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With no deal reached, 2022 MLB season may end up with an asterisk

By Sravan Gannavarapu

Feb 28, 2022; Jupiter, FL, USA; Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, center, walks after negotiations with the players association in an attempt to reach an agreement to salvage March 31 openers and a 162-game season, Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla. Mandatory Credit: Greg Lovett-USA TODAY NETWORK
Feb 28, 2022; Jupiter, FL, USA; Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, center, walks after negotiations with the players association in an attempt to reach an agreement to salvage March 31 openers and a 162-game season, Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla. Mandatory Credit: Greg Lovett-USA TODAY NETWORK /
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After the 5 p.m. (Eastern time) deadline passed on Tuesday, it became official that the 2022 Major League Baseball season will not start on time as it hoped to, leading to a potential asterisk for the next MLB champion.

What does that mean exactly? For one, it’s not necessarily a bad thing, unlike other asterisks that are associated with baseball, i.e., the Houston Astros. Still, with not as many games as wanted, the outcome of the season, if it does pass, may be skewed in the public’s minds.

See the NBA, for example. When the bubble in Orlando was enacted, many were of the mindset that the Los Angeles Lakers title counts nothing more than a “bubble championship.” There are even a few individuals out in the viewing world who believe that the Los Angeles Dodgers title a couple of years ago was less worthy than Atlanta’s last year.

Call it what you want or believe what you want, but this season has not started on the right foot, and, at this point, both sides are to blame. Yes, the players and the owners are being looked at here. However, the lion’s share of the blame has to be placed on the owners. The players are not totally off the hook, but they have a fair point when they want their money.

Yet despite all this, commissioner Rob Manfred looks worse than the owners, and that’s saying something. Last month in a press conference, Manfred spoke to the tone of placing the blame on the players. If that doesn’t strike a nerve within the players, what will?

MLB needs to get it together so that fans can have baseball back and enjoy it

Whatever it takes to get it done, a deal has to get done. Stubbornness is not going to fetch anything in the long run, and money will be lost. Worse, though, if the season is played and a champion is crowned, the public will cry for an asterisk.

It’s not the team’s fault if that happens, though, but in this age of social media, and several people having access to a keyboard and willing to type out whatever they want to say, you can expect that to happen.

This is a direct plea to Major League Baseball … please get it together. The fans want to see their favorite players play, and they want something to enjoy. The ballparks should only be empty during the offseason, not during a lockout.

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It’s on the league now. Hopefully, we can have a season and at least be able to enjoy it, even if the potential winner may have an asterisk placed on their name for something they did not do.

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