By: Mike Rifkin
On Tuesday it was announced that Major League Baseball and the Players Association could not come to terms on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. With that, Commissioner Rob Manfred has announced that the first two series of the 2022 season are canceled. There is only one individual to blame for this mess and that is Rob Manfred.
Manfred announced the beginning of the lockout in December and said “Simply put, we believe that an offseason lockout is the best mechanism to protect the 2022 season. We hope that the lockout will jumpstart the negotiations and get us to an agreement that will allow us to start the season on time.” The next league proposal was 43 days later, if Manfred was serious about protecting the 2022 season it shouldn’t have taken 43 days to make an offer and wait until the last minute to try to facilitate a deal after Manfred and the owners imposed the lockout. His body language showed he seemed unaffected by the work stoppage by smiling and laughing at certain points during his press conference. Manfred was also asked by a reporter “Why didn’t you negotiate over the last three months?” Manfred’s response was “We have been here for 10 days. That is my best answer.” The problem is that’s not an answer. Manfred imposed the lockout in December. Why are you waiting until the last possible minute to get a deal done? That shows you never wanted to work with the players on certain issues.
So on revenue yes owners lost money due to the pandemic in 2020, but that too is Manfred’s fault because he is the guy who instituted the 60 game schedule. Manfred also said during his press conference “The concerns of our fans are at the very top of our consideration list.” All Rob sees in fans is their money because if he truly cared what the fans thought he wouldn’t have waited to negotiate the CBA. Also while they were down in Florida he wouldn’t have waited until Friday to see if he could help get a deal done.
Baseball right now cannot afford a season long lockout because it’s popularity has dwindled. Yes there are a lot of people who love the game, but the NFL, NBA and a few others have surpassed MLB in popularity. Rob Manfred is the same guy who called the World Series trophy a hunk of metal, it’s time for baseball to get a commissioner who cares about the game because a lockout hurts the players and owners but the most affected by a lockout are the fans.
The Sports Insanity Network 