Yesterday, for the first time in ages, Rob Manfred appeared before the media to provide an update on the lockout. Basically, he mentioned that the clubs’ training camp was not postponed yet because he was still hopeful that the offer to be tabled by the bosses on Saturday will be good for the players.
But one quote that stood out was this: “Cancelling games would be disastrous for baseball. “
I know it’s the Games and that Martin St-Louis will be behind the CH bench tonight, but commissioner Rob Manfred said this today and I completely agree with him:
“I consider missing games as a disastrous outcome for this industry.”#makeadeal @RDSca
— Marc Griffin ⚾ (@marcgriffinRDS) February 10, 2022
It was the commissioner who made such comments. Did he say it with sincerity or to gain public favor?
I do not know. But I know two things. The first is that the content of its upcoming offer to players will speak louder than what it said yesterday.
Column: What Rob Manfred, MLB offers Saturday will mean a lot more than Thursday’s quotes https://t.co/48WjLuDAks
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) February 11, 2022
And the second is that the players have chosen to take the opposite point of view from that of the commissioner.
Francisco Lindor said if it takes a season of less than 162 games to see the players get a good deal, the MLBPA is ready to make such a sacrifice.
Francisco Lindor tells @martinonyc MLB players are willing to lose games if that’s what it takes to reach a strong agreement for the MLBPA:
“At the end of the day, we just want a good deal” https://t.co/o0HSWRF2Is pic.twitter.com/aSCDzGT5j9
—SNY (@SNYtv) February 10, 2022
I don’t know how much the players are all ready to postpone the season (Adam Wainwright doesn’t seem to be), but it makes sense to see the players publicly contradicting the commissioner.
Note that for the season to be postponed, the camp would have to overflow in April. A camp, which will be set in motion less than a week after the signing of the collective agreement, will last at least four weeks.
Rob Manfred says spring training needs to last about four weeks to start the regular season on time.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) February 10, 2022
This means that from the moment the contract is signed, MLB will need about five weeks to start its season.
And since we are less than seven weeks from the start of the season, time is running out. Truly.
