Manfred Laughs Before Canceling 2022 MLB Games

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred laughed at his press conference prior to canceling the first two series of the 2022 MLB Season.

Declan Harris | Mar 1, 2022

It's official, the 2022 MLB regular season will be delayed. Rob Manfred took the podium before a national television audience Tuesday evening to announce that the first two series of the season were cut, and to address the day's meeting between MLB and the MLBPA.

"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,” stated Manfred.

Following this quote, Manfred began inexplicably laughing during a brief pause in the announcement.

It was an unfortunate display of amusement during a press conference which should have been anything but amusing. Manfred's actions were understandably unsettling to much of a baseball community for which he should be a leader.

One unnamed player, when asked for comment on Manfred by Robert Murray of FanSided responded, "Are you talking about the guy who cut 42 minor-league teams and called the World Series trophy a hunk of metal?”

Manfred explained further that the canceled games will not be made up at a later date due to the scheduling difficulties that come with planning an inter-league series, "Every single day, you have an inter-league series, where those teams are not back together enough to make rescheduling feasible." said Manfred.

When asked about pay and service time over those canceled games, Manfred responded, "Our position is that games that aren't played, the players will not get paid for them."

The cancellation comes after the two sides failed to reach a new CBA, with the players unanimously declining the league's latest offer, per ESPN's Jeff Passan. That offer saw little changes to the luxury tax, an increase in the pre-arbitration pool, a $700,000 minimum salary, a 12-team playoff format and a five-pick lottery draft system.

BREAKING: MLBPA player leaders agreed unanimously not to accept MLB's final proposal, and there will be no deal on a new collective-bargaining agreement before MLB's 5 p.m. ET deadline, sources tell ESPN.

MLB has threatened to cancel its March 31 Opening Day without a new deal.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 1, 2022

During his announcement, Manfred addressed several of the components of their most recent offer.

On the topic of the minimum salary, a heavy point for the players association, Manfred elaborated, "We agree and share that goal." said Manfred, "We offered to raise the minimum salary to $700,000, an increase of $130,000 from last year."

When it came to the competitive balance tax, Manfred explained the owner's standing on the matter, "I think it's important to look at the CBT thresholds over the last several agreements, I think the proposal we made is right in line with the increases seen in the past." said Manfred, "I think you also need to remember that the last five years have been very difficult years from a revenue perspective from the industry given the pandemic... to weaken the only mechanism in the agreement to promote some semblance to competitive balance is something that the club group is prepared to do right now."

According to Manfred, the earliest time meetings could resume would be Thursday in New York City.

"I'd like to keep to the idea that we're willing to go back to the table and figure out whether we're able to make an agreement," said Manfred.

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Published Mar 1, 2022

DECLAN HARRIS

Declan Harris is a writer for FanNation's 'Inside the Phillies'.