Lost Games and Paychecks Look More Likely for MLB

The clock is ticking for MLB and its players to strike a deal.

On Wednesday, the league confirmed that if the two sides don’t agree to a new CBA by Feb. 28, games will be canceled without rescheduling — and players won’t be paid for the lost games.

The notion of pulling this off by Monday is highly implausible at best, considering the number of key issues at stake — and Jeff Passan’s report about just how far apart the league and players association remain.

• MLB has proposed a $214M competitive balance tax threshold for 2022, while the MLBPA is looking for $245M.
• The two sides are $95M apart on a pre-arbitration bonus pool and $135K per player on minimum salary.
• They also disagree on how many teams would be in a proposed draft lottery.

Players stand to lose significant sums of money for each lost game. Mets pitcher (and union leader) Max Scherzer would lose the most per game ($232,975), followed by Angels OF Mike Trout ($199,552).

Perhaps this situation could have been avoided if the negotiations had begun sooner.

After MLB locked players out on Dec. 2, the two sides met for the first time on Jan. 13 — and the league didn’t offer the players a counterproposal until mid-February.