MLB Extends Deadline to Start Season on Time as CBA Talks Continue

MLB and the MLBPA left without a new CBA, but the two sides made enough progress that the league extended its deadline to 5 p.m. Tuesday

Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association spent more than 16 hours Monday into Tuesday negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement. The goal was to get a deal by the end of the day in order to meet the league’s imposed Monday deadline to start the season on time.

They left without a new CBA, but the two sides made enough progress that MLB extended its deadline to 5 p.m. Tuesday, according to a league spokesperson. The owners and players will be back at the bargaining table Tuesday morning.

There will be no deal on a new collective-bargaining agreement in this early hour, sources tell ESPN. Enough progress was made that MLB and the MLBPA will meet again later today in hopes of finalizing one. Deadline to miss regular-season games has been moved to 5 p.m. today.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 1, 2022

The specific proposals are fluid and are subject to change upon further bargaining, but MLB finally moved on some of the core economic issues that had stalled negotiations for months. The league’s latest offer includes a $220 million competitive balance tax threshold for the first three years of the deal before increasing to $224 million in 2025 and $230 million in ’26. MLB also proposed a $675,000 minimum salary. These two offers are still below the union’s asks.

The players reportedly are seeking a CBT threshold of at least $230 million in the first year of the deal, with increases each year from there, and a minimum salary of at least $700,000, according to the MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.

Both sides seem to be in agreement on a 12-team postseason, though everything can still change and is dependent on the other parts of the proposal. As Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post notes on Twitter, “All of this is fragile.”