MLB

7:00 AM ET The first questions I get asked about a draft class every year are the same: Who is the best player this year? Is he one of those Bryce Harper-level guys who could be the best prospect in a decade? The 2010 No. 1 overall pick is still a touchpoint for even casual

11:44 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Major League Baseball plans to cancel another week of regular-season games if it can’t agree to a new collective-bargaining agreement with the MLB Players Association by Tuesday night, adding another layer of

7:00 AM ET Ninety-one games. So far. That’s the number of games that have been lopped off the schedule after MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s news conference last week. We can only hope that the number doesn’t go up. For now, if an agreement is reached post haste, the plan is for each team to pick

3:00 PM ET The MLB Players Association gave a written collective bargaining agreement proposal to Major League Baseball on Sunday. It included a $5 million reduction to the union’s last offer in a pre-arbitration bonus pool, but it did not include any changes to its competitive balance tax proposal, according to sources familiar with the

11:52 AM ET Major League Baseball wants a 14-second pitch clock with the bases empty and a 19-second timer with runners on, according to sources familiar with the situation. The two numbers were settled on after experiments in the minor leagues, including in Low-A in 2021, where game times were cut by about 20 minutes.

3:56 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Max Scherzer favors a radical reworking of the playoffs, one that would have the higher seed in the first round of a 14-team postseason start off a best-of-five series with a 1-0 lead. Major League Baseball and locked-out players, who resume talks Sunday, both would expand the

7:47 PM ET Kiley McDaniel Close ESPN MLB Insider ESPN MLB Insider Kiley McDaniel covers MLB prospects, the MLB Draft and more, including trades and free agency. Has worked for four MLB teams. Jeff Passan Close ESPN ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Fallout

8:43 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Officials from the Major League Baseball Players Association are preparing a written response to MLB’s last offer on a new collective bargaining agreement that preceded the league canceling the first week of

11:15 AM ET ESPN News Services Locked-out Major League Baseball players are starting a $1 million fund to support workers impacted by canceled games. In addition, Major League Baseball will also be setting up a fund for impacted workers, a source told ESPN. The players’ association on Friday said the fund will be administered by

8:30 AM ET Hours before the negotiation teams of the players and owners met Thursday, one industry source lamented the state of the game. Each side is entrenched and angry, the source noted. “I don’t even know where we go from here,” he said. “I really don’t. Everybody is painted into a corner.” With the

10:05 AM ET ESPN News Services Major League Baseball deputy commissioner Dan Halem and MLB Players Association attorney Bruce Meyer plan to have an informal one-on-one meeting Thursday to resume talks amid baseball’s work stoppage, a source told ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The meeting, which will take place in New York, between Halem and Meyer —

4:15 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Nine days into a marathon negotiating session that left all involved weary and worn, Major League Baseball and the MLBPA entered the bargaining room early Tuesday morning with a chance to save

4:26 PM ET MLBPA player leaders agreed unanimously not to accept MLB’s final proposal, and there was no deal on a new collective bargaining agreement before MLB’s 5 p.m. ET deadline. MLB had threatened to cancel its March 31 Opening Day without a new deal and commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed that Tuesday afternoon. “The calendar

7:17 PM ET Gone is Opening Day — and there could be more Major League Baseball regular-season games lost for the first time in almost three decades after the players rejected the owners’ “best and final offer.” 2 Related The league and the MLBPA failed to come to an agreement on a new collective bargaining

5:08 PM ET No deal. The MLB lockout continues. Major League Baseball has announced the delay of the 2022 regular season after the MLBPA player leaders agreed unanimously not to accept MLB’s final proposal before the league’s 5 p.m. ET deadline. What’s next? Will Opening Day really be pushed back? Why can’t the owners and

10:04 AM ET Baseball’s offseason has now entered what is supposed to be the preseason, the clean-slate rebirth, the start of spring training and the new calendar. But commissioner Rob Manfred’s so-called “defensive lockout” has been very much offensive. There is no new season as of yet. Spring training games have been canceled. Barring an

2:35 AM ET ESPN News Services Major League Baseball and the players’ union have paused negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement after a 16-hour day of meetings that stretched into early Tuesday morning, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Enough progress was made that the league and MLB Players Association will meet again later Tuesday

7:02 PM ET ESPN News Services NEW YORK — The New York Yankees have hired Hensley Meulens as assistant hitting coach after the crosstown Mets poached Eric Chavez from the same position in January. The Yankees announced the hiring Monday night. Meulens played for the franchise from 1989 to ’93 at the start of a