MLB Postpones Spring Training Games Through March 5 amid Lockout, CBA Negotiations

The start of spring training games has been delayed.

The two sides will begin in-person meetings for daily sessions on Monday, March 5, after MLB issued a statement on Friday announcing spring training games won't start before March 5.

"We regret that, without a collective bargaining agreement in place, we must postpone the start of Spring Training games until no earlier than Saturday, March 5,” the league said in a statement. All 30 clubs are unified in their strong desire to bring players back to the field and fans back to the stands.

"The clubs have adopted a uniform policy that provides an option for full refunds for fans who have purchased tickets from the clubs to any Spring Training games that are not taking place. We are committed to reaching an agreement that is fair to each side. On Monday, members of the owners’ bargaining committee will join an in-person meeting with the Players Association and remain every day next week to negotiate and work hard toward starting the season on time."

The union presented a counterproposal to the league during the negotiating session on Thursday.

The proposal included expanding Super 2 eligibility to the top 80 percent of players with two-plus years of service time and an increase in the pre-arbitration bonus pool from $100 million to $115 million.

The most recent offer from MLB included increasing the pre-arbitration bonus pool to $15 million and raising the luxury-tax threshold to $222 million over the next five years.

The MLBPA was overwhelmed by the league's proposal last week, according to The Athletic's Evan Drellich.

The commissioner told reporters after the owners meetings that a four-week spring training is necessary before the start of the regular season.

The start of the regular season would have to be made up of March 31 because spring training would have to start no later than March 3.

Losing regular-season games would be a bad outcome for this industry, and we are committed to making an agreement to avoid that.

The pitchers and catchers were supposed to report on Tuesday. The spring training games were going to start in Arizona and Florida.

At midnight, MLB imposed a lockout. The previous collective bargaining agreement expired on December 1st. It was the first official work strike since 1994.