Aside from the eternal march of entropy toward chaos - (speaking on the cosmic level, of course) - nothing is happening... nor will it, soon.
The lockout is a lockdown. Time has ceased, rosters frozen.
My guess - (no better as yours) - is this:
The owners will sit on their cans until mid-January. With Omicron surging, they won't meet with the union, and Zoom calls get nowhere. Their strategy was always simple: The longer they wait, the more pinched the players feel, and the better deal they think they'll get.
Around Jan. 15, the owners will seek to relaunch talks. At that point, the union will walk out. Why? To show the owners it can't be pushed around.
Around Feb. 1, the two sides will start talking. Maybe a secret committee of owners and players. Everybody loves a secret committee.
Around Feb. 15 - the time when pitchers and catchers would report - they will start negotiating. Both sides will feel pressure, if only to make it seem as though they're earnest.
Around March 1, they'll reach a tentative deal. But critics on each side will trash it.
Around March 15, both sides will approve the deal.
That will give teams a month to sign and trade players, and prepare for opening day, which will be delayed a couple weeks.
As for the Yankees, Cooperstown Cashman is clearly playing the waiting game. So are the Redsocks, Giants, Dodgers and most big market teams. One difference: The Yankees need an extensive makeover. They have huge holes, which require signings and trades.
Between now and then, there is little to say without feeling abused.
I get it that big money is at stake. But as this lockdown continues, the rest of us should grow angrier and angrier.
This needs to be the year when fan protests make their mark.
It's time for us to fight back. More on that in the coming weeks.
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ReplyDeleteI heard the other day that the biggest stumbling block is the online gambling money and how that will be split up between the owners and the players. The owners want gambling kiosks at all the stadiums...how does Pete Rose feel right about now?
ReplyDeleteI'm all in, Duque. Now that I am done with my war on Christmas, I am ready - and I mean ready - to throw myself into the front lines for player protests.
ReplyDeleteSince the rest of the world is living a really, really shitty facsimile of 1968 - mediated by Instagram, of course - why not us? We have a real cause.
And even if it does nothing, we will feel better for having tried. I still think that rooting for the Mets should be part of the overall strategy, if for no other reason than to shame Hal.
Of course, I didn't mean "player protests." I meant "FAN PROTESTS"
ReplyDeleteNeed coffee.
ReplyDeleteThings have sunk to a new low. Not as low as the Yankees teams of the 60s, but low. Damned low.
But never, ever, will things sink so far down that I would consider rooting for the Mutts.
THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN.
Man up Bitty!
Maybe a yuge comet will suddenly streak down from the cosmos and land on Yankee Stadium. No death. No destruction. Just a ground crew's nightmare, sitting there on top of the field smoldering and spitting off steam. Maybe that will happen. Perhaps even tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI think you're spot on, Duque —unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteBitty, the mediocre team the Yankees fielded in 1968 played all-out, finished in the first division and with a winning record for the first time since 1964, and made the most of their slim talent. All around, a much bigger effort than we are likely to see in 2022.
Dick Allen, sadly, we HAVE to root for the Mets. As has been much noted here, without a winning, contending Mets team threatening to seriously cut into HAL's revenue, nothing will change. Ever.
ReplyDeleteNEVER.
YOU'LL DELIVER MY BODY TO THE GATES OF HELL BEFORE I EVER ROOT FOR THE MUTTS.
Dick, we are with you completely. You have to understand that this is what it means when they say “take one for the team. “It’s unpalatable and almost unendurable, but we are doing it for the good of the Yankees.
ReplyDeleteEl Duque:
ReplyDeleteThe players may be greedy and have a union who has ultimate power. I cannot side with the owners. There is a reason they won't open their books. They swim in money. Any proposals by the players are shot down. The owners agreed to that ridiculous revenue sharing. The Pittsburgh Pirates receive money from all the other teams and put it in their pocket. They do little to improve their team. The owners will let the lockout go for a long while and the play their games with The Players Association.
Listen...the fans won't do squat. It will be the same as always. They will come out in droves along with streaming their favorite team whether that streaming is legal, illegal or in that gray area.
ReplyDeleteAmericans are basically both lazy and distracted so they always have the world's worst safety net and social programs of industrialized nations. In most countries in Europe, if they don't get, for example, the affordable and comprehensive health system they need, the citizens will bodily block the roads along with a massive amount of truckers and other civil disobedient people and halt commerce until their government capitulates.
Here? Hell no! We are too busy watching Seinfeld reruns to get involved. Perhaps next year.
And its the same with sports fans.
Already been protesting, cut the cable cord last year and only listen to weekend day games called by Sterling. They get no money from me
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on all of that, Carl Weitz. As for me, I've been to two Yankees games at the Stadium since 2012. Trying to do my bit! (No offense, Bitty.)
ReplyDeleteI don’t believe the majority of fans would take part in any type of organized protests, even ones as mild as not going to any games or cancelling the Yes Network. We act as sheep who capitulate to the whims of the wolves, refusing to realize we could bring their entire house of cards down within a few months.
ReplyDeleteIt's obvious then. The players just need to bring in some fucking European labor experts, and money will come out of the owners like crap through a goose. I have a question that never seems to get asked. Why doesn't the players association mount both a PR shitstorm, and a serious effort to topple the antitrust exemption that the owners still enjoy. Yeah, it's an open secret that MLB greases every palm and orifice in DC worth greasing. But when, if ever, will the political climate get more favorable than it is now? I'm certain that this play is the Player's nuclear option, their ultimate wet dream. When will they garner the will to make the owners respect and fear them?
ReplyDelete