On Thursday, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred addressed reporters for the first time during the league’s owner-imposed lockout following an owners meeting. Manfred did not, as expected, announce an official delay to spring training. Instead, he claimed there had been no progress in the negotiations while expressing hope that an agreement could be reached in time for the regular season to be played as scheduled.
Predictably, both sides talked about the potential for missing regular-season action.
“At the end of the day, we just want a good deal,” New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor told SNY after attending a players meeting. “If that’s what it comes down to. We don’t want to do it. We want to play the full season. But if that’s what it comes down to. We continue to come to the table and bring good things, so we’re ready.”
Manfred, for his part, said: “I see missing games as a disastrous outcome for this industry.” (It should be noted that MLB deputy commissioner Dan Halem reportedly told players in January the league was willing to miss games.)
MLB is supposed to make another offer to the MLB Players Association on Saturday. Whether the league’s proposal will pull the two sides closer is to be seen. Given the pace and tenor of negotiations to date — the owners waited six weeks from initiating the lockout to making their first proposal — it seems unlikely that an agreement will be reached before spring training is officially compromised.
That within itself doesn’t mean the regular season is at risk, but the clock is ticking. Players would require at least four weeks to ramp up, meaning they’d need to be in camp by early March at the latest if they’re to play on the presently scheduled Opening Day of March 31.
