The MLB wants a universal DH. The players’ association wants a universal DH. These sides really agree on something. However, there may not be a universal DH in 2021.
This is the relationship between these factions.
The MLB, a few weeks ago, offered universal DH as part of a larger package that, among other items, it ordered in exchange for expanded playoffs again in 2021. The players’ association rejected the move. Does this mean that there will be no DH or expanded post-season? Perhaps.
The MLB announced an agreement with the union to expand the playoffs last year, literally hours before the start of the late season’s first pitch. These sides essentially never act before the eleventh hour. Sometimes the twelfth.
Expect the same when it comes to when staff will show up for spring training. The reporting dates begin February 17 in Florida and Arizona. But on Monday, officials representing the Cactus League – which hosts 15 teams in Arizona for spring training – sent a letter to the MLB requesting that spring training be postponed by one month. Authorities wrote that experts consulted thought that postponing the opening until mid-March would significantly lower the rate of COVID-19 infections in Maricopa County, which is currently among the worst epicenters of the virus in the world.
Both the MLB and the players’ association issued bland statements. The key behind the scenes is to know that the union sees the officers of the League of Cacti as MLB tools. The union continues to declare that all other sports are being played, including in Arizona; the NHL with fans. The union sees all attempts to postpone the season as the MLB wants to cut games so that owners can save money by not paying players. On the other hand, the MLB sees this version of the union as doing nothing but rejecting proposals and offering no counterattacks for future negotiations and encouraging cooperation and concession.
But the problem is this: I think that both sides know that it would be smart to delay a month so that vaccines may even reach the staff there. So shorten your spring training to four weeks, increase your lists to 28 in the first month, and play, say, 145 games to stay in the October playoff window that network partners want while cutting some games to possibly protect the arms that were not fully stretched short last season.
But I also think that the sides hate each other so much that they can play chicken. Neither side blinks. Everyone appears in mid-February, when the risk of contracting the virus – especially now with more contagious strains – is not only greater for players, but perhaps for coaches, bus drivers, more vulnerable food preparers, etc. Players are in the dominant position where they must agree to any changes or else everything will continue under the current rules in a collective bargaining agreement that does not expire until after the season: players report February 17, with no DH in the NL and a playoff of 10 teams.
I really think the sides should come to terms, make concessions for the sport to get the extra playoffs, universal HD and a safer opening for spring. In a season of 145 games, both sides can eat 8 ¹ / ₂ games of salary and the pain would not be substantial. But if the sides cannot commit, then the owners should pay the total 162 and play 145. Because it is right for the game and for health. Because they have a mechanism to save dollars by reducing future payrolls to make up for any losses this year.
Of course, in this fight nobody wants to show weakness, so the chances of suffering mutual pain for mutual gain are not great. The two sides negotiated last year as if 2020 was the last season the MLB would play – so don’t leave a penny on the table. We are seeing a repeat. They should be concerned about how much they are smothering the goose that lays the golden eggs for not only projecting such discord at a bad time for the nation, but for not being able to find a partnership that positions the sport better for the future when, among other things, demographics and other issues the cut threatens popularity.
The 2020 season was problematic. This will be too. There will be no winners. Have a broader view. Reverse engineer this and both sides ask: what can be done in a worrying 2021 season that will define the sport to be in a better place in 2025?
I don’t like the possibility of this happening between two sides that can’t even agree to have universal DH when they both want to.