MLB Has Cancelled Opening Day After It Fails to Reach Deal with Players Union

Baseball fans will be disappointed to learn that Major League Baseball (MLB) has canceled Opening Day and some regular-season games after owners failed to reach a deal with players.

The MLB and its players union failed to reach a deal by an MLB-imposed Tuesday deadline. As a result, baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said he would cancel Opening Day and some regular-season games.

The Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) said its members are “disgusted, but not surprised” by the decision.

Talks will be able to resume Thursday at the earliest, Manfred said.

Manfred officially canceled the first two series of the regular season, labeled the negotiations “deadlocked” and added that no new meetings are scheduled. The commissioner said Tuesday’s session was “not a particularly productive day” and that MLB officials would “regroup and figure out how we’re going to move the process forward.”

Manfred said, “Players will not get paid” for a full season with the cancellation.

The MLBPA said the lockout is “the culmination of a decades-long attempt by owners to break our Player fraternity. As in the past, this effort will fail.”

MLB owners had set a deal deadline of Monday, but they extended it to 5 p.m. ET Tuesday. Owners and players have been negotiating nearly nonstop in recent days.

“I’m really disappointed that we didn’t make an agreement,” Manfred said. “And I’m really committed to doing everything possible to get one.”

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