Good morning, baseball fans.
I wish I had something fun or uplifting for you today but I don’t. Everything kind of sucks. On every level. And baseball is no exception.
MLB Commissioner and noted hater of baseball Robert Manfred has previously stated that players would need at least four weeks of spring training before the season can start. So the MLB owners have now decreed that if an agreement isn’t reached between the owners and the MLBPA by Monday 2/28, the regular season will not start on time. Additionally, games would not be postponed, they would be canceled.
Canceling games instead of postponing them feels kind of slimy to me, considering it takes away one of the MLBPA’s points of leverage: expanded playoff system (something the owners want) as long as they play a full 2022 season.
Additionally, canceling games impacts players more financially than owners, considering most players aren’t in the Bryce Harper/Max Scherzer tax bracket and rely on their game checks for income, whereas the owners are billionaires who might cry a river about not getting a fifth vacation home but will ultimately be just fine. So this puts all of the pressure on the players to make all of the concessions when it wasn’t their fault it’s taken this long:
MLB owners chose a lockout
MLB owners chose not to negotiate for 42 days
MLB owners chose to cancel spring games
MLB owners are now choosing to give a hard deadline to cancel regular season games
During all of this, MLB owners haven’t negotiated in good faith.
— Michael Mayer (@mikemayer22) February 24, 2022
Honestly, with the way negotiations have gone so far, I do not expect an agreement to be reached by Monday. But we’ll keep you posted.
How many days has it been since the owners locked out the players?
87 days of watching MLB owners implement an unnecessary lockout and drag their feet on negotiations and then put the burden on the players at the last minute. Really makes you feel romantic about the game.
