NEWSLETTER
Today may prove to have been a pivotal one in the lockout, but not necessarily for the better.
Earlier today, Jeff Passan reported that MLB and its owners are seeking federal mediation to help resolve the CBA negotiations with the MLBPA. According to Evan Drellich, the request came in tandem with the owners declining to make a counter to the players’ latest offer earlier this week (despite previous indications that the owners WOULD counter, which tells me there was some in-fighting among the owners, though I’m just speculating).
So the big question now is whether the players will agree to mediation at this relatively early stage (the sides are SO far apart – and the owners wouldn’t even counter – that it seems pretty hard for a mediator to bridge that gap). If not, then what instead? The players can’t continue to be asked to negotiate against themselves, so this may be the moment where we see talks totally stop for a while. I warned (myself) that this was likely to happen several weeks ago, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised if it happens. It’ll suck, though, because it’ll become a game of who blinks first, and I don’t know that either side is inclined to blink. It’ll mean the 2022 season’s length is definitely imperiled, if not the whole damn thing.
Each of Jon Heyman and Bob Nightengale suggest that the players are not likely to accept the offer to mediate, though it’s not clear if that’s based only on a very immediate reaction from a small number of players, or if that’s going to actually be the position of the players association. Generally speaking, I’d be way in favor of getting a neutral third party involved sooner rather than later, but it does seem premature to do it when, like I said, the sides are still so far apart. If the players’ conclusion was, no, it’s too early, please instead come back to us with a legitimate counter-offer, well, that seems reasonable given the way this has all played out.
Officially, the MLBPA is not commenting yet on the mediation request. Presumably, they want to talk it over for more than a few minutes.
Keep in mind, the owners are all meeting next week anyway, so who knows what that is going to bring. I don’t even know what timeline the owners were realistically hoping to get mediation started on – it’s possible they were hoping to get going on it immediately so they’d have something to discuss with all 30 owners next week, but that seems overly optimistic.
For now, we wait. Again. Maybe mediation kicks in soon, and maybe it works. Maybe it doesn’t happen, and all of this just makes things worse.
There are a lot of reactions to, and theories about, the request for mediation. So let me just share some threads, including my own – there will assuredly be more coming. It can get complex pretty quickly, so the super short version is that there could be a number of reasons for MLB to seek a mediator at this point, ranging from a simple “hey we need help,” to a “we’re just trying to pressure to players,” to a “actually this is a legal maneuver so we can re-implement the old CBA.” No one knows for sure what MLB’s angle is yet, but everyone seems to agree that none of this is a great sign of where things stand right now.
With an impasse the league would have been allowed to implement change without MLBPA approval. To thwart that, the union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB. That’s when the Clinton admin got involved by calling in negotiators. 2/
— Maury Brown (@BizballMaury) February 3, 2022
The fear of losing anti-trust exemption was lost when the bill did not become law. What wound up happening was the NLRB voted 3-2 to force the prior CBA into place through the courts. Judge Sotomayor (yes, the one now on the SCOTUS) granted an injunction against the owners 4/
— Maury Brown (@BizballMaury) February 3, 2022
To add….
What’s important in the here and now is that the owners called the lockout. The idea of declaring an impasse was due to the players calling a strike. The owners aren’t going to lift the lockout in the hopes that the players call a strike.
— Maury Brown (@BizballMaury) February 3, 2022
helpful to move your own obstinate side by having them hear from a neutral third party about what is fair and reasonable. It's possible Halem is requesting mediation to get his own side to stop playing with their food and start making real proposals that might lead to 3/
— (((EugeneFreedman))) (@EugeneFreedman) February 3, 2022
the parties are getting close to impasse or have reached what they believe to be impasse. That's not the case here. Not even close. The only thing that's clear is that the lockout did not produce the results that the Commissioner claimed were the goals of the lockout – speed 5/
— (((EugeneFreedman))) (@EugeneFreedman) February 3, 2022
If Halem is trying to move his side, and there have been subtle mentions of that among the principals, then yes the Union should engage in mediation. If, however they feel it's a PR stunt, then it makes little sense. A mediator won't move an immovable object. MLB has to want 7/
— (((EugeneFreedman))) (@EugeneFreedman) February 3, 2022
When the type of subtle maneuvering is happening behind the scenes, the circle has to be very tight and only disclosed, if at all, after the fact.
I hope I didn't tip their hand by explaining all these possibilities.
In light of the lack of trust, this may be wishful thinking.
— (((EugeneFreedman))) (@EugeneFreedman) February 3, 2022
FMCS mediator could give some credence to an argument that they are at impasse. Albeit, I assume the Union's argument would be based on a surface bargaining argument. Should we see this cynical possibility come true, having Jennifer Abruzzo as the confirmed NLRB GC definitely 11/
— (((EugeneFreedman))) (@EugeneFreedman) February 3, 2022
history tends to repeat itself.
Some of us haven't forgotten, even these long 27 years after Judge Sotomayor's ruling in Silverman (NLRB) v. MLB.
— (((EugeneFreedman))) (@EugeneFreedman) February 3, 2022
My only opining on the state of things and the nature of today's developments looks like this: (1) we know so little of what's actually happening, so I always advise caution before making dramatic conclusions; but (2) we have yet to see evidence of a reasonable approach by MLB.
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) February 3, 2022
We do not know the truth behind the truth, and it's always possible that MLB's owners have been eminently reasonable throughout this process (and perhaps seeking mediation is likewise reasonable). But if you asked me to point to the evidence, I couldn't do it as I sit here today.
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) February 3, 2022
Meanwhile, throughout all of this … the fans: pic.twitter.com/w4gknxVOzM
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) February 3, 2022
