Major League Baseball entered a lockout early this morning after the league and the MLB Players Association were unable to reach an agreement prior to the expiration of their Collective Bargaining Agreement on Wednesday night at 11:59 pm. This marks baseball’s first work stoppage since 1994-95.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred wrote a letter to baseball fans concerning the lockout; it may be viewed at www.mlb.com. In the letter, Manfred stated that, “To be clear: this hard but important step does not necessarily mean games will be cancelled. In fact, we are taking this step now because it accelerates the urgency for an agreement with as much runway as possible to avoid doing damage to the 2022 season. Delaying this process further would only put Spring Training, Opening Day, and the rest of the season further at risk – and we cannot allow an expired agreement to again cause an in-season strike and a missed World Series, like we experienced in 1994. We all owe you, our fans, better than that. “
