If you're keeping track -- and you're entirely excused if you're not -- it's been just over a month since Major League Baseball instituted a lockout in its labor battle with the Major League Baseball Players Association.
That lockout was announced at the stroke of midnight on Dec. 2, literally within seconds of the expiration of the last collective bargaining agreement. The action was so swift that it appeared as though the owners and commissioner Rob Manfred couldn't wait to institute it.
At the time, Manfred released a letter to baseball fans, explaining the reason behind the lockout.
The owners were "forced'' to institute the lockout by the union. He went on to say that the lockout represented a chance "to jumpstart the negotiations and get us to an agreement that will allow the season to start on time.''
As for the timing, Manfred insisted that locking the players out immediately "accelerates the urgency for an agreement with as much runway as possible to avoid doing damage to the 2022 season. Delaying this process further would only put Spring Training, Opening Day and the rest of the season further at risk.''
In summation, Manfred had to rip the bandage off at the first possible chance in order to motivate the PA to get serious about negotiating.
Yet, since then, the two sides have met only briefly, and it was with the understanding that they would not be discussing any of the core economic issues separating the sides.
So much for "jumpstarts'' and "urgency.''
So much, too, for starting spring training on time. The two sides don't have any further talks scheduled and given the complexity of the issues, and the need to get an agreement done by the end of, say, January, in order for camps to open as scheduled in early-to-mid February, they would need to make up a lot of ground in a very short period of time.
Anyone feeling good about the likelihood of that happening? Didn't think so.
The real reason behind MLB's decision to institute a lockout literally as soon as they could legally do so was to gain leverage over the union. Manfred and the owners were fearful that if they didn't lock out the players, the players — absent an agreement — could have gone on strike in the final days of spring training, imperiling the start of the regular season.
So, here we sit. No talks, no progress.
In the meantime, the entire sport is acting as though the players literally don't exist. MLB's media properties, like MLB.com, have scrubbed any mention of the players and their pictures have been removed. In their place are fond remembrances of great games that took place decades ago. And here you thought baseball was already too nostalgic.
That's a great way to market the sport in the offseason, isn't it?
It's been bad enough in recent years how little activity has taken place in December, as teams kicked the proverbial can for weeks at a time, foregoing the signing of free agents for as long as possible. Now, it's infinitely worse: teams can't so much as talk about signing a player, much less actually do it.
In the meantime, baseball fades further into the background, soon to be additionally obscured by the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl along with the NBA and NHL.
Wonder how ticket sales are going?
All of which is not meant to completely exonerate the Players Association. The union could be more aggressive in its attempts to re-start negotiations by informing the owners that they have meaningful proposals to make. That has not happened, since the Players Association is also intent on winning the optics. If they appear too eager to get to the bargaining table, they'll -- in theory -- be revealing their own desperation and signaling a willingness to make concessions.
It's more important that each side continue with their posturing and maintain the belief that they've not shown any weakness. Getting an actual agreement done is quite secondary.
Still, it's worth pointing out that the owners pulled the plug here. If indeed they had some urgency on their part, where is the outreach? Where are the proposals? More to the point, where's the emphasis on getting back to business?
At this point, the best we can hope for is an agreement sometime in February that will in turn to lead to a frenzied period of activities. There are in excess of 250 free agents still unsigned, to say nothing of, among other things, trades and an already delayed Rule 5 draft.
Figure that spring training gets underway in early March, leading to a truncated spring ramp-up. Most position players will be ready to go in less than a month, but as always, there's a longer run-up necessary for pitchers to prepare. Get ready for more arm injuries than usual in the early months of the season.
The product won't be of the usual quality. Ticket sales will be slow. Sponsors will be unhappy.
For now, however, none of them seems to matter. The important thing will be that neither side blinked.
Urgency? That's been as absent as common sense and a concern for the game itself.
