Super Bowl, Olympics, NBA Trades... And Still No Baseball

In this Five-Tool Newsletter, we explain why this week specifically is an awful time to be a baseball fan.

Ugh, not another photo of Rob Manfred!  :: AP Photo/John Raoux

The past week was simultaneously an exciting time for sports and a brutal moment to be a baseball fan.

At the Winter Olympics, elite athletes Chloe Kim, Nathan Chen and Eileen Gu won gold medals. Mikaela Shiffrin struggled but inspired millions with her perspective and vulnerability. Even though Shaun White missed out on a medal, we got to bid farewell to the snowboarding legend on the Olympic stage.

In the NBA… TRADES! James Harden is a Sixer! Ben Simmons is a Net! C.J. McCollum is a Pelican! The Knicks did nothing! There’s so much to discuss! I love me some trades, so I was forced to turn to basketball, at best my third favorite pro sport, for the juicy deals that normally I’d get from MLB this time of year.

And then there’s the Super Bowl. I have been devouring any and all stories about Sunday’s game. I’m a huge Rams fan, and every single thing Greg Bishop has written about them this season has been a must read, especially since the playoffs began. Also, today’s SI Daily Cover is about Joe Burrow smoking his cigars! What more could you ask for?

The sports news right now is so crazy—and the baseball outlook is so bleak—that we’ve got Stephanie Apstein in Beijing for the Olympics (doing great work!), and Emma Baccellieri wrote an excellent NFL story about cryptocurrency as yesterday’s Daily Cover. (At least the graphic featured Shohei Ohtani with lasers shooting out of his eyes, right?)

Pretty epic! :: Photo Illustration by Bryce Wood; Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports (Brady and Curry); Tim Heitman/USA TODAY Sports (Ohtani); Matthew Emmons/USA TODAY Sports (Lawrence); Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports (Beckham)

All we are left with on the baseball front is a commissioner who says he wants to end the lockout but is showing no urgency to do so. The owners meetings this week ended with his debacle of a press conference (more on that from Emma in the next section). MLB and the union are scheduled to have another bargaining session tomorrow. The league is expected to make its latest CBA proposal, 12 days after its most recent meeting with the players and nine days after requesting federal mediation, which was nothing more than a tactic, as I wrote in last week’s newsletter.

Somehow, spring training camps are still scheduled to open on Wednesday. That’s what Rob Manfred said in yesterday’s press conference, and according to him we’re supposed to take him at his word. This guy.

Meanwhile, the lockout drags on without much hope of any major league games any time soon. The longer it lasts, the more time fans, especially casual and potential new ones, have to find something else for entertainment. For a sport that’s already struggling to reach new audiences, this is the worst possible thing.

For all our disappointment, though, we need to remember exactly who is to blame for no baseball. The owners are the ones who locked out the players and then took a 43-day vacation before making their next proposal, despite Manfred saying that the point of the lockout was to “jumpstart the negotiations and get us to an agreement that will allow the season to start on time.” MLB could end the lockout now without a new CBA and the season could start as scheduled. That won’t happen.

The lockout’s true purpose is either as the weapon the owners will wield to beat the players into submission, or as the tool they’ll use to delay the season, and it doesn’t look like the players are going to agree to a bad contract. Regardless of what Manfred says, this is the fault of the league, the owners and Manfred.

We can’t forget that, even as we enjoy everything else going on in the sports world.

Have any questions for our team? Send a note to mlb@si.com.

1. THE OPENER

“‘In terms of any delay in the process, that’s a mutual responsibility of the bargaining parties. Phones work two ways.’

“This was MLB commissioner Rob Manfred discussing the pace of labor negotiations during his press conference Thursday. It was a perfect representation of the spirit of the session: a line that was technically true—or, at least, not explicitly untrue—while being wildly, eye-roll-inducingly disingenuous.”

That’s how Emma Baccellieri began in her scathing indictment of the commissioner, who takes no blame for the lockout and spews nonsense from behind a podium.

You can read her entire column below:

Don’t Be Silly. This Isn’t Rob Manfred’s Fault, Says Rob Manfred.

Who’s to blame for the MLB lockout? Certainly not this smiling guy, says this smiling guy :: AP Photo/John Raoux

2. ICYMI

Yeah, the non-lockout baseball news was also pretty much all bad this week.

Two former players, Gerald Williams and Jeremy Giambi, died way too young. You can read more about them below.

Former Yankees Outfielder Gerald Williams Dies at 55

Former MLB Outfielder Jeremy Giambi Dies at the Age of 47

The trial of former Angels communications director Eric Kay over his role in the 2019 death of Tyler Skaggs began this week. Matt Harvey, who is a witness in the trial, was accused of supplying Skaggs with Percocets.

Matt Harvey Named as Possible Drug Source for Ex-Teammate Tyler Skaggs

Also this week, the Los Angeles County district attorney announced that Trevor Bauer will not face criminal charges for sexual and/or domestic assault. The Dodgers pitcher remains under investigation by MLB and may well still be suspended upon its completion, though any discipline would not be imposed until after the lockout ends.

Trevor Bauer Will Not Face Criminal Charges for Sexual Assault

Bauer’s case was always going to be difficult for prosecutors because, as Michael Rosenberg detailed in this Daily Cover story last September, our legal system has long struggled with how to deal with sexual assault allegations that are the result of encounters that begin as consensual.

How to Judge Trevor Bauer by Michael Rosenberg

3. WORTH NOTING from Emma Baccellieri

There is one major ongoing baseball storyline apart from the lockout, and it’s a sad one—the start of former Angels communications director Eric Kay’s trial on his role in Tyler Skaggs’ death in 2019. Kay has pleaded not guilty after being indicted on two charges, one of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and one of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance resulting in death and serious bodily injury.

It’s a reminder of the extent of the opioids epidemic. And hopefully, for MLB, it’s an opportunity to consider the kind of help available to players and other employees who might be struggling.

4. TRIVIA! from Matt Martell

Before we get into this week’s question, here is the answer to the one I asked last Friday.

Last Week’s Question: Who are the three members of the 500 Home Run Club who never led their league in home runs?

Answer: Rafael Palmeiro (569 career HR), Frank Thomas (521), Gary Sheffield (509)

This Week’s Question: There are nine members of the 600 Home Run Club. Two of them never hit 50 home runs in a single season. Can you name them?

5. THE CLOSER from Emma Baccellieri

This week will mark a key turning point in the lockout. It’s been clear for weeks now that spring training would need to be delayed. Now, it actually will be delayed—regardless of what Manfred said yesterday—pushing that out of the realm of the hypothetical. The change that represents may be mostly symbolic. But it’s still a real change—whether or not it actually begins to make an impact.

That’s all from us today. We’ll be back in your inbox next Friday. In the meantime, share this newsletter with your friends and family, and tell them to sign up at SI.com/newsletters. If you have any questions or comments, shoot us an email at mlb@si.com.