MLB cancels more games amid labor standoff with players

Major League Baseball announced it has canceled more regular-season games that pushes Opening Day to April 14 amid the ongoing lockout between the owners and the league players union, The Washington Post reported.  

In a statement on Wednesday, league commissioner Rob Manfred said both sides worked to get an agreement done with the owners and offered what he called a fair deal to the players union. 

Both sides had been negotiating throughout Tuesday and early Wednesday, with owners telling the players union that agreeing to their proposed deal would save the 162 full-game slate for teams and give players a full-seasons worth of pay, according to the Post. 

The deal proposed to players suggests the league would drop draft pick compensation in exchange for continued discussions about an international draft until the Nov. 15 deadline, which players did not agree to.

“We worked hard to reach an agreement and offered a fair deal with significant improvements for the players and our fans. I am saddened by this situation’s continued impact on our game and all those who are a part of it, especially our loyal fans,” Manfred said in a statement, according to the Post. “We have the utmost respect for our players and hope they will ultimately choose to accept the fair agreement they have been offered.”

Manfred announced last week the initial cancellation of Opening Day games as both sides failed to reach a deal before Tuesday’s deadline. 

This is the ninth work stoppage in MLB history and the first one since the 1994-1995 players’ strike where most of the 1994 regular season and World Series games were canceled. 

The Biden administration recently encouraged the club owners and players union to reach an agreement 

“The best role for government is to encourage the parties to commit themselves fully to collective bargaining that reaches an agreement, and that’s how we feel here,” White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “We encourage Major League Baseball and Major League Baseball Players Association to stay at the bargaining table and reach an agreement as soon as they can so we can kick off the season and get back to enjoying baseball games.”