Collective Bargaining Agreement: Serious Negotiations Will Wait Until February

On December 1, a work stoppage will begin. I could say “unless a miracle happens” to sugarcoat it, but there won't be a miracle.

Because the reality is, we know that MLB and the Players' Association never negotiate in good faith. They just go through the motions until it really matters.

The NHL, which signed its new collective bargaining agreement a year in advance, has an approach that's more… beneficial for everyone.

With four weeks to go before the deadline, MLB and the players haven't even started making realistic offers to each other yet.

When will it start?

According to Bob Nightengale, it'll start in February, as spring training approaches in earnest.

When April rolls around and the paychecks don't come in, we'll see who cracks first. – Bob Nightengale, on the Foul Territory podcast

Buster Olney, on the other hand, thinks nothing serious will happen until March, when the threat of canceling games becomes real.

We understand the strategy of waiting, but there are limits, after all.

Both players and teams have contingency funds to stay afloat if games were ever canceled.

That will surely be the case.

Ultimately, as we discussed yesterday on the Passion MLB podcast, the fans will be the ones who lose out. After all, if the season doesn't start on time, it'll be a disaster.

Baseball is on a roll, but everyone seems determined to shoot themselves in the foot.

Created by humans, assisted by AI.