Major League Baseball has reached the 97th day of its owner-implemented labor stoppage. While the deadline for a deal took place last Tuesday, a full 162-game season could potentially be saved but a new deal needs to be done tonight.

According to Bob Nightengale, the two sides met yesterday on multiple zoom calls trying to find common ground on a new CBA. The MLB proposed multiple new offers with more flexibility than previous talks, but no formal offers were made. A lot of numbers, dates, and deadlines have been flying around Twitter so lets recap where we currently stand.

Current Stance on MLB Lockout Negotiations

Rob Manfred canceled the first two regular season series a week ago today. Players will not be getting paid for these games, and these games will not be rescheduled.

Spring Training is continuing to be cut short and if a deal is not done by tonight’s deadline, another week of the season would be canceled, which in return, would obviously cancel another week of spring training.

Where could the Major League Baseball season stand after tonight?

A full 162-game season could be back in play. Owners and coaches still want their players to have normal spring training just like every year, which means there would still be four weeks of baseball in Clearwater. 

Players would receive full pay and while Opening Day would not take place on its original date, the games that have already been canceled would get rescheduled. 

According to Ken Rosenthal, Major League Baseball has told the Players Association that another week of games will be canceled without a deal by tonight. 

The Competitive Balance Tax, more known as the luxury tax, continues to take the top headline. The players originally wanted the tax to start at $238 million in 2022, and increase to $263 over the next few years. The owner’s offer yesterday proposed the tax to start at $228 million, increasing $8M from their original proposal of $220 million.

However, the league only wants to increase the tax by $10 million, while the players want to gradually increase the tax by $25 million. Although the owners did raise their original offer, it doesn’t seem like that will be enough for the players to agree on the new proposal. 

Bottom line, these “deadlines” really aren’t true “deadlines”.

Will the players accept this luxury tax offer that is causing the most controversy?

If a deal can miraculously be agreed upon by tonight, a full season is officially back. If not, more games will instantly be canceled. 

Mandatory Credit: Getty Images