This weekend will ultimately decide how the 2022 MLB season will exactly play out, and the odds are not looking good.
MLB previously set the deadline for a lockout agreement for February 28, which is this upcoming Monday. Perhaps this time might be different, but it seems like after each meeting that little to no progress has been made.
Opening Day is set for March 31, nearly a month from now. Personally, I do not see a way that even happens. Spring Training has already been postponed, and players are still available on the market.
The bigger question at this point is how many games will be canceled. We are about to have two seasons in three years in which the season was shortened. During 2020, MLB couldn’t really do anything due to the pandemic, but they knew this lockout was coming.
Once the 2021 season was over, everyone knew we were headed to a lockout, and now we’re still here.
Our very own Walker Buehler in some now deleted tweets voiced his frustration about how the negotiations are going.
Whenever this lockout is over, the Dodgers will have some free agents to sign. Joe Kelly, who is one of the Dodgers pending free agents and a fan favorite, expressed interest in returning to L.A.
“Obviously I want to come back and be a Dodger,” Kelly said. “Interest is mutual so we gotta make something happen.”
Kelly made his intentions known during a radio interview this week. The Dodgers declined his $12 million option for the 2022 season not long into the winter. Kelly’s 2021 season ended when he suffered an injury in the NLCS against the Braves.
Another Dodger who’s season ended prematurely was Max Muncy, but he has shared news that he expects to be ready for when the 2022 campaign begins, whenever that may be.
It has also been reported that the Dodgers could sign Freddie Freeman, as things between him and the Atlanta Braves may not work out. The Dodgers and Yankees are among the teams who are expected to be interested in the 32-year-old slugger.
So this weekend will be vital in addressing the 2022 season. Let’s hope MLB pulls out some magic or something so we can ultimately get the season the fans deserve. But in my eyes, it is not looking good.
There is animosity. The key issues of the Players are issues the owners are not willing to address at this point. This is a labor vs management/owner issue. The Union can’t give in on key points. I don’t think the owners believe the Players can/will hold out. It’s gonna be a long summer.
At least they are still talking, and there was some movement yesterday after Manfred joined the talks. I am different from a lot of fans, I actually like Joe Kelly. He is colorful and fun to watch when he has his game on.
I’d like to see him back. But not for what he made the last 2 years, which was $8.8m.
He knows he won’t get that kind of money if he re-signs here.
He’s already gotten a 4 mil buyout instead of his 12 mil salary for 2022 so if he would sign for 4.8 mil for this year, he’d actually be duplicating his last two years.
I could see something like 10 mil for 2 years which would actually mean he’d make 14 mil for 2022-23.
How about 2 at 6 per? Ok, I’ll go 6.5. Obviously the buyout is part of it. If the Cards will give him more, go to Mo Joe.
See what I did there.
Three more days of games cancelled.
I predict there will be an agreement this weekend.
Probably. I may agree to go to Costco with my wife
Players gave the owners a complete package proposal today (in other words it dealt with a number of issues).
Assuming that the owners will immediately agree to everything the players proposed, you will be correct Fred.
Update: Owners barely budged in response to the players new proposal. Players are supposedly so furious that they may not come back for tomorrow’s meeting.
Fred, don’t mean to burst your bubble, but I think you can probably rule out your weekend agreement.
By the end of today there will be a verbal agreement.
Monday night at the earliest, if today’s meetings go smooth. If their is any animosity today, kiss the full 162 game season adios. Buehler, the Dodgers player rep, blasted the owners yesterday as not negotiating in good faith.
The owners are such jackasses, they offered the players a 6 team lottery today, to guard against tanking, in addition, the first, and second players in the ROY, from each league, get a years service time towards their arbitration, so we are talking about four players getting a full year, that they would get anyway if the owners weren’t manipulating playing time. In trade for these concessions, the owners want a 14 team playoff, which is worth at least $300 million to the owners.
So to simplify this offer, the owners get $300 million, and the players get nothing of value, they get to make it not quite so profitable for owners to tank, and 4 whole players get to not have their service time manipulated, this is awfully magnanimous of the owners.
Crap offers like this from the owners, are why this is going to be a long lockout, the owners want to make it look like they are bargaining in good faith, but in reality, they keep offering next to nothing of real value to the players, and there are several issues that they flat out refuse to even discuss.