The sport that I love the most is in serious danger of not being played and at the very least being delayed. Baseball is going on its third month of the players lockout and there seems to be no end in sight with spring training due to start in just a few short weeks. For the first time since the lock out started, I am very nervous that we may not get baseball for the 2022 season. And the two sides fighting it out in the heavyweight match up, the millionaires vs the billionaires, is what every average American love to see.

You can call me an optimist or perhaps naïve, but I never thought that the season was in actual danger. Yes, we heard stories of the contentious relationships between the players union and the owners, but I thought it will eventually get worked out. I know that the negotiations for the 2020 COVID season was an absolute shit show where it seemed both sides couldn’t agree on a single thing but in the end, everything got worked out. They decided to put the game in front of each sides needs and give the fans what they want when the country desperately needed an outlet. But the recent reports from the various baseball writers it seems both sides are nowhere close to coming to a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement. And with time dwindling to get the season start on time it seems we are reaching a point where games will be affected. The players want their needs met, the owners want theirs, and there seems to be no meeting in the middle.

The biggest thing the players want is less team control on the players. They want to reach free agency and arbitration a year earlier then when they currently receive it. In the old CBA agreement, a player reaches free agency after 6 years in the league and are eligible for arbitration after year 3 where they can negotiate their salary. If they can’t reach an agreement, then they go to arbitration where a judge has the final ruling.  All in all, the players want to earn more money while they are younger. And the owners pretty much want to keep everything the same. They did agree on the universal DH though, which is nice. Watching a pitcher try to hit a baseball is probably the most pathetic thing to see in professional sports.

Baseball just can’t get out of its way sometimes. Weather it’s the pretentious writers picking and choosing which steroid players get into the hall of fame. The reliability of analytics which makes watching a game similar to watching paint dry. The lack of promotion with some of the league’s top stars. They sometimes seem to mess things up on purpose just because they are bored and feel like it. I understand that the players have rights and deserve every dollar that they earn and the owners deserve to make the money they deserve too, but the issue that they can’t compromise and meet in the middle is just crazy to me. It’s eerily similar to watching a politician try and get a billed pass and the republicans and democrats refusing to compromise on the situation.  They need to act like the adults that most of them are and figure out on a solution on the issue and get back to playing, I mean that’s what everyone wants right?