"No Deal!"

As you may have heard, baseball's latest deadline has come and gone. The earliest which the regular season can begin is now April 7. Spring Training will begin no earlier than March 12. Needless to say, I'm not happy. Nobody is. 

Commissioner Rob Manfred had this to say: "We worked hard to avoid an outcome that is bad for our fans, bad for our players and bad for our clubs. I want to assure our fans that our failure to reach an agreement was not due to a lack of effort on the part of either party."

Manfred went on to say: “The clubs and our owners fully understand just how important it is to our millions of fans that we get the game on the field as soon as possible. To that end, we want to bargain and we want a deal with the Players Association as quickly as possible."

Manfred concluded a letter to the fans by stating: ".... We played without an agreement in 1994 and the players went on strike in August, forcing the cancellation of the World Series. It was a painful chapter in our game’s history. We cannot risk such an outcome again for our fans and our sport. The Clubs and our owners fully understand just how important it is to our millions of fans that we get the game on the field as soon as possible. To that end, we want to bargain and we want a deal with the Players Association as quickly as possible."

The players are singing a considerably different tune. MLBPA executive Tony Clark commented: "Today is a sad day. We came to Florida to navigate and negotiate for a fair collective bargaining agreement. Despite meeting daily, there is still significant work to be done. The reason we are not playing is simple: a lockout is the ultimate economic weapon. In a $10 billion dollar industry, the owners have decided to use this weapon against the greatest asset they have: the players."

An MLBPA statement included the following: "Rob Manfred and MLB's owners have cancelled the start of the season. Players and fans around the world who love baseball are disgusted, but sadly not surprised .... What Rob Manfred characterized as a "defensive lockout" is, in fact, the culmination of a decades-long attempt by owners to break our Player fraternity. As in the past, this effort will fail. We are united and committed to negotiating a fair deal that will improve the sport for Players, fans and everyone who loves our game."

Some of you may not remember the 1994 season. In a strike which lasted 232 days, more than 900 games were missed. While that was the only time (since 1904) that there was no World Series, it actually marked the eighth work stoppage in MLB history. At the time, it was baseball's fourth "in-season work stoppage" in 22 years. It was also the longest strike in pro sports history. (Later, in 2004/05, hockey would break that record.) So, unfortunately, this has happened before and it doesn't always end quickly. 

So far, only the first two series from each team will be missed. I think everyone can live with that. There won't be any meetings again today but they'll be back at it again really soon. Apparently, the league's last ditch proposal "wasn't that far off." Manfred's words certainly sounded hopeful. I'm going to choose to remain optimistic. I'll keep you posted about the baseball. For now, however, I'm looking forward to enjoying a profitable March Madness.