By AXIOS
For the first time in 27 years, MLB has canceled regular-season games because of a labor fight, as the longest lockout in its history rolls on.
State of play: For months, MLB and its players’ union have accused each other of not wanting to strike a deal — a “deeply cynical premise” that illustrates the disconnect between them, as ESPN’s Jeff Passan puts it.
- Every day there isn’t a game, players lose $20.5 million in salary, and teams move closer to having to provide rebates to regional sports networks (starts around ~25 games missed).
- Public support is seemingly with the players, but time is on the owners’ side. Because of the rebate threshold and low April attendance, they may be perfectly fine missing the first month.
- The optics couldn’t be worse, as this labor dispute — hardly a matter of life and death — plays out against the backdrop of war.
What they’re saying: MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced Tuesday that the first two series have been canceled and will not be made up. So the earliest the season could begin is April 7.
- “A lockout is the ultimate economic weapon,” said MLBPA executive director Tony Clark. “But [we] won’t be intimidated.”
- “The unfortunate thing is the agreement we offered players had huge benefits to fans and players,” said Manfred.
Between the lines: The owners are largely viewed as having “won” the past two CBA agreements, so the union is playing catch up in a sense, needing bigger wins than they would have needed if these negotiations were happening in a vacuum.
- “In truth, this day was five years in the making, ever since the players whiffed on the last CBA,” writes SI’s Tom Verducci.
- The deep distrust the players have for the owners — thanks to things like secretly-juiced baseballs and Manfred calling the World Series trophy “a piece of metal” — hasn’t helped.
The big picture: The irony of these negotiations — as important as they are to MLB’s future — is that they mostly address economic concerns rather than baseball’s biggest problem: the on-field product.
