MLB owners are understandably looking to minimize their losses this season. However, a fight with the Player’s Union would be very shortsighted by Major League Baseball.
As expected, Major League Baseball owners have agreed amongst themselves to get action on the diamonds. In theory, spring training would begin in June, with MLB Opening Day on July 4. There truly would not be a better day for the return of the National Pasttime than on the birthdate of America. If there was a perfect time to return, the league found it.
However, there is trouble amongst the ranks. The owners want to reduce salaries due to their financial issues, offering players a 48% cut of any revenues generated in 2020 to compensate. The MLBPA, meanwhile, claims that these issues were already covered back on March 26, and refuse to accept any proposals that cuts salary in exchange for revenue. Union head Tony Clark called that a “non-starter.”
Meanwhile, the current Collective Bargaining Agreement is set to expire at the end of this season. MLB players were already unhappy with the current agreement, claiming that they had given up too much. Conversations around a new CBA had been cool at best, with rumblings of the current, and unprecedented, labor peace coming to an end.
While this is happening, MLB fans are taking note. The US currently faces a 14.7% unemployment rate, with millions waiting to receive benefits. The current financial squabbles cannot sit well amongst any fanbase, with millionaire and billionaires both crying poverty.
So, what happens if owners and players refuse to budge? The league may well have a plan that they feel can work, but they need the players to actually be on the field for that to happen. The players, meanwhile, refuse to return unless they are paid the money owed to them. It is a battle that even if one side wins, everyone loses.
It is also an incredibly shortsighted battle being waged by both sides. Sure, the players can refuse to play, or they could go on strike once the CBA expires. Owners could lock the players out, refusing the budge from their stance. But the fans have options as well.
With the pandemic and current lockdowns across the US and Canada, people have come to a realization – they do not NEED sports to get through their day to day. Yes, baseball fans will be overjoyed to have major league games back, but there are other pastimes. And there is always the Korean Baseball Organization, Nippon Professional Baseball, or the Chinese Professional Baseball League to fall back on.
MLB owners are looking to save their bottom line. With their refusal to look beyond the here and now, they may be cutting their own financial throats.