As it stands right now, pitchers and catchers across the league are due to start reporting to spring training in about two weeks. Major League Baseball is proposing moving that back a month.
Per a report by Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports, on Friday MLB proposed to the union to delay the season a month and play a 154-game season instead. The regular season would be extended by a week, and players will receive their full pay despite the season being shortened 5%. As a tradeoff, the postseason will be expanded.
The deal also includes the National League adopting the DH, while the number of playoff teams goes from 16 in 2020 to 14 in 2021.
However, the union is expected to reject this deal Monday, per Jeff Passan, who adds the league and union will have a week to potentially strike a deal. While this proposal won't be accepted, it could potentially be framework for an agreement.
To be clear, if a deal is not reached, spring training will start on time in mid-February. This is a very different situation than last June, when the fate of the season was hanging in the balance. There will be a 2021 season with most, if not all, of the regularly scheduled games. The only question is when will it start.
The league’s proposal comes days after a Cactus League task force comprising of league officials and Arizona government officials sent a letter to commissioner Rob Manfred requesting to delay spring training in the area because of the area’s high number of COVID-19 cases. The Cactus League does not have the authority to delay the start of spring training, but if MLB decides that if teams can’t start the season there, they can’t have camps going on in Florida either.
Expanding the postseason has been a sticking point for the league in all negotiations with the union over the past eight months. They were able to institute a 16-team postseason to compensate for the 60-game regular season and no fans in the stands in 2020, but they could not secure it for 2021. Last week, the league offered a proposal to the union to adopt a universal designated hitter for expanded playoffs, but it was rejected.
The collective bargaining agreement between the union and league is set to expire on Dec. 1, 2021. Those negotiations are expected to be very contentious, and one of the union’s best bargaining chips is the expanded playoffs.
Right now, the Pirates have not announced a date to the public for pitchers and catchers to report, but unofficially, it is Feb. 15. There is some doubt within the organization that it will start on time, but they have not altered that start date. The Pirates' first spring training game is scheduled for Feb. 27, and the first regular season game on Apr. 1 against the Cubs in Chicago.