This announcement comes as MLB continues negotiations with the players' union to reach a new collective bargaining arrangement (CBA).
Manfred stated Wednesday that the Clubs had offered ways to help bridge the gap and preserve a full schedule on key economic issues. "Regrettably we are still without a deal after our second late-night negotiation session in a week."
The Major League Baseball Players Association deemed the cancellations "completely unnecessary."
"Players have not heard back from the league after making a series of comprehensive proposals earlier in the afternoon and being informed that substantive responses were forthcoming," the union stated Wednesday.
The 2022 MLB season, originally set to start March 31, has been canceled. It will now take at least two weeks for the cancellations to be complete.
Although some progress has been made, the main issue now is the creation of an international draft. CBS Sports reports. While the MLBPA has been opposed to one, the league has been pushing for it.
Following the expiration the last CBA, the owners locked out players on December 2, 2021. Although negotiations have continued to reach a new agreement, Manfred announced that the six first games of each season would be cancelled.
The owners set Tuesday as a soft deadline to ensure that no more games were cancelled after negotiations resumed. CBS Sports reported that the deadline was extended to Wednesday after a 17-hour-long negotiation session.
