MLB officially delays spring training, games won’t begin until at least March 5

The inevitable is now official: Spring training has been delayed.

A few days after pitchers and catchers were supposed to report to spring training camps around baseball, Major League Baseball released a statement Friday announcing that spring training games will be delayed until at least March 5, as the league and players’ association have yet to agree to a new collective bargaining agreement.

“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 5th,” MLB’s statement said. “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 towards starting the season on time.”

Red Sox spring training games were supposed to begin on Feb. 25, with their traditional exhibition game against Northeastern. With the delay — including the game against NU — they will lose at least nine spring training games, including five games at JetBlue Park. If there isn’t a further delay, their spring training schedule will begin March 5 at home against the Twins.

A delay was a foregone conclusion given the seemingly minimal progress the league and players association has made in agreeing to a new CBA. On Thursday, the two sides reportedly only met for about 15 minutes.

Monday, when the two sides meet again, will mark 38 days until Opening Day on March 31. Commissioner Rob Manfred last week expressed optimism that an agreement will be reached in order to start the season on time.

“I see missing games as a disastrous outcome for this industry and we’re committed to making an agreement in an effort to avoid that,” Manfred said.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/wdQDZlL