As the MLB-imposed lockout appeared destined to coast past the MLB-imposed Monday deadline that it deemed necessary to preserve Opening Day, it became abundantly clear that most of the sport's most prominent voices stopped buying what Rob Manfred was selling long ago. Everybody lined up to kick Manfred and the owners, from Ken Rosenthal...
Fans might be divided on that question, based upon their rooting interests. But they seem fairly unanimous — and aligned with the players — in their contempt for Manfred. In past labor negotiations, fans generally have been quick to blame players, viewing them as lucky to be paid at all for playing a child’s game. Many fans today, however, are well aware the owners are much wealthier than the players and part of the industry for much longer. And every time Manfred opens his mouth publicly, he only makes matters worse.
He called the lockout “defensive” when it was nothing of the sort. He said the strategy was intended to “jumpstart” negotiations, then waited 43 days to make an offer. He claimed the owners could make more in the stock market than with the resales of their clubs. He portrayed himself as a master negotiator, practically a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, while his negotiations were going nowhere.
... to Andy McCullough ...
It has also become common to point out all the other avenues of diversion available to the average consumer. The streaming services. The doom-scrolling. The other sports. People like Formula 1 now, it seems. It is easy to get diverted from baseball. And that is a shame: For all its imperfections, the game itself — nine innings, three outs, 60-feet, six inches — is perfect. The best advertisement for Major League Baseball is a big-league baseball game.
It would be great to watch one on March 31. Too bad. Looks like you can’t. The owners won’t let you. It stands to reason they won’t sacrifice an entire season. Then again, it stood to reason they wouldn’t waste a winter only to ruin a spring. It does make you wonder. If they don’t care about games in April, why should you care about games in May?
... to Jeff Passan:
Arbitration has always been a contentious process, and players were livid when they learned MLB celebrated tamping down salaries by awarding a championship belt to the team that did it best. During spring training in 2020, when MLB was reeling from widespread criticism by players that Manfred had been too soft on the Houston Astros for cheating during their championship run, he referred to the World Series trophy as a "piece of metal" in an interview with ESPN's Karl Ravech.
"'Piece of metal' was the Gulf of Tonkin," one longtime baseball man said. "It was the aha moment for everyone. And then he did it again recently with everything about how owning a team isn't that profitable. Treating players like they're stupid has never worked. It's never been a great approach."
Here's a good column from Yahoo's Zach Crizer, and another one at Baseball Prospectus by Marc Normandin. Even league-friendly reporters like Bob Nightengale and Buster Olney ran out of ways to spin the lack of movement toward the union. Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post ran with it in a direction that particularly intrigued me, a fan of civic institutions...
... and I would've loved to see elaboration on that topic, but Major League Baseball appears like it actually wants the last part of its name.
As some predicted, only the deadline forced movement from the league. It remains to be seen how much ends up being a continuation of the status quo versus gains for the league or union, but the big developments include:
Postseason expansion: Major League Baseball pushed for 14 teams, while the players want to limit it to 12. Their stance makes sense, both for reasons economic (they should keep further expansion as a bargaining chit the next time around) and aesthetic (postseason expansion is stupid). The league has already sold both forms, and 14 is more than 12, so that explains that.
Minimum salaries: It seems like there might be a standoff between the size of the postseason and what pre-arb players are making.
Luxury tax penalties: According to Bob Nightengale, the league is dropping its draconian penalties for teams that exceed the competitive balance tax threshold ...
… but it only makes sense if the league is willing to also raise the threshold, and that part is less clear.
And with that, I'm going to bed. I figure we can use this is an open thread for developments, following up when these elements become fixed, if it's safe to assume they will.
