For the past few days, MLB and the Players Association have been working quite hard to try to resolve the labor dispute plaguing major league baseball.
Ultimately, you and I know that didn’t happen. Rob Manfred has therefore canceled a second week of activities.
Due to lack of agreement, Rob Manfred cancels two other series
The opening date is now April 14.
The players also reacted to the situation, saying that it was not necessary to cancel matches for that, that there were solutions.
We see the troop of Tony Clark lamenting the fact that the MLBPA was not entitled to a response to their last offer to major league baseball.
Players want to play. #LetThemPlay https://t.co/rNKEw2AWaG
—MLSPA (@MLSPA) March 10, 2022
On the side of the bosses, good financial compromises have been offered in the last week. We felt that they were going in a good direction.
But they shot themselves in the foot with the requests for the international repechage, which the players have always refused. They made it storyline public, which is why the villainous players refused to sign.
Essentially MLB took something the union has always been against – the international draft, & regardless of narrative, the PA has always objected to it – & turned it into a poison pill of sorts w/ these talks. Now, like Captain Renault, MLB is “shocked” the PA is still against it
— Erik Boland (@eboland11) March 9, 2022
Among the players, it is said that the MLB had always agreed to leave the file of the international draft aside, but chose to bring it back at the last second knowing that the MLBPA did not want to know anything about it.
Max Scherzer says MLB is trying to shift the blame to the players and is asking fans to stay on their side.
I was in FL. We never offered the Int’l Draft. We did discuss it, but MLB told us they were NOT going to offer anything for it. At that point, we informed all players & agreed to no draft.
This is MLB muddying the waters & deflecting blame. Fans, pls hang in there with us.
— Max Scherzer (@Max_Scherzer) March 10, 2022
And therein lies the problem: the fans are fed up…and whoever deserves the blame.
The two parties may have decided to meet yesterday (and they will today), but the fact remains that there is no baseball right now for the fans.
Enough. After almost 100 days of the MLB lockout, it’s time to reconsider MLB’s special antitrust exemption, which allows them to act as a lawful monopoly. Fans across America deserve better.
Message to the owners: unlock the lockout and play ball.
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) March 10, 2022
And at this point, relations soured between the two parties. Why? Because in addition to the baseball negotiations, the players are going to ask for their full salary and full service time for the players.
This will inevitably complicate the negotiations since with two weeks of canceled matches, it is really becoming more and more impossible to play 162 matches this year.
Latest column from @ByMcCullough: The MLB lockout hasn’t ended. And if it doesn’t end soon, it might get worse. https://t.co/vktVxe740q
—Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 10, 2022
The goal of MLB will be to hope that the players come to their senses and agree to change the draft system, no matter how long it takes to get there. That’s how I see things.
I have the feeling that MLB wants to divide American players from players who play in countries where there is no draft, in fact.
While there’s a very vocal minority of players dead set against an international draft, and players have stuck together so far, many baseball people predict if this drags on players will begin to question why they are giving up pay/service time to save the corrupt current system.
—Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 10, 2022
At the moment, if you put yourself in the shoes of the owners, you can tell yourself that they feel they have given up a lot, but without result.
And the players tell themselves that the bosses may have given in on certain issues, but they still hypocritically brought back the international repechage.
Rosenthal: These are the issues holding up baseball’s deal? Really?
The union had a chance Wednesday to accelerate the endgame. Instead, it thing to continue the fight.
In the end, the fans are sacred to know who is responsible for all this. The camp hasn’t started and the games won’t start on time either.
I hope Rob Manfred and Tony Clark know what they are doing because baseball is suffering a lot right now.
