NEWSLETTER
Commissioner Rob Manfred, through a smile or two and while cancelling games for the first work stoppage in 27 years, said this week that he felt the owners had made their “best” offer before that cancellation deadline. So the implication was, if and when the talks were to resume, it would have to come by way of an offer from the players.
Sounds like, after yesterday’s small group meeting, that’s what will happen:
Union working on response to league’s last proposal, sources tell @TheAthletic. No further meetings currently scheduled, but expected soon.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 4, 2022
Like I’ve said, my guess is Sunday night is a medium-firm deadline for getting a deal done before the next wave of games are cancelled, based on the timeline. No one expects a deal to be close by then since the incentives to get a deal ASAP are now all effed up. But who knows. Maybe they can at least get a little closer this weekend, and make it more likely that we *ONLY* lose April. Sigh.
In the meantime, in a masterstroke of public relations and also just-being-good-humans, the players are setting up a fund to help out other people – stadium workers, for example – who are going to be hurt by the lockout:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Players launching $1 million fund for workers affected by MLB owners’ lockout@mlbpa | @AFLCIO pic.twitter.com/M2UIxPD4lO— MLBPA Communications (@MLBPA_News) March 4, 2022
Shortly after the players dropped their announcement, word leaked that the owners are totes doing the same thing:
Checked with a MLB source: The league is also setting up a fund for workers impacted by the delay to the season. They'll announce details soon.
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) March 4, 2022
Actually, I don’t want to be a jerk about it. Who cares about how it came about? This is really important, and the folks who work around the edges of baseball could really be hurt for the second time in three years (maybe all three years). Good for thinking of them.
