MLB Lockout Continues to Push Back MLB Season; No Deal Reached Yet
One of my earliest memories of playing the game of baseball is from my earlier years of playing the games. All the way back when I was a little 3rd grader in 2013 my baseball team was in the end of year tournament, and we were playing the best team in the league. I remember we were down by one with and I was up to bat with two runners on and I hit a triple to give my team the lead and the eventual win. This would push us to the championship and become winners of the league. The core memories give me the love for the sport, as I will never forget when I hit my first homerun or us winning the championship. However, seeing the MLB losing their spark is sad as the MLB lockout did not do them much justice. I have been a fan of the MLB for a while especially watching players like center fielder Mike Trout and pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani that play for my favorite team the Los Angeles Angels losing their season hurts. At this point the baseball world has to live with the MLB Lockout situation. Our favorite players are going to lose part of the season and the fans cannot do anything about it.
Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout celebrating after beating the Blue Jays 7-1
Picture by Nathan Ray Seebeck
The issue at hand is that The MLB and the MLBPA have not made up their minds yet on what they want to figure out for this season. Since December 2nd, the MLB has been locked out and they have not gotten much done. This upsets players, fans, and everyone involved in the baseball community. First, they did not start meeting till January 13th, forty-one days after the lockout had begun which is outrageous. From this alone it seems like they were taking the situation a little too lightly. Did they think these discussions were going to be a breeze? No! they failed to make the February 28th deadline so now the MLB must start canceling games. Those who have been saying that Baseball is dying needs to remember when we had baseball. Remember when we would see players like Mookie Betts Outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers making diving catches or hitting homeruns. People need to remember what we had in the MLB before the lockout as the fans should not go out criticizing the MLB just yet.
Through these meetings one topic of discussion, they cannot agree upon is the contract salary minimums. Last year the minimum contract was $570,500 as the MLB was only willing to raise to $640,000 compared to the MLBPA wanting it to go up to $775,000. In addition, there is a 5-year plan with these minimum contracts that consist of the MLB only going up $10,000 a year while the MLBPA wants it to go up $30,000. From this it feels like it is all about money. The MLB is not willing to give up money for these players who have these lesser contracts. They must realize that this is their job, and this career will not last forever.
However, on the other side they are still working on other things not dealing with money. The MLB and the MLPA are dealing with a possible draft lottery. It makes sense to why this is a little harder to decide on, though. Their original take on the lottery was that they would include all the teams that were not part of the playoffs as they were trying to structure the lottery like how the NBA has their setup. It would be set up to where the four teams with the worse records would get the best odds and then the team with the best record that still did not make the playoffs would have the worse odds. However, they did not agree upon those regulations on the lottery.
Instead, the MLB and the MLBPA switched it to where only the bottom six teams will be part of the draft lottery as that seems to be the direction they are taking. Both the MLB and the MLBPA were able to agree on this as it makes it so teams cannot stack number one picks into their farm systems even with getting the worse record in the league. Things like the draft lottery was a step in the right direction but there were still many economic problems that the MLB must fix.
Rob Manfred Commissioner speaking about the MLB Lockout
Picture by Julia Aguilar
For the future of baseball, it still seems as if these meetings are going nowhere. The MLB has already cancelled games up until April 14th as they have canceled over hundred games now within Spring Training and part of the MLB season. They already know they are not going to get all 162 games in this season, but the question is how much of the season can they salvage at this point? Why hold up these players from not being able to get paid; let the boys play. If the world is wanting to give up on the MLB, I do not blame you, but do not give up on baseball. There is still hope for the league, they just need time. The two sides are pushing through these meetings as “best” as they can, but they still have some work to do as they have not solidified a deal yet. Major league baseball will come eventually and once it is here it will be great. The fans will just have to fill their time with other things for the time being.