Maybe the full season is not lost, after all. That's likely what St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty is hoping for.
The Cardinals young ace made his opinion known on Twitter Monday night, as Major League Baseball Players Association and MLB negotiated – in 13 sessions for more than 16 hours – hoping to sign a new collective bargaining agreement. And hoping to save Opening Day from being canceled. The side are meeting again in the early hours of Tuesday morning in Jupiter, Fla., gaining more steam than at any time since talks began.
Flaherty, like baseball fans everywhere, seemed to be paying close attention to those who were in Jupiter to cover the closed-door negotiations from outside the Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium complex. He first stated, "the stuff some of you guys are tweeting is baffling"
Is he saying something that's being reported is false? Or, is he just saying he's mystified by this entire process and just wants there to be a decision. His next tweets might add some clarity...
"march madness"
"this is just the entire season of succession"
He's on to something here ... HBO should scoop up the rights to tell this story in a TV series ASAP.
While the finish line is still seemingly a ways away, enough progress was made Monday that MLB agreed to move the deadline to get a deal done - which left a full slate of games in the balance - to 5 p.m. Tuesday. The original jumping off point was Feb. 28.
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As the Washington Post wrote, "(The) union indicated a belief that MLB showed a willingness to get a deal today." And in The Athletic, Evan Drellich opined, "To player leadership, something seemed to change in Rob Manfred’s approach Monday. More aggressively than before, the commissioner signaled he wanted a deal."
After the 16 1/2-hour negotiating session Monday, there seemed to be common ground on the postseason expanding to 12 teams (rather than the 14 suggested by MLB), along with a universal designated hitter.
MLB also agreed to not increase the tax rates for CBT penalties while adding to the minimum salary and the new pre-arbitration bonus pool. The new minimum salary, according to the St. Louis Dispatch, would be $670,000 after sitting at $570,500 in 2021.
A significant concession by the MLBPA appears to be its willingness to drop a demand to change the percentage of arbitration-eligible players with two-or-more years of service time.
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