MLB Has Already Blown Its Opportunity to Grow the Game of Baseball

Amid a global pandemic, the stalemate between Major League Baseball and the Players Association could already be forever damaging to the game of baseball in America.

Baseball had an opportunity. A great one.

Major League Baseball had a chance to be the first league to shine during some pretty dark times. Baseball had a chance to be the sole focus of the sports world and provide an example as the model sports league amid the coronavirus pandemic—a chance to give people something to cheer about. 

Now, we'll just be lucky if there's any baseball played in 2020.

No, these chances weren't squandered by health and safety issues or a worsening public health state that made a return to play impossible. No, the 2020 regular season hangs in the balance because of one thing: money.

It's inexcusable and, to be frank, quite maddening.

Baseball hasn't seen games lost over money since the 1994-95 strike, which forever damaged the game of baseball. The struggle in 1994 between MLB and the Players Association wasn't accompanied by external circumstances. It was all about money and the game hasn't been the same since. Not on the field, on our televisions, nor in the hearts of American sports fans. Despite MLB generating more revenue than any other sports league in the world with the exception of the National Football League, its relevance in America's culture has dwindled over time.

When the spread of the novel coronavirus was deemed a pandemic, the loss of baseball games in 2020 nearly became a foregone conclusion. It was only with blind optimism that MLB initially delayed the start of the season by two weeks. Here we are at the beginning of June and we still have yet to see any organized baseball activity resume. 

Even so, the loss of games was going to be due to a pandemic, not money. The American people would have been hurt by it, but they would have understood it. The pandemic has left the American people thirsting for sports or any distraction from the harsh realities caused by the coronavirus crisis.

We were given a sliver of hope in March when MLB and the Players Association came to an agreement that centered around advances on player salaries and service time. Not only did they come to an agreement on these issues, but they did it rather quickly and quietly. It took many people by surprise and gave a ray of hope that once the time came for the two sides to knock out a return-to-play plan, the two sides would work together in good faith.

That good faith was actually part of the language in the March agreement between the two sides. According to The Athletic, the March agreement says the commissioner’s office and the union “will discuss in good faith the economic feasibility of playing games in the absence of spectators or at appropriate substitute neutral sites.”

How could we be so foolish to think they would actually get it done easily? Or even at all?

Instead, once the possibility of resuming the baseball season became feasible from a health standpoint—albeit with no fans in attendance—the two sides have engaged in a rather vicious back-and-forth, not unlike the unpleasant negotiations over a collective bargaining agreement. 

The situation has gotten bad enough where the baseball season is threatened more by a disagreement over economics than a global pandemic.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Meanwhile, the NBA, NHL, and MLS all have tentative plans in place for their return to play. None of them are ideal, but most importantly, it gets their respective sports back on the playing surface and back on our televisions.

Major League Soccer doesn't have the lucrative TV deals MLB possesses. MLS relies on their gate receipts much more than baseball does. MLS has figured out a way back, despite losing $1 billion in revenue.

The National Hockey League has seen three work stoppages under commissioner Gary Bettman, one of which canceled an entire season. The NHL seemingly knocked out an agreement faster than anyone expected. If they can do it, why can't baseball do it?

Wednesday saw more eyes roll at MLB when The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported that the owners rejected the players' latest economic proposal and MLB would not make another proposal.

The coronavirus pandemic has laid waste to both our national and state economies, leaving over 40 million Americans unemployed. Meanwhile, MLB's owners and players are bickering about money. 

This is far worse than the 1994-95 strike. If baseball can't figure out a way back while tens of millions of Americans would give anything to go back to work, it could be the beginning of the end of the game that was once the heart and soul of American sports.

If anything, this airing of dirty laundry between the two sides has already permanently damaged the game, even if they are able to hammer out a deal in the coming days. Sure, getting back to playing would likely make it easier to forget about the ugly beginnings of these negotiations. However, it would show us that even amidst the most dire of circumstances that baseball prioritizes money over everything else. 

According to ESPN's Buster Olney, some owners are "perfectly willing" to cancel the season to cut payroll and reduce losses.

If that's not megalomaniacal, I don't know what is.

MLB has its priorities out of order. It's clear that revenue is atop their priorities no matter the circumstance. And that's not even mentioning how long it took for them to issue a public statement on the George Floyd murder and racial injustice in America. Mind you, this is a league that reveres and celebrates Jackie Robinson as one of its legendary heroes.

MLB can still salvage a little bit of dignity with some humility. If it means they have to "lose" to the players association again, then so be it. Instead of bickering about language in the previous agreement with the players, make a proposal that the players would actually be interested in.

The owners know how the players union works. They had to know that either of their economic proposals were going to be scoffed at by the Players Association. What's the old saying? This isn't their first rodeo.

And who loses when the owners and players bicker over money? The fans. People want baseball. People want sports. Baseball has the chance to be the first of the four major sports to return to action. It has the opportunity to allow the game to sell itself. This is not just about 2020. It's about next year, five years from now, and 10 years from now. The future of the game, which is already going to take a hit with the five-round Draft next week, is at stake.

The message MLB is sending is they'd rather guarantee their wallets don't take too big a hit rather than allow their game to sell itself and possibly grow the game and gain a wider audience. Meanwhile, fans are alienated and club employees all over the country live in fear of pay reductions, furloughs, and layoffs.

It's baffling to think MLB would willingly put itself in a position to suffer a blow worse than the 1994-95 strike. If they can't put their pride aside and get a deal done, the sport may not survive.

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