The pressure needed to get a deal done is not there yet.
The collective bargaining talks between the Major League Baseball owners and the Major League Baseball Players Association are moving along at a snail’s pace, after all there is no urgency at the moment. The start of spring training is still weeks away and no one is losing money as of yet. When getting a new agreement becomes urgent and for the start of spring training that would be the first week of February and for the start of the regular season, that would be at the end of February, there will be some urgency. People will start losing money if spring training is locked out, the owners pick up what amounts to small change during that time and for the players, that would be the start of the regular season. But some time is needed for the players to get ready for the season so the players probably would want a deal done by the end of February.
There is a third party that is not at the negotiating table but has a significant stake in the outcome of the talks. All of the municipalities that host spring training baseball. Communities in Florida and Arizona as well as state officials have sunk billions of dollars into building spring training complexes for the 30 teams. Cities and states, Florida and Arizona compete for teams and yet you hear nothing, no pressure at all on both sides from people who put up public money to build stadiums and related spring training needs for the franchises. The spring training backers like to point out how much money baseball teams bring to a community. With the loss of tourism money, you would think the politicians and business leaders in Arizona and Florida would be applying a great deal of pressure on both sides but they are mute when they should be screaming.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
