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A whole seven minutes. Four hundred and 20 seconds.
With their backs to the wall and the possibility of the first Major League Baseball labor dispute since 1995 staring them in the face, afternoon negotiations ended Wednesday after seven minutes.
So, when the clock hit midnight on Thursday, baseball’s collective bargaining agreement ended. The players were locked out and 26 years of labor peace was thrown away.
It’s possible that the chasm between the MLB Players’ Association and the owners is so great that seven hours wouldn’t have made a difference. But seven minutes? It’s as if the MLBPA and the owners just wanted to give fans the middle finger before starting a labor battle.
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For those 35 and younger, this is a new experience. Baseball has had labor peace since 1995.
Back in 1994, an age where shifts didn’t occur, players stole bases and hit the other way, and there had been only four playoff teams per year (yeah, it was a long time ago), the union and owners didn’t get into a labor battle, it was an all-out labor war.
It was a scorched-earth battle that took fans prisoner and killed a World Series. Owners wanted a salary cap like football and to break the union. The union opposed a salary cap and wanted owners to police themselves. The sides fought, and it went so far that the President of the United States and the National Labor Relations Board got involved before the two sides came to an agreement.
Among the casualties — the 1994 World Series. Consider that for a minute. Bud Selig and Donald Fehr did something Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini couldn’t — get a World Series canceled.
It took Cal Ripken’s streak and the Great Home Run Chase* of 1998 to bring fans back. Some never returned, wanting a pox on both their houses.
The strike was so vicious, when the next CBA came up, Selig and Fehr did about anything they could to avoid labor strife. And they did. Baseball has been blessed with labor peace for 26 years.
That streak ended Thursday after a seven-minute meeting.
All good things must come to an end. Heck, even the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. But labor peace was something to be cherished. Now it’s gone.
So, for those who haven’t been through this before, here’s a little guide to this insanity.
What does a lockout mean?
It’s the owners locking the players out of club facilities until a new CBA is signed. Unlike a strike, where workers walk out, a lockout has management keep workers out until a new agreement is signed. There can be no free-agent signings, trades or any player movement. The owners are trying to control the process and force the players into negotiations and an agreement before games start and they lose game revenues.
What are they fighting about?
The simple answer is money. The players want the ability to get more, and the owners don’t want that.
OK, really, what’s going on here?
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Over the last 10 years, how players are evaluated and valued has changed. Teams spend on younger players and, except for megastars, avoid free agents. The change has, in turn, decreased player salaries. According to the Associated Press, salaries have decreased by 6.4% since 2017. The median salary — the point where an equal number of players are above and below — has dropped 30% since 2015.
The players have noticed this and want to see younger players make more money by reducing the number of years until arbitration is available for a player from three to two and changing free-agency eligibility. The players want the luxury tax increased and changes to revenue sharing so the owners aren’t pocketing the money. The players also want changes made to the way MLB drafts, both in the first-year player draft and the international draft. The changes would increase salaries for the players.
And the owners’ response?
Well, there’s a lockout, isn’t there? The owners are willing to institute a minimum team salary, which would boost salaries to a degree, but not to the level that players would like to see. The owners are also against any changes to the arbitration system and free agency.
The owners want the luxury tax to remain where it is and strong penalties for violators, so there is competitive balance. Their thinking is that baseball is better when Minnesota and Tampa Bay can keep their players and have the same shot to win a World Series as the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. (And if you believe that really happens, I’m sure you also believe gnomes come out at night and Elvis is working at the 7-Eleven at the Oceanfront.) Finally, the owners don’t want changes to revenue sharing because, at this point, they can invest the money in their farm systems, for example ... or pocket it, depending on who you believe.
What about tanking?
Tanking is a big issue. In the early 2010s, the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros gutted their teams to build up their minor league system. It didn’t matter that neither fielded a competitive team. The franchises aimed to win big in a few years. Both teams did as the Cubs won the 2016 World Series and the Astros won in 2017. Other teams followed the same concepts to various levels of success. The owners like this because you get the maximum return from controllable players. The MLBPA doesn’t like this because it keeps salaries low and decreases the demand for free agents. It also goes against the idea of every team competing for a title. Players on the Cubs and Astros during those tanking years knew management wasn’t supporting them.
What about expanded playoffs, the DH, and other issues?
Well, yeah, those are bargaining chips. Let’s put it this way: The playoffs will expand at some point; the DH will be adopted by the National League at some point; and teams will have advertising on their uniforms at some point. But these are peripheral issues and won’t stop teams from playing baseball.
Speaking of playing baseball ...?
Yeah, who knows? This fight has been a long time coming and both sides are ready for it. Spring training usually starts around Valentine’s Day. The two sides have 12 weeks to figure something out if they want spring training to start on time. They have something like 14 to 15 weeks to get something done for the season to start on time.
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Will a deal get done?
At some point, yes. When that will be, I don’t know. Frankly, if I could see the future, I’d be relaxing in luxury after winning the lottery.
That’s a bit snarky!
Sorry, it gets a little frustrating when you see baseball fans treated like collateral damage because two sides can’t figure out how to share a huge sum of money. And, with the clock ticking, they end negotiations after seven minutes.
So who’s going to win?
If one regular-season game is missed because of this, the answer is simple — no one.
Greg Giesen, 757-446-2309 ,greg.giesen@pilotonline.com