Players Association were unable to agree to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement.

"The calendar dictates that we're not going to be able to play the first two series of the regular season, and those games are officially canceled," he said. He also said, "Our failure to reach an agreement was not due to a lack of effort by either party."

MLB issued a self-imposed deadline of 5 p.m. ET Tuesday to reach a deal, and the sides spent nine straight days in Florida trying to work out a CBA.

Per The Athletic's Evan Drellich, the final offer presented by MLB included no changes to the competitive balance tax and slight increases to minimum salaries and the pre-arbitration bonus pool:

"Maybe the most unfortunate thing is that agreement, the one we offered to the players, offered huge benefits to our fans and to the players," Manfred said.

The commissioner also said that the owners "never used the phrase 'last, best final offer' with the union."

"We said it was our best offer prior to the deadline to cancel games," he said. "Our negotiations are deadlocked right now... but that's different than using the legal term impasse, and I'm not going to do that right now."

The 2022 regular season was scheduled to begin March 31.

There is no indication when the league and union will meet again. Manfred said the earliest an agreement could happen is Thursday.

Canceling the first two series of the season means the earliest the season will start is April 6. Manfred previously said four weeks of spring training "makes sense."

Under that timeline, a new CBA would have to be in place by March 9 to get a 28-day camp in before an April 6 start date.

The owners implemented the lockout at 11:59 p.m. ET Dec. 1. The work stoppage of 89 days is the second-longest in MLB history, after the 1994-95 player strike (232 days).

That strike ended March 28, 1995. The season began April 25, and the schedule was shortened to 144 games.

This marks the first work stoppage during Manfred's tenure as commissioner. He succeeded Bud Selig in the role on Jan. 25, 2015.