MLB News: Full Regular Season Still On Table if Deal Reached Today

Last Tuesday, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced the cancellation of the first two series of the regular season since the league and the MLBPA were unable to come to terms on a new CBA. At the time, the resounding sentiment among baseball fans was that it spelled the end of any chance of a 162-game season being played this year.

However, on Monday night, ESPN's Jeff Passan stated that a 162-game season could happen if MLB and the MLBPA can complete a new deal by the end of Tuesday.

Tuesday marks another seminal day in baseball labor talks, sources tell ESPN. With a deal, a 162-game season is back and players report Friday. Without one, MLB cancels another week of games and a future deal becomes far more complicated.

News at ESPN: https://t.co/xqi8ZCkC0f
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 8, 2022

The baseball industry expert explained why this week's Tuesday deadline is different than last week's Tuesday deadline.

"The urgency to strike a labor deal ratcheted up Monday as the league suggested that Tuesday was the deadline for a 162-game season and for the players to receive full pay and full service time. The union has held firm, even after MLB canceled the first week of the season, that 162 games of pay and service time are central to any deal struck, and it has threatened to withhold expanded playoffs without them."

Passan reported that the league proposed an increase on the competitive balance tax (CBT) from $220M to $228M. The MLBPA has previously requested a initial threshold of $238M. It's one of the many hot button issues the two sides must find common ground on in order to complete a deal.

If MLB and the MLBPA can miraculously agree to terms on all of the key topics on Tuesday, 23 of the 30 MLB owners will need to approve the deal along with the MLBPA.

It is, as they say, a developing situation.