Lockout Update: 3/4/2022
Photo by Kimberly Paynter/WHYY
Well, we are still in lockout… for now.
According to multiple sources, a negotiation was held earlier yesterday. No offers were made during the meeting.
Many players throughout the league have expressed their frustration with the situation surrounding the situation. Pitcher Alex Wood posted on Twitter: “How can MLB request for there to be a mediator from the Federal Government to help with the negotiations when they literally haven’t even done any negotiating up to this point?” This makes you wonder how much the players really care about the negotiations going on. Now obviously Alex Wood is not a minimum wage player, but it still makes you wonder.
Multiple sources have also reported that a one-on-one meeting will take place between Dan Harlem, the lead negotiator for the MLB; and Bruce Meyer, the negotiator leading the player’s union. Many people speculate that this meeting will result in a solution to continue negotiations while resuming regular baseball activities.
Two more topics came up yesterday which is adding a pitch clock and making larger bases. There are a lot of unknowns about the pitch clock, but the bases are pretty self-explanatory. The bases would increase in total area to decrease the chance of injury. Collisions have become more and more common throughout the last few years. By making this change, we would be protecting our first basemen much better, as well as the runners trying to beat out the be dreaded infield single. The biggest unknown of this is how this would impact the distance between the bases.
Hopefully, the meeting today will lead to progress getting the season started, and coming to an agreement on the terms of the new CBA. More updates are to come.
