Tag: MLB Lockout

Baseball fans were furious after MLB owners followed through on plan to extend the lockout

MLB owners really hate baseball.

Major League Baseball and the players union have spent the past week in Jupiter, Fla., negotiating in hopes to end the MLB lockout and welcome the start of the baseball season. Unfortunately, that wait for baseball is going to continue without an end in sight. 

MLB owners self imposed a Monday deadline to come to an agreement with the union, and those talks went into the early Tuesday morning hours with optimistic reports emerging from the league. It was all part of MLB’s plan. though.

Come Tuesday, the league said it would make one take-it-or-leave-it offer to the players or else it would start canceling games. Along with the ultimatum, the league suddenly said that the tone amongst MLB players had shifted for the worse. MLB players disputed that claim, saying that the league wanted to inspire optimism from Monday just to shift blame to the players when a deal didn’t happen.

The two sides were far apart all along as the league waited 40-plus days to send an initial offer and remained unwilling to make concessions to players despite soaring revenues. So, when the MLBPA unanimously rejected the league’s “final offer,” it meant that the game was headed for a costly, self-inflicted stoppage.

Plenty of fans recognized exactly what Rob Manfred and the league were doing there. They were not happy … to say the least.

Joey Gallo made a LinkedIn page and epically roasted himself in the skills section

Those skills … incredible.

If Major League Baseball stands by its self-imposed Monday deadline to avoid canceling games, MLB players are likely going to have to find some way to fill the time.

Some players are already looking at new ideas to keep busy.

On Monday — just as talks unfolded between the owners and the players union with little hope for a last-minute agreement — Bryce Harper reached out on Instagram to the Yomiuri Giants of Japan to get a dialogue started about him playing over there. The MLBPA did say that players could pursue international opportunities during the lockout, after all.

Yankees outfield Joey Gallo took a more traditional approach to scoring a new gig. He started a LinkedIn page.

Bryce Harper is so frustrated with the MLB lockout that he wants Japan’s Yomiuri Giants to call him

Could you imagine?

Monday was supposed to be MLB’s self-imposed deadline to reach a deal with the players union or else the league would start canceling games. And barring a miraculous agreement, most expect the two sides to miss the deadline and for the lockout to continue.

The unwillingness from league ownership to make even minuscule concessions in the negotiations understandably has players across the league frustrated. The players want to play baseball, and apparently, reigning National League MVP Bryce Harper would be fine with taking his talents overseas for the time being.

As the players union and league ownership continued their talks in Jupiter, Fla., Harper posted on Instagram with a message to the Nippon Professional Baseball Central League’s Yomiuri Giants. He wanted them to know that he could be available this spring. Give him a call.

He mentioned the Tokyo club’s Instagram handle and added, “I know you got @borascorp number. Let’s talk.”

While Harper could have been joking or just showing his frustration with the lockout, MLBPA has said that players could go overseas if the lockout cuts into the regular season. The players union said it would challenge any attempts from MLB to prevent players from playing internationally. So, Harper has the cover to go for it if he really wanted to.

Plus, let’s be honest: It would be pretty incredible to watch Prime Bryce Harper play in the Japanese league. MLB fans would definitely find a way to watch that.

Of course, this could all be avoided if the owners wanted to negotiate in good faith, but they’ve made it clear that’s not what they’re about.

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Some of the wildly exorbitant purchases MLB owners have made over the years

But let’s focus on Max Scherzer’s car instead …

Major League Baseball is currently in a lockout, which means an on-time start to the season is very much in jeopardy. But it’s important to remember that this isn’t a strike. It’s a lockout.

The owners instituted a lockout as the collective bargaining agreement expired in December. And though commissioner Rob Manfred could have kept the season on track while simultaneously negotiating with the players union, he opted for the contentious lockout strategy. It didn’t have to be this way, and the strange thing about this lockout is the puzzling amount of blame being placed on the players. The very players who want to be playing baseball right now.

In an Associated Press report from the negotiations in Jupiter, Fla., Max Scherzer was singled out for driving a Porsche to the meetings. Sure, a Porsche Taycan is a nice car. But Max Scherzer is a three-time Cy Young Award winner. He can have a nice car. The Athletic’s Jim Bowden also blamed the players for a step “backwards” in negotiations. Again, stop blaming the players. 

But if we’re going to get mad at Scherzer’s car, let’s take a look at some of the things MLB owners have purchased over the years.

MLB players weren’t thrilled with Rob Manfred’s excuses for the prolonged lockout

Spring training is supposed to start next week.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred took questions from reporters on Thursday for the first time since Major League Baseball initiated its lockout in December, and as expected, the players didn’t particularly like what they heard.

Many expected Manfred to announce the official delayed start of spring training with pitchers and catchers scheduled to report next week. But Manfred declined to do so, insisting instead that there will be no change to the league calendar and that he’s optimistic a deal can be reached soon. He did say that the league agreed on a universal DH starting next season, but other than that, Manfred resorted to deflection.

