The Major League Baseball players’ strike continues after their Union failed to reach a fair settlement this week with the Major League Baseball (MLB) Commissioner’s Office.
Rob Manfred himself reported that the five games at the start of the season were canceled for each team, to buy time to see if they can save the campaign, and recognized that this is a great failure and a bucket of cold water for the fans.
Precisely the latter are the main disadvantaged while the tug of war continues between both parties after the increase in income and record profits in recent years.
The Union also points out that the movements made by the owners of the teams, led by Manfred, unsuccessfully seek to divide them, highlighting the union that prevails among its members.
With more than 90 days active, the strike has practically not moved, because the players demand a more equitable distribution for all, including the youngest.
The MLB is the only sports league in the United States that does not have a salary limit, with guaranteed contracts of more than 300 million dollars and without a limit on their duration.
The Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) is requesting a $115 million pre-arbitration bonus fund that would be shared among 150 players, an MLB offer worth just $15 million.
Likewise, the MLBPA wants all players with two years of service to be eligible for salary arbitration, although in its latest proposal it lowered the demand to 80 percent of them, while the League is willing to accept only 22 percent.
In addition, the Union requests that the manipulation of the service time disappear and that the minimum wages in both Major and Minor Leagues have an increase.
The other point of disagreement is that of the teams in the postseason, since the MLB proposes 14 teams and the Association 12, but this seems to be the easiest dispute to solve.
Both sides extended the deadline for negotiations, but it is increasingly likely that this will be the fourth time in history that Major League Baseball has not played a full season due to labor issues.
In total there have been nine occasions in which a lockout has occurred, but in five of them the problems were resolved (1973, 1976, 1980, 1985 and 1990), while in 1972 there were 82 canceled games, 713 in 1981 and 938 in 1994, the most recent and serious case, because it happened in the middle of the season and took the Playoffs and the World Series ahead.
While all this happens, they suffer from all sides, because the general losses are estimated at 20.5 million dollars a day, including salaries, advertising and stadium tickets.
Meanwhile, with their hands tied, the fans watch the bulls from the sidelines.
