Keep the band together through 2024, then it'll be time for Ticket and Yordan to shoulder the load with the new set of young talent (Lee, Leon, Pena).

linkdude said:

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Selig is why we are in this environment to begin with. He ushered in the owner-dominated CBA era since the last work stoppage.

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And we have had almost 30 years of relative labor peace since the last strike/lockout During the same time the NBA has had four lockouts, two of which have led to cancellation of games and the NHL has had two lockouts that have led to shortened seasons and one that led to an entire season being cancelled.

Relative labor peace where the owners have slowly vacuumed up all the profits associated with baseball in the twenty first century through TV deals and revenue sharing. Obviously the owners won't give up their profit margins for nothing, but their refusal to accept anything but the greatest ROI is why we are here. I think it's logical for the players to seek their own interests here, if the owners endgame is to give no ground, let them stomach the idea of losing a season. I think the leverage is still on their side...

Not saying Selig did not help create any of this but Manfred has been Baseball Commissioner for seven years now.

I also have no problem with the players digging their heals in on many of the issues.

And he was part of CBA negotiations under Selig, from my understanding of things.

Owners appear to be playing hardball.
(dad joke)

The league went up $1 million on the CBT threshold for 2023 and didn't move at all on the rest of the CBT $.

Two days before MLB cancels opening day and loses games -- something the commissioner said would be "disastrous" for the game he runs -- the league moved a million bucks.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 26, 2022

The owners and the clown in chief don't want this. I'm convinced they will only agree to a deal that changes basically nothing

Heard from a person connected to MLB players who called the sentiment that the sides are actually now within striking distance “beyond absurd.”

— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) February 27, 2022

Players are disappointed with lack of movement from MLB, which has budged just $1 million on CBT from $214 to $215. Without a big shift from MLB, there would be no deal by tomorrow and regular season games would be missed for the first time since 1995.

— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) February 27, 2022

about 36 hours away from not seeing Bryce Harper or the Yankees at MMP in 2022

They have been, right? Plus the pre arb bonus pool.

MLB today indicated a willingness to miss a month of games and took a more threatening tone than yesterday, sources briefed on the day’s first meeting between MLB and the Players Association tell me, @Ken_Rosenthal and @FabianArdaya. Full context of conversation not yet known.

— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) February 28, 2022

No deal is happening today...

MLB is pressing for a 14-team postseason, and it hasn’t necessarily been too well received. Lots of things still to hash out.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 28, 2022

If you play a 162 game season then you better put some value on it.

7 is such an awkward # for 1 side of the bracket.

6 at least makes some sense. You can give the top 2 teams byes. The other division winner and top WC team gets home field. The final 2 WC teams go on the road.

In 2021 it would look like this:

1. Rays
BYE

vs

4. Red Sox
6. Blue Jays
*winner plays Rays*

2. Astros
BYE

vs

3. White Sox
5. Yankees
*winner plays the Astros*

The 6 seed still won 91 games.(3 more than the Braves)

More meetings are expected tonight.

— Michael Silverman (@MikeSilvermanBB) February 28, 2022

Sounds like they've met 4x today and more is coming.

There seems to be some momentum now in MLB/players talks. Nothing done, and certainly no guarantee. But there’s a bit more optimism at this hour.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 1, 2022

Sources: Deal not close, but not impossible. CBT thresholds, prearb pool big issues, among others. MLB has proposed two choices:

A: 14-team expanded postseason, minimum of ~$700k, ~40m into prearb pool

B: 12-team expanded postseason, ~$675k minimum, ~$20m into prearb pool

— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) March 1, 2022

Whether there’s an extension of the MLB-imposed deadline of tonight is in MLB’s court, a union source said, but the sides have discussed it. Sides still said to be very far apart on key aspects of deal.

— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) March 1, 2022

Such messy reporting. All the experts have different reports and ideas of what is happening

"Deal could be close"
"Both sides are far apart"
"No progress"
"Hope for optimism"
"Meetings went well"
"Meetings were hostile"

Sources to @ConLasBasesFull confirmed the interest of the #Baltimore Orioles in Carlos Correa before the #MLB lockout. Story to follow.

— Raul Ramos (@RamosRauli) February 28, 2022

The Orioles? Really? They aren't even close to being competitive

The two sides appear to have reached a compromise on a 12-team postseason.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 1, 2022