MLB officially cancels first two series of 2022 after deadline passes with no new CBA

After nine consecutive days of collective bargaining between MLB and the MLB Players Association, the two sides could not come to an agreement before the league’s self-imposed deadline for a deal on Tuesday at 2 P.M. PST. As a result, the first two series of the 2022 season have been cancelled.

For the first time since the owners put the current lockout into place 90 days ago on December 1 of last year, it appeared like some momentum was starting to build toward a deal last night. After 42 days of radio silence from the league following their decision to lock out the players and seven days of minimal progress last week, the two sides negotiated for nearly 17 hours on Monday and blew past the league’s initial deadline of 9 P.M. PST, leaving many optimistic about how things would go on Tuesday.

That optimism turned out to be misguided, however, as no significant gains were made in the seven hours that both sides spent at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida today. The league submitted their “best-and-final” offer to the players at approximately 12:30, which the latter declined about an hour later. This essentially ended this round of negotiations, and Commissioner Rob Manfred officially announced the cancellation of games during a press conference with reporters on location shortly after.

As far as the Angels are concerned, this news means that they will no longer play their series against the Athletics in Oakland from March 31-April 3 and the Mariners in Seattle on April 4th and 5th. The earliest possible date that they could return to action is now April 7 against the Houston Astros at home, but with no negotiation sessions scheduled between the two sides as of now and the report that came yesterday that the league is prepared to miss a month of games, it appears likely that these cancellations will eventually stretch even further than they have now.