The current labor dispute in Major League Baseball is starting to getting concerning, and the threat of no 2020 season all together is now starting to loom.
ESPN's Buster Olney joined 94WIP's Marks & Reese Show on Thursday, explaining why the situation is worrisome.
"I think there is gonna be baseball because in the March 26th agreement between Major League Baseball and the Players Association Rob Manfred was given the right to essentially implement, at least a minimal season of 45 to 50 games," Olney explained. "It was sort of the worst case scenario, if in fact they play.
"I gotta say, I think while not having any baseball at all would be an absolute disaster for the sport, this is a close second," Olney continued. "Because not only would you have a situation -- if in fact there's no agreement, no collaboration, no cooperation between the two sides coming up with something, you're essentially gonna have Major League Baseball ramming this down the throats of the players. All of these labor issues the two sides have had would merely be deferred into 2021 when the collective bargaining agreement is set to come up. You may have the possibility of a players strike. You might have the possibility of the owners possibly sitting back and looking to restructure the whole financial system. And I'm not totally confident that all the players will participate in a shortened season."
Olney specifically mentioned big time free-agents Mookie Betts and George Stringer, as possible candidates to skip a shortened season, comparing them to elite college football players sitting out of a bowl game before they enter the NFL Draft.
"The risk for injury for such a short season might lead you to just bypass the whole thing," Olney explained. "I think there will be other players, potentially, that will skip for health concerns. The anger from baseball fans is growing."
Olney says the owners do have the leverage now, but the situation is not a good one.
"I really thought that in late April, early May, the players had the leverage of the moment," Olney said. "I was hoping, and I wrote about this at the time, that the players would parlay this into a larger conversation and be very proactive by saying 'we will give you some money, we know owners had a cash-flow problem in 2019, we will take a little less salary but we want to address our free agency concerns, tanking, service time manipulation' among other issues to roll that into the next CBA.
"All they have really done is put the same substance in different packages. They have changed the ribbon and wrapping but both sides are proposing the same thing… the lump of money remains the same (for the owners). You are right, the owners have the advantage of the moment. Rob Manfred can implement this shorten season and force the union into a shorten year, but that's not good for either side moving forward."
