In a perfect world with no lockout, MLB fans would go to the league’s official Twitter account to find some highlights of a recent game, or the best plays of a young star, for example.
Their last tweet, the one on top of everything else on the @MLB Twitter account, is very, very sad, though.
Read a letter from the Commissioner: https://t.co/LMNTlYZJ0b pic.twitter.com/TOxCeTfezQ
— MLB (@MLB) March 2, 2022
The league’s most recent tweet has Commissioner Rob Manfred’s letter to fans, in which he explains that the first two series of the season are cancelled.
It’s a sad letter for everyone who loves baseball, and it’s filled with misleading statements.
“The unfortunate thing is that the agreement we have offered has huge benefits for fans and players,” was perhaps the biggest lie.
Owners Need To Negotiate In Good Faith
Owners are used to getting the biggest piece of the pie (by far, in reality), but when players finally asked for fair conditions to sign the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), they balked.
They won’t say it, but they felt attacked.
The players didn’t attack them in any way: at least they weren’t the ones implementing a lockout that is about to leave lots of families with no income for, potentially, a long time.
They just want a fair deal: a significantly higher minimum salary to compensate young athletes with short careers on average.
They want to play in a competitive environment, with no tanking and service time manipulation tactics so that owners can have players on the cheap for an additional year.
None of those conditions were met and covered in the league’s best and final offer prior to Tuesday’s deadline, so here we are, with no baseball for the foreseeable future.
MLB’s latest tweet is a reminder of what’s wrong with the game, and that letter “to fans” is probably not something they want to read or see.
NEXT: MLB Insider Offers A Lockout Update Before The Weekend