The Lockout Diaries: Week 9

[Nick Nelson]

Dear journal,

It's been 63 days since darkness fell upon the world of baseball. We're now into February, and the end of this lockout really feels no closer than it did a week in.

The league and MLBPA have begun to meet with greater frequency, which is good I guess, but there are no signs of tangible progress – at least not the kind we need to see with Opening Day supposedly less than two months away. 

We're nine weeks in, and still at the "baby steps" stage of the negotiations. Really great stuff.

Normally around this time I'd be scouring sources like the Twins website for news and tidbits ahead of spring training. To visit that website now is a sad and strange thing. Top headlines there as I write this include:

• Lew Ford robbing a home run in 2004
• David Ortiz reaching the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility (certainly not a sore subject for any Twins fan)
• A list of the best baseball movies for kids
• A story about Joe Nathan's 2004 season
• A list of the best baseball movies based on a true story

Can you feel the preseason excitement coursing through your veins?! Seventeen-year-old Lew Ford highlights! Kids baseball movies! Whoo!!

The roster page is a sea of faceless names. The Twins are drifting further and further from my mind at a time where anticipation for baseball usually consumes much of my attention. 

It pains me to think how much more this is affecting or alienating someone who isn't nearly as obsessed and invested in the sport as I am. It pains me to think about what this will mean for baseball's future if they don't rapidly pick up the pace on these negotiations. 

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[wsnydes]

When this "The league and MLBPA have begun to meet with greater frequency, which is good I guess..." is the best thing that can be said this close to ST, that's not a good sign.

Punxsutawney Phil isn't the only indication that winter is going to be a bit longer this year.

[RJA]

Nick, your mention of baseball movies got me thinking that I haven't watched The Perfect Game in a long time.  I am going to tee it up this weekend.  This lockout too shall pass (I hope!).

[PDX Twin]

Quote

It pains me to think how much more this is affecting or alienating someone who isn't nearly as obsessed and invested in the sport as I am.

I think it's a safe guess that most people who are not invested in baseball probably don't even know that there is a stoppage and wouldn't start paying any attention at all until at least April (and more likely August).

[strumdatjag]

Some may disagree, but starting the season in Late April or Early May would be no problem with many fans. I belong to a large season ticket group.  The late March and April games are the least popular ones.  I know - don’t wish for a work stoppage or it could go till August. 

[mikelink45]

There is no obvious solution because neither side seems to feel a sense of urgency.  I suspect the owners will try to hold on until the players really feel the pinch and capitulate.  I know the big buck stars won't be hurting, but there are a lot of minimum salary players out there. 

You might add to your observations TD going back to the best articles from past years - obviously there is only so much to write about for this season.

[Unwinder]

1 hour ago, PDX Twin said:

I think it's a safe guess that most people who are not invested in baseball probably don't even know that there is a stoppage and wouldn't start paying any attention at all until at least April (and more likely August).

Extremely true, most people I know just watch a few baseball games when they hear the Twins are doing well, and maybe go to a game every couple of years because their employer gave them tickets. There may be a theoretical sliver of the fanbase in a sweet spot where they're following closely enough to know about the CBA negotiations, but their interest is fragile enough that they're ready to walk away from baseball if those negotiations seem too greedy, but I don't think it's a significant demographic.

[Vanimal46]

My apathy for baseball is growing, and that’s not good. I’d be liar if I said I’m walking away from baseball. Because I know there will be days I’ll turn on a game during the summer. But my passion and obsession for the sport is dwindling. 

[Battle ur tail off]

NCAA fastpitch softball starts soon. Hopefully we see more of it on TV this year with baseball being the babies they are. It's a better game anyway. Try it once, I bet you like it. 

[Major League Ready]

Here is an interesting development.  MLB has asked for a federal mediator.    Federal Mediator

[Vanimal46]

This method has been used in other sports with mixed results. Still needs to get approved by MLBPA, and given that it didn’t work in 1994, will probably be denied. 

[Squirrel]

9 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

I suspect the owners will try to hold on until the players really feel the pinch and capitulate.

I'm not so sure it will be the players to feel the pinch first. They've been preparing for this for some time. They knew it was going to be a lockout or a strike. They've known it since 2020, when trying to negotiate the partial season. They may have known it earlier than that. I'm fairly certain that they have accumulated a 'war chest', so to speak. It won't be the money where they feel the pinch. It will be in not playing that will be the most difficult. When I was last involved with a work stoppage, it lasted 7 weeks. We were told 18 months ahead of time, 'This one is going to be difficult so start saving.' Between what I'd saved and funds from the union, I could have lasted a year. It wouldn't surprise me that every player involved prepared for this. I think both sides could be stubborn enough, and financially able enough, to hold out an entire season. But the hardest part for the players won't be the money. The pinch they will feel is in the not playing.

[Squirrel]

3 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

This method has been used in other sports with mixed results. Still needs to get approved by MLBPA, and given that it didn’t work in 1994, will probably be denied. 

And my guess is the owners know it will be denied, which is why they asked for it.

[MN_ExPat]

15 hours ago, Squirrel said:

And my guess is the owners know it will be denied, which is why they asked for it.

I'd have to concur on that.  My small animal hindbrain is telling me that this has been the owners end game all along. 

It comes across as if they (the owners) don't care if the top paid players cave or not, and almost as if they hope they don't.  At that point, the league could hypothetically toss the union aside and start all over with non-union / 40 Man players and restructure the league as they see fit. 

Would it be a PR headache/nightmare? Probably, but It seems like the league is looking at this whole process as a long game scenario and a chance to rest power away from the MLBPA (they're would potentially be a large number of young players who "just want to play" who would be willing to cross the lines/MLBPA be damned ?‍♂️).  

Looking back at the last few years with the focus lens of the current situation, the league's "concessions" and gestures appear as even more symbolic and token than anything of substance.  I hope this isn't the morally questionable long game plan of the owners, but power and money have driven men to do more for less.

If MLB wants to destroy and remake itself into whatever form it wants... so be it.  I will return to it when/if it regains it's senses because I love the game. 

With that being said... we don't have to abandon/walk away from baseball.  Far from it.  I would ask everyone here to go and support your local colleges and HS teams.  These kids are truly still living the "dream" and love the support of their communities.  Show them the love, they deserve it .  

[Squirrel]

14 minutes ago, MN_ExPat said:

With that being said... we don't have to abandon/walk away from baseball.  Far from it.  I would ask everyone here to go and support your local colleges and HS teams.  These kids are truly still living the "dream" and love the support of their communities.  Show them the love, they deserve it .  

The minor leaguers, too ... those are really fun games to watch, especially the low minors

[MN_ExPat]

Just now, Squirrel said:

The minor leaguers, too ... those are really fun games to watch, especially the low minors

Amen