The Major League Baseball lockout is now reaching a critical level. Players and owners have less than four days left to figure out how to make this thing work before the owners start cutting games out of the schedule.
No other sport in my recent memory does more to get in it’s own way than baseball. Whenever casual baseball fans have a complaint, the brass at the MLB usually tells them to get over it.
Game Killers
While they generally do nothing to grow the game, this lockout is actively shrinking the game. The casual fan does not care one bit about why there is a lockout, they just want baseball.
Now the minor league players (those not on a forty man roster) have reported to camp. They are underway in their respective locations getting ready to play baseball. Your average fan does not care that much about prospects and the minor leagues.
Fans care about the big salary players that are not currently at a training facility because they are locked out. And they are upset about it.
They’re watching hockey, basketball, college baseball, and any other sport that is going and attempting to destroy themselves.
Useless Discussions
We have hashed and re-hashed the problems again and again on the podcast. I have written about it and complained about it on multiple occasions.
From the MLB dragging their feet to their proposals being almost the same thing over and over. Let’s not forget that they have asked for a Federal Mediator. Twice.
So they are meeting every day this week, but they don’t seem to understand that just meeting does not fix the underlying problems. They have to actually compromise and debate civilly to actually get something done.
Losing games was in the plans for the owners all along, IMHO. They want to hit the players in the pocket so that the MLBPA will fold and give in to everything the owners want.
I’m not sure MLB knows this, but that is not how negotiations usually work. It is a give a little take a little situation. Usually.
As a guy who started covering the sport because of the love of it and not because I was paid too, I feel personally affronted by this lockout. I desire conversations on who is looking good in camp and who will make the starting roster.
What We Want
I want information about what free agents are interested in coming to Texas and which ones the Rangers want. I need lists of who is fighting for spots on the team.
This is what spring is all about. Spring is a time to enjoy the everyday friendly pitching and fielding battles that happen in camp.
The MLB and the MLBPA have turned spring into a running joke about short meetings and hurt feelings instead. Congratulations, your entire league can now be summed up in a couple funny memes.
Please get a deal done. Save the sport so many of us love and so many more are turning away from. Basball fans are tired of it.
The Fat Chance Ending
All of us just want to see the game we love played on the fields we love to go to. It’s time for the owners to stop holding the players and fans hostage for a couple bucks. It’s time for them to grow a pair and actually meet in a meaningful way.
Until that happens, expect the game to continue shrinking and the fan base to continue to age. Even if the lockout ends today, the damage will be felt for years to come. That will be the legacy of Rob Manfred.
