DETROIT – Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announced the first two series of the regular season have been canceled after ownership failed to reach a deal with players before Tuesday’s league-imposed deadline.
Manfred said players won’t be paid for canceled games.
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The two sides spent more than 16 hours negotiating and met 13 times between 10 a.m. Monday and 3 a.m. Tuesday, prompting MLB to push back its deadline to 5 p.m. Tuesday.
But MLB’s “best and final” offer differed little from previous proposals, and as a result, the arbitrary deadline passed without a deal.
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In total, players and owners spent nine days in Jupiter, Florida, without reaching an agreement.
MLB decided to impose a lockout in December, claiming it would speed up negotiations. What followed was more than 40 days without a single meeting or offer.
Now, because of the league-imposed lockout, league-imposed deadline and an inability to agree to a new CBA, the regular season has been cut short.
