With some spring training games already canceled and an on-time start to the regular season in jeopardy, it can be tough to find much optimism in the state of the MLB lockout.
The two sides are meeting in Florida for the eighth straight day Monday, the owner-identified deadline for a new deal to get done without the need to cancel regular-season games. Sunday marked important progress, but big issues remain.
No doubt, those need to get hammered out and could be a grind. But Tigers catcher Tucker Barnhart, who has been a regular in union calls and was a player rep with the Cincinnati Reds for years before his trade this offseason to Detroit, sees signs for hope.
“I think so,” Barnhart responded on Jomboy Media’s “The Chris Rose Rotation” podcast when asked if the two sides were getting closer. “There are so many things out there in regards to the major sticking points – the CBT, the salary (arbitration), things like that. But there are so many little things that we’ve already finished, that we’ve gotten fixed, that we’ve gotten ironed out that have been ironed out for a long time, they just aren’t talked about. And they’re very little things, but they’re things that are going to have to get figured out or needed to get figured out in order to get a deal.
“There has been very, very slow progress I would say. I think we are getting closer. Obviously, it’s not as close as everybody would want it, there’s no question about that. I’m an optimist, man. I live my life optimistically, and I’m hopeful that we can get something done.”
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The whole process, from the outside, has looked like a battle of willpower. Both sides have their specific items that they hold the vast majority of the leverage in, and are willing to wield that to their advantage – hence why the two sides are at loggerheads.
"I think it’s clear that both sides know that (we have certain advantages), and I think that’s why we’re stuck,” Barnhart said. “We as players are holding things that we have the most leverage in, and the owners are doing the same thing. I think for the game itself, it clearly makes the most sense to get a deal and not miss any games. That’s just my own personal opinion, and like I said, I’m really hopeful that we can get there and we can get Opening Day kicked off when it’s supposed to. I think it would be terrible for the game if it’s not, in my opinion.”
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