When asked specifically why the league waited 42 days after the lockout started to begin negotiations with the union, Manfred pinned blame on that players — you know, the party being locked out — that “phones work two ways.”

So while Manfred tried to project optimism heading into Saturday’s negotiation session, MLB players made it clear how little they trust Manfred.

 

MLB fans crushed commissioner Rob Manfred ahead of his upcoming press conference

What could go wrong?

Pitchers and catchers are due to report to spring training camps next week, but there’s almost no chance of that happening on time. Major League Baseball is in a lockout, and there’s been virtually no progress in talks to bring an end to the work stoppage.

Understandably, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is taking much of the blame from players and fans. Since taking over as commissioner in 2015, Manfred has botched the sport’s biggest cheating scandal in a century and has operated as someone who just despises baseball.

Manfred has remained awfully quiet throughout the lockout, but that’s about to change. Manfred is scheduled to address the media on Thursday, and he’s almost certain to stumble through answers and make things worse — it’s what he does.

MLB fans treated the news of the upcoming press conference as an opportunity to crush Manfred. And honestly, you can’t blame them.

Baseball fans were shocked to learn that MLB isn’t drug testing players during the lockout

The Steroid Era, Part II.

Just when it seemed that Major League Baseball had already reached its peak incompetence, another wrinkle manages to appear.

As you probably know, MLB is well into a lockout that has a delayed spring training and start to the regular season looking inevitable. The league and the MLBPA have made little progress in talks, and last week’s meetings ended without a counter offer from MLB. But on Monday, the Associated Press pointed out another issue stemming from the work stoppage:

Baseball isn’t drug testing its players during the lockout.

According to AP, MLB stopped testing players for the first time in 20 years after the drug-testing agreement expired this offseason.

While this doesn’t mean that baseball will become the PED free-for-all of Steroid Era again, it does create a concerning window of test-free time for players. The lockout started on Dec. 2 — just as the testing agreement also expired — so some players could potentially choose to use PEDs for offseason training and be clean by the time the testing agreement gets renewed.

The news understandably surprised baseball fans, and some thought it meant that baseball was permanently ending drug testing (it is not). Either way, it was quite the development given how Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were recently shut out of the Hall of Fame. Classic MLB.

Mike Trout gave a MLB lockout update on the Weather Channel after giving his own personal weather report

Mike Trout is an actual weather nerd.

Mike Trout, man. You’ve got to love the guy. Who else could possibly be one of the greatest baseball players ever while simultaneously being a weatherman? No one, that’s who.

Trout is legitimately a weather nerd, through and through. We’ve known this for years. And, apparently, he’s spent his time during Major League Baseball’s lockout brushing up on his weather reporting skills.

Trout tweeted out a video of the snow coming down on his year on Friday night. He was very clearly excited to be getting this much snow. His entire yard was basically covered with even more snow on the way.

He also called into the weather channel on Friday to talk about the noreaster currently hitting the East coast. He also gave us lockout update.

“Haven’t heard much. With the lockout it’s awfully quiet right now.  Hopefully, we can get a deal done and get this season going. You know, I don’t want to miss any games. It’s going to be tough. Obviously, we’re trying to do what’s right for the game. We’re trying to promote the game and make it interesting for the fans.” 

That’s good stuff from Trout, man. He’s a longtime listener, but he’s definitely not a first-time caller. He’s done this before.

Fans were delighted to find out Trout was a weather nerd.

Tim Anderson offered his services to the shorthanded Chicago Bulls amid COVID outbreak

MLB is locked out and the Bulls really need some healthy bodies

The Chicago Bulls are not well.

After spending the first quarter of the season proving they’re a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference, the Bulls (17-10) have gone 5-5 over their last 10 games as an outbreak of COVID-19 wreaks havoc on the roster.

As of Monday, Chicago has 10 players in the league’s health and safety protocol and just eight players available. Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu are all unavailable. Stanley Johnson, who the team signed to a 10-day contract last week via hardship waiver due to the outbreak, is now in COVID protocol, too.

Options are dwindling fast for the Bulls, but there’s one star athlete in Chicago who’s currently out of work and ready to offer his services: White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson.

With Major League Baseball owners locking out unionized players, Anderson —who lives in Chicago year-round—has no problem offering up his services to another squad in town.

Now, whether or not he could actually help the Bulls win some games is debatable, but Anderson is almost underselling himself in that tweet. The Alabama native is a former high school state champion who led his team in scoring en route to the title. He likely would’ve stayed with the sport but two knee injuries made baseball more appealing.

So instead he launches home runs and flips bats for a living.  At least until the start of December, when a labor dispute put baseball on hiatus.

Which makes Anderson’s offer even more interesting. White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf also happens to own the Bulls. It might not sit too well with Anderson’s brethren at the MLBPA if he starts taking checks from his boss again before a deal has been reached.

Then again, we’re still months away from spring training (if it happens) and it sure would be nice to see Tim Anderson continue to be really good at sports in the meantime.

If that doesn’t work out—and to be absolutely clear, it won’t—Nikola Vucevic offered another potential solution for the Bulls.

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