Another day, another unproductive meeting between the MLB Players’ Union and the owners. The two sides came together on Thursday afternoon in a meeting that only lasted 15 minutes before they went their separate ways. According to reports, next to no progress was made — an unfortunate constant every time the parties meet. However, there is some reason to believe a change could be coming soon.
Pitchers and catchers were supposed to report to camp this week. Spring Training games are supposed to start as early as next week. Obviously, those will be pushed back, and so will the regular season if things don’t begin to turn quickly. According to several reports, the MLB informed the Players’ Union today that a deal must be agreed to by February 28th for the season to begin on time.
MLB informed the players union that a new CBA must be agreed upon by Feb. 28 to start the 2022 regular season on time, via multiple sources. pic.twitter.com/DxQg56N4mz
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) February 18, 2022
That gives the two sides ten days to come to an agreement or the season will be pushed back, which seems inevitable. However, that does not mean games will be canceled, and there is some hope that serious progress could be made as early as next week. According to Jeff Passan, the two sides are expected to start meeting every day beginning on Monday. He also notes that many people around the situation believe a deal could come together quickly.
For everyone who’s saying “why not sooner?”: One of the things that’s struck me for months now is a majority of industry people believe a deal could come together very quickly and that things will accelerate at end of February. Monday may not be ideal but offers plenty of time.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 18, 2022
Those words should make every baseball fan grin, but it does make you wonder why this kind of effort couldn’t have happened much sooner. From the jump, this entire negotiation has seemed rather childish, but I’m not going to complain. Like the rest of you, I’m desperate for baseball, and I’ll take any promising news at this point.
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