The new contract must be signed today in order to be entitled to a 162-game season in major league baseball.
This morning, I said that I do not expect to see an agreement signed today.
If the employment contract is not signed tonight, the season will not start on time
There are still big issues to settle.
This afternoon? I tell you that I ABSOLUTELY do NOT expect to see a contract of employment ratified by nightfall.
Why? Because we’re at the point where MLB is threatening players with cutting a month off the season to get their way.
MLB today indicated a willingness to miss a month of games and took a more threatening tone than yesterday, sources briefed on the day’s first meeting between MLB and the Players Association tell me, @Ken_Rosenthal and @FabianArdaya. Full context of conversation not yet known.
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) February 28, 2022
The rhetoric is ratcheting up. ace @EvanDrellich said, MLB suggested in the first meeting with the MLBPA today that the league is willing to cancel a month’s worth of games. What that means, or whether it’s simply a threat, is unclear, but players have taken it as a clear threat.
—Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 28, 2022
Recall that a few weeks ago, Rob Manfred said publicly that cutting games would be a disaster.
The players didn’t deny that, of course. Jameson Taillon mentioned, for his part, that it was customary for MLB to threaten players.
Reaction from a player who attended meetings in Florida https://t.co/3J3GsEOIwc
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) February 28, 2022
Why a month? We imagine that it is a date on which the owners still enter their money.
I don’t know if a month will be cut, but I know the season won’t be 162 games. And again, it’s the fan who pays the bill.
