Major League Baseball is in some DEEP shit right now! Deeper shit it’s been in for quite some time!
MLB is currently in a work stoppage, it’s the first one they’ve been in since 1994 and the 9th time this has happened in the history of the sport! And this is one work stoppage that has potential to do more damage to baseball than ever before.
A lot of the problems has to do with the divisiveness going on between the players unions and baseball ownership. Issues such as compensation with the younger players and limitations on teams tanking/rebuilding to receive big draft picks are ones that have yet to be resolved and agreed upon. There’s also the discussions of expanding the postseason picture (similar to what they did in the shortened season in 2020) and adding new playoff rounds for more teams being able to participate in.
If you’ve been following baseball for awhile now, then you probably know that this is something you’ve saw coming for awhile. Even during 2020 which the season got delayed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, we all knew that that was actually going to be the least of this league’s problems in the near future. As the expiration date of the latest CBA was approaching, it was predicted that there would be a lockout along with a potential player strike that would commence following the 2021 season. While the former has already happened, the latter still has yet to occur but it seems more likely every day that it’s a strong possibility.
The divide between the players and owners is at an all time high and a big reason for that has to do with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. While everything may not be 100% his fault as there are things that he can’t control, he really hasn’t done anything to help this situation. Shortly after it was announced that baseball would be headed for a work stoppage, he wrote a letter out to the fans were he basically just pointed his fingers at the players and try to paint himself and the owners as the victims in all of this. That seems really unprofessional to try to paint your own players, the people that makes the sport what it is, as the criminals and yourselves as the innocent bystanders. While there is absolute blame to go around with both sides, you’d think it would be wise for the commissioner and owners to be the more mature ones to own up to their actions and state that you will do everything in your power to make sure this issue is resolved as quickly as possible.
Just read it for yourself: https://www.mlb.com/news/featured/a-letter-to-baseball-fans
And as if that were enough, about a month after a lockdown has occurred, you would think that the one thing that should be on the commissioner’s mind is to settle the agreement before spring training is schedule to start, right? Wrong! Instead, we have the commissioner having Ken Rosenthal, one of the best baseball writers/reports working today, fired from MLB Network because he dare to question and critique his actions as baseball is settled in it’s first work stoppage in over two and a half decades. If you’ve followed Ken’s work, he is no stranger to criticizing Rob Manfred but he does it from a place of heart. He does it because he wants the absolute best from Major League Baseball. He loves the sport and he’s willing to critique those involved to showcase that. Even then, he hasn’t so much criticize Manfred but more is trying to encourage him and the owners to work to get this matter resolved. It’s called tough love and the commissioner doesn’t seem to be amused by that. Right after a month since baseball has become non-existence, the next thing that came out of it is not that there is a new CPA that has been agreed upon but that one of the best sport writers ever has been relieved of his duty because he was trying to act as a cheerleader. That sure does give me and everyone else hope for the future of the game.
As much as I can go in to which side is right and which side is wrong in this CBA debate, there is one thing that is 100% clear, neither side wants to have the season delayed. Not only because we just recently had baseball delayed and losing money because of Covid, but because there’s a big chance that will lead to baseball being even more irrelevant than ever before.
People have been claiming for at least a couple years now that baseball is on life support. While 2021 shown that claim might be exaggerated in some areas (just see the ratings for MLB.TV, Field of Dreams game and both Wild Card games), there’s plenty of evidence to back those talking points (TV & World Series ratings). Most of this has to do with the fact that MLB and Rob Manfred have really struggled to market this sport properly to this generation of millenniums. For every decent idea they come up with (Field of Dreams game), there comes many more ideas (Starting with a runner on 2nd base in extra innings, seven inning doubleheaders, not marketing superstar players, home run or bust, every pitcher throwing 100 MPHs, over half the teams being allowed in the playoffs, etc..) that brings the whole thing down.
And if baseball is in a bad enough state as it is now, just imagine how worse it will get if the season gets impacted by no agreed upon CBA. That might end up being the final blow to the relevancy of baseball. The one blow that we all thought would send the sport to irrelevancy in the mid 1990s but will surely do now. Unlike with the previous lockout, there’s no way it can be saved by the long ball because they have relied specifically on the long ball since at least 2015. No amount of Fernando Tatis Jr, Aaron Judge, or Mike Trout juicing up and hitting dingers will be able to get people attention this time around because baseball already has enough players doing that!
While baseball is never going to be truly gone for good and will always be around in some form of capacity, there is a strong chance it will lose it’s sense of importance and necessity. The sport may not be as heavily televised as it once was if the season gets postponed or cancelled. Certain sports networks such as ESPN have already given up on making baseball one of its top priorities and it looks as though many more will be to follow. It will take more than just another team breaking an 108-year long World Series drought to get people excited about the sport again.
MLB and the MLBPA is expected to meet again on Monday, January 24th to make an agreement and by that point, they must find something to agree upon and if they don’t, they must find one fast. Delaying this endeavor even further will have MLB not just delaying the season, but delaying it’s own inevitable fate. The fate that the sport of baseball is no longer worth making a big deal off and that the fans of it would be better to move on to greener pastures. There’s already a numerous amount of people that did that following 2020 and who knows how many more will fall in their footsteps if the season gets impacted once again.
The players and owners have had plenty of time to think this thing over and find a resolution. The time to put this issue to rest is NOW! And if you don’t get it done now, then you might as well make the lockdown permanent. By then, most of us will have left and you’ll have to wait for the next generation of millenniums to put Route 66 back on the map!
Adam's Blog 
I couldn’t refrain from commenting. Perfectly written!
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