MLBPA player leaders agreed unanimously not to accept MLB’s final proposal, and there was no deal on a new collective bargaining agreement before MLB’s 5 p.m. ET deadline.
MLB had threatened to cancel its March 31 Opening Day without a new deal and commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed that Tuesday afternoon.
“The calendar dictates that we’re not going to be able to play the first two series of the regular season and those games are officially canceled,” Manfred said.
The sides will head home after negotiating for nine days and determine next steps for returning to the bargaining table.
Manfred said with the union representation heading home, “No agreement is possible until at least Thursday.”
The union is expected to address the media at 6:30 p.m. ET.
MLB’s final proposal, which was delivered before 4 p.m. Tuesday, featured an increase from $25 million to $30 million in a pre-arbitration bonus pool each year for the length of the deal, while the union wants to begin with $85 million in the pool and go up by $5 million each year. On collective balance tax thresholds, the league’s last offer remained the same as its previous one, which started at $220 million and was flat for three years before going up to $224 million in Year 4 and $230 million in Year 5. The union wants to start at $238 million with raises to $244 million, $250 million, $256 million and end at $263 million.
The league also increased its proposal for minimum salaries from $675,000 to $700,000, moving up $10,000 per year. Those figures are based on there being an increase to 12 postseason teams and the addition of five lottery slots in the draft.
Information from ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers was used in this report.