As the Players Association awaits a new proposal — expected Saturday — from Rob Manfred and the MLB owners, there has been plenty of time for posturing between the two sides in the media. Progress is hopefully on the horizon, but fans may have to wait just a little longer before seeing tangible proof of that.
Manfred — in his first public appearance since the lockout began on Dec. 2 — gave his side of the story on why he believes things have not progressed as quickly as fans would like.
But in addition to Manfred, MLBPA executive committee member Andrew Miller had some words of his own, echoing a sentiment that is all too familiar among baseball’s talent pool, according to Evan Drellich of The Athletic:
“This is our chance to correct some wrongs and fight for what’s important,” said Andrew Miller, a member of the Players Association’s eight-person executive subcommittee, reiterating what’s well known.
The MLB Commissioner rebuffed this sentiment, however, saying that the league has submitted nothing but fair proposals up to this point.
“In total, the proposals we’ve made would move the agreement decidedly in the players’ direction,” Manfred said. The players continue to disagree.
What appears to be just a silly back and forth that accomplishes very little towards a new CBA and the return of baseball, can actually be construed as a much larger issue. Perhaps the reason there has been such little progress is that MLB firmly believes they have made player-friendly proposals.
However, what Manfred and owners have failed to understand is that the players know best whether or not they’re being compensated fairly. If the Players Association rejects a proposal on the grounds that it simply doesn’t address their long-noted issues, then it feels strange for MLB to openly disagree.
But beyond the petty arguing through the media, fans no longer care who is at fault, for the most part. The urgency is now on both sides to get a deal done so games are not lost. The league and the players have about 2-3 weeks to get a deal done before losing games becomes a serious possibility.
In that time, the hope is that there will be more negotiating, and less media back-and-forth.
Angels farm system ranked No. 23
In Minor League news, Keith Law of The Athletic put together a mid-lockout ranking of baseball’s 30 farm systems. Within it, the Los Angeles Angels ranked No. 23, signaling a significant amount of work that remains to be done, even after their famous 20-pitcher draft.