The owners need to acknowledge that the game’s economic landscape has tilted too far in their direction, and that the sport’s competitive integrity has been compromised by teams refusing to invest in their products. This is not, at the moment, a “both sides” discussion. But we are approaching crunch time, the point in the discussions when the start of spring training, and thus the start of the regular season, will be in jeopardy…. Fans should remember that most negotiations in baseball, from trades to draft-pick signings to arbitration deals, accelerate only as a deadline nears. The two sides need to reach a truce, no matter how uneasy.Īt present, the “talks” between the parties still amount to theater, a Kabuki dance of proposals and counter-proposals that neither side is taking seriously. The difference in this equation is that the marriage cannot end in divorce. The relationship between the players and owners continues to play out like a bad marriage, with the respective leaders of both parties talking over one another instead of to each other, barely seeming to speak the same language. And the antipathy toward baseball will be particularly acute in the middle of a pandemic that has lasted for nearly two years, exhausting the patience of millions of people in the process. Fans will gladly turn to other leagues and outlets if what was once a $10 billion industry cannot get out if its own way. If it happens, the outcome will be inexcusable for Major League Baseball, a sport competing for market share in an ever-expanding entertainment universe. In order to break down the argument that both sides are at fault, it’s best to present that argument, if only to later take it apart.īut the idea that both sides certainly has struck a chord with certain writers.įor example, Ken Rosenthal, The Athletic, January 19, 2022: (paywalled)
Generally, I’m not going to fault someone for making a living - I am going to fault someone if they are empirically wrong for a living. But in this long-form essay series, I will contend against an idea. Frankly, there are sports personalities who get on my nerves, but I try to live and let live. Now, this essay is not meant as a takedown piece in any way, shape, or form. Reading ESPN (at times), or even certain writers at The Athletic, or anything that comes out of Buster Olney or Ken Rosenthal’s mouth, just makes me cringe to high heaven. This essay will argue that the current labor strife is not the fault of both sides, but rather it is the fault of largely one group of people, the owners.Ī lot of writers about this subject tend to fall into the trap of this labor dispute is the fault of both sides, crudely summed up to the public as the players want more of a cut of the revenue pie and the owners claim there’s no pie to share because of reasons, and the players should be happy they get what they get. The current labor strife in Major League Baseball is not a both-sides problem
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