With a Stand still in negotiations for the 2020 season and a CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) that is set to expire in 2021 will Rob Manfred Rise to the occasion or fail to lead like he has before?
Spring training 2020 seemed like the start of something great for the new season. The Astros were rightfully being booed every chance the fans got. As a result Manfred failed to punish the Astros the Players took into their own hands.
As the season came closer to beginning, the world became engulfed in a pandemic. Which in turn the MLB decided it was best to end the season indefinitely. This began what I like to call the emotional roller coaster of negotiations
A War Between Owners And The MLBPA
As 2020 Started to heat up and opening day quickly approached it seemed business as usual for the MLB community. That all changed when Covid-19 came into the world. March 12th, 2020; a day that will haunt the MLB community as the season was suspended before it started.
some feared there wouldn’t even be a season just for the fact that no one new when Covid-19 could be contained or worked around. As time went however, cases began to dip and sports began to work their way to resume play.
The sport that was seemingly going through this without much delay was Major League Baseball. As Rob Manfred, the Owners, and the MLBPA all came together and by March 26th struck a deal that would bring the sport back by April 26th. Fans or no fans. This came to the shock of many because historically the owners and the MLBPA never saw eye to eye. One example of this includes the ’94 Strike which saw the cancellation of the World Series. The Sports Grandest stage. Which as these “Negotiations” Continue feels eerily similar in context.
As a baseball fan I should’ve seen through the smoke screen because as the deal was inked and the MLB was on the road to returning, Manfred and the owners decided to throw a wrench into the plans. They demanded players take a 50% cut on top of not getting paid a full pro rated salary for an entire season. Which obviously the players denied without thought. Ever since then it’s been a roller coaster of emotions.
Rob Manfred: Does He Truly Care?
To say Rob Manfred has been a complete and udder imbecile running baseball is just not true. He has done a few things right. Those being the expansion of replay and being the ban hammer on PED usage and domestic violence situations. That however is as far as I will tip the cap.
Manfred has repeatedly shown his incompetence as a commissioner. This past year alone he’s shown you more evidence of this. His handling of the Astro’s Scandal, the extinction of the lefty specialist and the final caveat being the 2020 Negotiations.
Leak after leak of MLBPA, Owners, even Manfred’s offers show his lack of grasp on the game. Would Adam Silver or Gary Bettman allow this to happen? The answer is a resounding no. We didn’t hear from them till both there respective owners and PA had came to an agreement. Which to no ones shock have and will be playing during baseballs prime time. The dog days of summer.
As the Commissioner prepares to find the “silver lining” for both sides I among many others cant help but feel betrayed. As NBA, NHL, even MLS begin there return MLB is once again playing catch up. With the CBA Coming up in ’21 MLB’s biggest struggle is yet to come. Is this the start of baseball fade into the abyss?
Leave a Reply