Nationals Season Delayed As MLB Lockout Continues

WASHINGTON, DC — The Washington Nationals season will be delayed, along with the rest of Major League Baseball, after the players and owners could not come to a labor agreement Tuesday, continuing a lockout that is stretching into its fourth month.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced the first week of games is canceled in a Tuesday evening press conference in Florida. The canceled games are not expected to be rescheduled, and regular season games won't start any earlier than April 7.

The Nationals were scheduled to face the New York Mets in Queens for the first series of the season, followed by a home-opening series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Nationals Park.

Spring training games won't start before March 12, MLB said.

It's unknown how many games will be canceled before an agreement is reached.

It will be the first time baseball has missed games outside of the pandemic since the 1994-95 strike, which included canceling the 1994 World Series. Before that, it was the 1981 strike.

Major League Baseball extended its deadline to reach an agreement with the Major League Baseball Players Association by one day before announcing games would be missed. MLB reportedly offered its "best" offer Tuesday afternoon, which the players rejected.

Among the major points of contention are the competitive balance tax, pre-arbitration bonus pools, minimum salaries of $700,000 and expanded playoffs.

The MLB Players Association issued a statement blasting the cancelation of the start of the season.

"Players and fans around the world who love baseball are disgusted, but sadly not surprised," the association said. "From the beginning of these negotiations, Players' objectives have been consistent — to promote competition, provide fair compensation for young Players, and to uphold the integrity of our market system. Against the backdrop of growing revenues and record profits, we are seeking nothing more than a fair agreement."

The statement continued that "What Rob Manfred characterized as a 'defensive lockout' is, in fact, the culmination of a decades-long attempt by owners to break our Player fraternity. As in the past, this effort will fail."

Former Nationals ace Max Scherzer, who signed a free agent contract with the New York Mets in December, is serving as one of the MLB Players Association's lead player negotiators in the labor talks. Former Nationals shortstop Trea Turner also was one of the MLB players in Florida supporting the union during negotiations on Tuesday.

The Nationals have yet to comment on the lockout.

"I had hoped against hope that I would not have to be in the position of canceling games. We worked hard to avoid an outcome that is bad for our fans, bad for our players and bad for our clubs," Manfred said in a statement Tuesday. "I want to assure our fans that our failure to reach an agreement was not due to a lack of effort on the part of either party. The Players came here for nine days, worked hard and tried to make a deal. I appreciate their effort."

Patch editors Mike Caraggi and Shannon Antinori contributed to this story.