In theory, discussions between Major League Baseball and the Player’s Union are a positive. The more the two sides talk and negotiate, the more likely it is that the MLB season will begin on time. But that also requires the two sides to negotiate in good faith.
That is something that the league is seemingly incapable of doing. Two days after saying that they would counter the most recent offer from the Union, they have changed their minds. Instead, they are requesting a federal mediator to help end the stalemate.
Major League Baseball today requested immediate assistance of a federal mediator to help resolve the sport’s lockout, sources told ESPN. Under their request, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service would help assist with the proceedings.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 3, 2022
Latest request by MLB being made in bad faith
This is the sort of move that should be made as a last resort. Bringing in a federal mediator to help solve the problems should happen if neither side is willing to budge on their positions. As it is, the Union has been willing to negotiate, giving in on some areas and has been willing to discuss compromises in others.
That is not the case with the league. The owners instituted the lockout, which they could end at any point in time with the snap of their fingers. The league has gone out of its way to go on the offensive throughout the labor stoppage and has refused to actually negotiate. But they are continuing to point fingers at the players and claim that they are being unreasonable.
All this is is a matter of posturing. The league is betting that the Player’s Union will refuse to go along with their calls for a mediator after the last attempt at mediating a labor stoppage in 1994 went nowhere. When that happens, the league can throw up its hands in mock frustration and claim that they tried but the players are being unreasonable.
In reality, MLB has done nothing and it is all out of ideas. They want what they want and they refuse to back down. If it destroys the game because they want to squeeze every last cent out of the players and fans that they can, so be it. Their profit margins are all that matter.
If there is a silver lining to any of this, it is that the owners and commissioner Rob Manfred are proving how inept they are. Instead of vilifying the players, they have managed to earn the backlash of the majority of the fans, and rightly so. This latest request is nothing more than a desperate attempt to swing the tides of public opinion back in their favor, even if it is ever so slightly.
MLB is requesting a mediator to help end the labor dispute. It would help if the league would actually negotiate in good faith first.