MLBPA: Luxury tax won't reset if season is canceled

Major League Baseball's luxury tax threshold won't be reset if the 2020 season is canceled, a spokesperson for the players' association told Alex Speier of the Boston Globe.

"There is no reset - everything will be frozen and restart as if 2021 was 2020 for (competitive balance tax) purposes," the spokesperson said.

This will be the case only if the season is canceled outright. MLB suspended Opening Day indefinitely earlier this month due to the coronavirus pandemic, and it's not known when play will resume.

Three teams - the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and Chicago Cubs - paid into the tax in 2019. The Red Sox attempted to reset their number this winter by shedding salary, most notably through trading Mookie Betts and David Price to the Los Angeles Dodgers last month.

While teams won't pay into the tax if the shutdown continues, players who were active in the majors in 2019 will still gain a year of service time should 2020 be canceled.