MLB fans already have a huge level of disdain for Commissioner Rob Manfred.
The league locking out the players is only going to make fans call louder for him to be replaced.
MLB is now in a tough spot because the league has a presence online and on television with MLB Network.
Yet a quick glance at MLB.com and all the team sites reveal absolutely zero content about current players.
All that you will see online is a letter from Manfred that may be the most pointless read for fans in the history of baseball.
Read a letter from the Commissioner: https://t.co/P4gRGSlfsu pic.twitter.com/zI40uGLTni
— MLB (@MLB) December 2, 2021
A few passages really make one wonder if Manfred did this as a joke.
Not Winning Any Love
Fans are already aware that the league and owners made a conscious decision to commence a lockout of the players.
This was a decision they made and not one that automatically happened.
Manfred sees it differently.
“Despite the league’s best efforts to make a deal with the Players Association, we were unable to extend our 26 year-long history of labor peace and come to an agreement with the MLBPA before the current CBA expired. Therefore, we have been forced to commence a lockout of Major League players, effective at 12:01am ET on December 2.”
The beauty of social media is that fans can actually get both sides of the story.
While it was clear the players and owners were apart on many issues, it is easier to side with the players who want better pay and rights, especially for younger players.
It is hard to argue in favor of service-time manipulation.
“We have had challenges before with respect to making labor agreements and have overcome those challenges every single time during my tenure. Regrettably, it appears the Players Association came to the bargaining table with a strategy of confrontation over compromise. They never wavered from collectively the most extreme set of proposals in their history, including significant cuts to the revenue-sharing system, a weakening of the competitive balance tax, and shortening the period of time that players play for their teams.”
Again, the owners’ stance on things is a hard one to get behind and Manfred is apparently trying to sway fans to believe that less money for owners is a bad thing.
at last, rob manfred has achieved his ideal shortened length of a ballgame: 0 hours, 0 minutes
— megan BRAUNY FOREVER brown (@thatgirlondeck) December 2, 2021
He is doing his job, but it is foolish to even put out a statement like this.
All fans want is for the lockout to end and for the offseason fun to continue as usual.
No one cares about the wants of the owners.
NEXT: 3 Free Agents The Yankees Can Still Sign