Day 2 of the MLB Lockout 2021
The current @MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement ended on Dec. 1, 2021 at 11.59 pm ET. This is the 9th labor stoppage in modern MLB history. A labor stoppage takes two forms - a strike and a lockout.
The former CBA was valid for five years, but expired before both sides could come to an agreement. When an employer locks out their employees, it is generally a tactic to put urgency under the employees to bully or force them to accept the terms the employer offered. However, when you have a strong labor union like the MLBPA, the employees have a lot more bargaining and negotiating power.
The MLBPA has been withholding distributions of some licensing money to provide a salary pool for players should the work stoppage extend into the regular season.
"We have a pretty good war chest behind us, of money we can allocate to players for situations like this," Max Scherzer, a member of the MLBPA's executive council and current MLB player, told USA TODAY’s Gabe Lacques and Bob Nightengale. "Knowing, for the past five years, we’ve been thinking we’ll need as big a war chest as possible coming into this.
"The best case scenario would be to not tap it. Obviously, we hope we can get a deal at some point in time."
Both sides, the MLBPA and the MLB, issued statements regarding the lockout and the wording shows how contentious this situation really is for both sides.
Both sides started scrubbing the names of the other party from the websites and communications starting on Day 1. The MLB took all player photos down from their website and have no stories about current players on the site. The MLBPA is referring to the MLB as XX(B), so it seems both parties are in it for the long haul. Some players even changed their profile pictures on social media to be shadow figures of themselves.
Some players are taking it in stride and trying to provide some sort of humor to the situation and entertain the fans. Labor stoppages can get exceedingly nasty, so let’s hope both sides can get something negotiated before the situation escalates.
The 2022 Major League Baseball season is scheduled to begin on March 31, however, players are to report to Spring Training February 26th. I am skeptical whether both sides can agree to something in time for the start of Spring Training. All transactions are frozen during the lockout which means no free agency transactions, player contract negotiations, and no workouts at team facilities for the players.
I believe that Spring Training and the 2022 season will be delayed. It seems that both parties are prepared to go for the long haul with this new iteration of the CBA.
What are your thoughts?
Stay tuned for updates as this is an ongoing situation.