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We’re now over a week into the lockout, and there hasn’t been a slew of developments. What is maybe most notable is that the league isn’t trying either. That’s not exactly shocking, given the owners have nothing to lose until games are lost, and with so much time before that reality, their incentive to negotiate likely is at an all-time low.
Although talks about working through a new CBA have not yet taken place, there have been a couple of notes surrounding the sport. Let’s get into those.
Rule Changes Disappear
Over the past few years, we’ve heard plenty from Rob Manfred regarding the pace of play. Baseball is consistently suggested as a dying sport, and the need to create action has been one of Manfred’s chief concerns. Everything from pitch clocks to banning the shift has been suggested, and most of it appeared to be a matter of when not if. As of right now, all of that is off the table.
According to The Athletic’s Jayson Stark, Manfred publicly stated that Major League Baseball has not made “any specific rule-change proposals” to the players. Whether that changes in future rounds of negotiations remains to be seen. It is odd that a year in which rules were implemented across many different leagues with an aim at the highest level, none are currently planned to see the light of day.
Apparently, the belief by Manfred is that rule changes would be a point of contention to players and, therefore, something the league is trying to avoid. It’s a weird stance, given that any rule changes would need to be collectively bargained. Not allowing the players to discuss them in a formal setting is counter-productive to them ever being applied.
A Laid Out Plan
Of course, this is just one man’s opinion, but Ken Rosenthal is among the best in the business. He penned a piece for The Athletic that outlines what a new CBA could (or, by his estimation, should) look like. Everything from the luxury tax to free agency is discussed. Rosenthal does an excellent job expanding on each topic and viewing the outcome through the lens of both parties. Without giving up too much of the meat and potatoes, I appreciate his conclusion that expanded playoffs would be less than ideal. However, that’s something the owners want, and he notes it would be beneficial for the players to bend on that point.
If nothing else, the concluding point that “reasonable people working off an existing framework should not find it so difficult to reach an agreement” hits right in the sweet spot.
That’s it for this week; not much. Pretty expected, though, considering the lack of effort put in from both sides to this point. Let’s hope for some positive developments in the week ahead.
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