It's Time to Take the Threat of an MLB Lockout Seriously

Source: bleacherreport.com --- Tuesday, November 22, 2016
It's been 21 years since Major League Baseball exited its last work stoppage. Oh, how I'd love to tack an "and counting" on the end of that sentence. Instead, time may be counting down to Baseball's next work stoppage. The majors' collective bargaining agreement is due to expire Dec. 1. The thinking has long been that MLB and the MLB Players Association—i n keeping with their recent history of peaceful relations —would hammer out a new agreement before then. Not so fast, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported Tuesday: According to Rosenthal, the owners, represented by Commissioner Rob Manfred, are growing frustrated with the slow pace of discussions on the part of the players, represented by union chief Tony Clark. And so, they're preparing to vote on a lockout if a new deal doesn't materialize by deadline day. This is obviously a threat, presumably leaked from the owners in an attempt to light a fire under the players. Such things tend to happen in situations like these. Perhaps the only surprise is that it came so late in the game. But as late in the game as it is, there is still time. Counting Tuesday and deadline day, the two sides have 10 days to work something out. "In terms of trying to make a deal, 10 days is plenty of time," Manfred told Joel Sherman of the New York Post . To boot, the Dec. 1 deadline is more of a target date than a true deadline. As Nathaniel Grow of FanGraphs noted, the league and the union can keep talk ...

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