Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred canceled 93 more games Wednesday, appearing to cut off the chance to play a full 162-game schedule and threatening locked out players with loss of salary and service time.
As the sides narrowed many economic differences to a small margin, they became bogged down over management’s attempt to gain an international amateur draft. Talks on that narrow topic were to continue Wednesday night.
In the meantime, at 6:30 p.m. on the 98th day of the lockout, Manfred announced two additional series had been canceled through April 13. That raised the total to 184 games wiped out from the 2,430-game regular season, or 7.6%.
“Because of the logistical realities of the calendar, another two series are being removed from the schedule, meaning that opening day is postponed until April 14,” Manfred said.
Given how close the sides are on economic issues, a breakdown over an international draft was both puzzling and stunning. But following years of simmering distrust that have heated to a boil, it also was predictable.
