Rob Manfred paced back and forth between the owners and players’ side of the fence during Monday’s extended talks to try and reach an agreement on a new CBA to end the league-imposed lockout, and those talks lasted through the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The talks were productive enough for the league to extend its deadline to reach a deal before games are canceled to Tuesday afternoon, and Ken Davidoff of the New York Post followed Manfred’s every move throughout the day and night in Florida.
“[Monday] was better,” Davidoff told Lori Rubinson on Monday night. “It was more civil. They actually kind of ramped down. All of the meetings were between lawyers on both sides. There were players and owners present, but they just kind of stayed in their corners…there was no player/owner interaction.”
That might have been for the best, as the players have not been shy in expressing their frustration with the owners on social media. Many previous talks between the two sides had been reported as contentious, and Davidoff feels it has been the players showing more motivation to get a deal done.
“I thought prior to yesterday, I thought both sides were behaving highly irrationally,” Davidoff said. “I think the owners thought, or at least stated that they were making good offers, and they really were not goo offers. The players have been crazy vengeful since the last CBA in 2016. They knew within 24 hours of that deal that they screwed up, and have been out for revenge.”
But news broke on Monday, as the two sides worked towards a deal, that owners were willing to lose a month of games if the players didn’t bring their demands closer to the wishes of the owners. Why? Because most owners don’t mind missing out on April baseball, according to Davidoff.
“Opening Day is magnificent,” Davidoff said. “It’s a national holiday, it’s glamorous…and then what happens after Opening Day? It’s cold, kids are in school, and attendance plummets. Obviously the Yankees do well, the Mets…but for the rest of the league, attendance is low.
“Nobody’s heart breaks in a vacuum on the ownership side…if April was banged.”
The players don’t want to lose a month of baseball, and in turn, a month of pay, but in Davidoff’s opinion, some owners outside of big markets like New York wouldn’t mind losing games if it meant bending the players closer to their will.
“What it all comes down to, this deal, whenever they agree to it, needs to be ratified by 23 of the 30 owners,” Davidoff explained. “That’s why, for sure, Hal Steinbrenner and Steve Cohen want to start spring training tomorrow. They’re annoyed it hasn’t started yet, because they have money to make. They have people buying their tickets, and they want to get going.
“Another group is just a group that hates players and hates unions, and wants to destroy this union. You talk about a guy like Dick Monfort from the Rockies, he’s head of MLB’s Labor Policy committee...there are a few others who just seem perfectly content to not play baseball and go after this union.”
But if a deal can be reached Tuesday, no games will be missed, and the two sides could get back to baseball. But there would likely still be lingering disdain between the two sides afterward.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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