MLB Rumors: League Suggests Tuesday as Deadline for 162-Game Season, Full Player Pay

Major League Baseball is eyeing another hypothetical deadline as it and the MLB Players Association attempt to come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement to end the league-initiated lockout.

The Athletic's Evan Drellich reported lawyers for both sides met Monday and plan on doing so again Tuesday. The league apparently sees Tuesday as the deadline for playing a 162-game season and for players to receive full pay and service time for the campaign.

However, that all must be negotiated as part of whatever new agreement is finally put in place.

This means another deadline in the eyes of the league, which set one on the ninth day of negotiating in Florida following a number of meetings and proposals.

The two sides did not come to an agreement, and MLB responded by canceling the first two regular-season series of the year. Monday's update suggests it still sees the chance at 162 games, which would likely mean playing doubleheaders, eliminating some off days or tacking on a week at the end of the regular season.

That, of course, would require settling on an agreement by Tuesday, which seems increasingly unlikely.

While ESPN's Jesse Rogers reported the union offered to reduce its pre-arbitration bonus pool offer by $5 million to $80 million in a proposal Sunday, there were no changes in the competitive balance tax aspect of the proposal.

Both sides are far apart on those two primary issues, with the league looking for $30 million in its pre-arbitration bonus pool and a CBT threshold that starts at $220 million and increases to $230 million over five years. The union's proposal is for the CBT to start at $238 million and increase to $263 in that period.

"We were hoping to see some movement in our direction to give us additional flexibility and get a deal done quickly," league spokesperson Glen Caplin said Sunday.

"The players' association chose to come back to us with a proposal that was worse than Monday night and was not designed to move the process forward. On some issues, they even went backwards. Simply put, we are deadlocked. We will try to figure out how to respond, but nothing in this proposal makes it easy."

However, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the league may be willing to give in some on the CBT threshold if the union lowers the $80 million pre-arbitration bonus pool offer.

There has at least been some minor progress, as Rogers reported the union agreed to give the league just 45 days to make changes to the pitch clock, the size of the bases and the shift as opposed to the year's notice that was previously required.

Such rule changes could happen in 2023.