Will the MLB season start on time?

As the CBA negotiations drag on with no sign of either side budging, we look at what chances there are of the regular season starting on time

Jeffrey MayJeff_DiarioASUpdate: Feb 18th, 2022 09:32 EST

Julio AguilarAFP

With Spring Training now dead in the water, eyes shift toward the traditional Opening Day, this year falling on March 31st, and what hope remains of the season starting on time. It was announced by that MLB has set a new deadline of February 28th for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement if there is any hope at all.

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

Throughout this lockout, the owners have acted with contempt and haughtiness in their dealings with the MLBPA as well as with the fans. Don’t be fooled, this lockout is the fault of ownership and ownership alone. They originally stated that they wanted to use the lockout to kickstart talks, but then took 43 days to present their first offer to the players. More than half of the time spent so far in lockout has been simply waiting for the first offer from the MLB.

The players are sticking to their guns, and so they should. The numbers may look huge, but it comes down to counting pennies when you consider the cost per team. In a sport that takes in over $10.7 billion per year, the minimum salary of $775k that the players are asking for is not unreasonable.

Minimum salary: MLB at $630K, MLBPA at $775KPre-arb pool: MLB at $15M, MLBPA at $115MPlayers offering two nine-p revenue streams: playoff expansion (union at 12 teams, not the 14 necessary for $100M in TV $) and ads on uniforms.League offering multiple smaller chunks. https://t.co/QWTm95A0gT

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 17, 2022