The MLB lockout is more than three weeks old and, reportedly, the big financial negotiations are not even going to be discussed until January, meaning that the MLB lockout is likely going to loom on for weeks.
However, it could loom on for longer than weeks as it could last multiple months, if current rumblings are any indication.
The MLB lockout could end up delaying Spring Training.
Colorado Rockies beat writer Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post in his recent mailbag, he discussed a slew of topics including his recent Hall of Fame ballot and his reasoning behind players, some things involving the Rockies, and the state of the MLB lockout.
According to Saunders, he says that while there is still hope that MLB and the MLB Players Association can work out a deal before Spring Training, he says that “most of the people I have talked to believe that spring training will be delayed.”
If the lockout is that long or longer, it could be detrimental to baseball season. Spring Training for the minor leagues would go off without a hitch but a prolonged lockout into Spring Training would mean that the season would have to be moved back. If things lasted too long, each passing day would mean that games would be shaved off of the schedule.
This is, essentially, what happened with MLB and the MLBPA in 2020 with the pandemic. As they tried to negotiate how many games they were going to play, the two sides were far apart since the MLBPA wanted as many games as possible (110+ games) so they could have players earn as much as possible. The owners wanted as few games as possible so they wouldn’t have to pay the players (after all, with no fans, there was little revenue). As time wore on, they agreed upon 60 games because that’s all they’d really have time for with a few weeks of a Spring Training 2.0.
The last time MLB was locked out was in 1990 (1994 was a strike) and we will have a look back on that in the coming days as things this offseason could very much turn out as it did in 1990 … if things go semi-smoothly as the calendar turns to 2022.