Former Phillie and current Talkin' Baseball cohost Trevor Plouffe had reported in early May that the MLB would start spring training on June 10 and have opening day on July 1.
It's June 10, and there is still no agreement between the MLB and MLBPA on when baseball will start. The tension all centers around the agreement made between the two sides in March.
"One side says the agreement meant nothing, the other side said that agreement meant everything," Plouffe said Wednesday on with Angelo Cataldi and the 94WIP Morning Show.
"The owners have insisted that the agreement in March was consistent only if fans were in the stands. I don't know how they thought that considering we knew at that time there was a deadly pandemic going around the global… The players have been bullheaded that they agreed to that in March and are sticking to it."
For Plouffe, the biggest mistake the MLB has made is negotiating an agreement in the public eye, something the NBA avoided to prevent bad public relations.
"That's where they have really done damage to the public and the sport… That was a play the owners had to put some pressure on the players, and I think it's backfired."
"I was talking to someone the other day with knowledge of the NBA and their negotiations, and they said they had a tough, bitter negotiation to get the season started but they did it all behind closed doors. Everyone thinks hey, look at the NBA they got it all together. Well, they set out with the goal of not fighting in public during a time where 40 million people are unemployed, where people are at home, unease about things. Now we have a social justice protest going on. There is a lot going on in this country and there needs to be some good news."
Ultimately, that is the biggest reason the sport is souring among its fans as this trudges on.
