Today's negotiations between the MLB owners and MLBPA went as you would expect. 15 minutes and nothing got accomplished. With no deal in place and both sides far apart on many issues, Spring Training is all but dead for this year.
Rob Manfred is going to bear the brunt of the blame, as he should. He's done nothing but serve the best interests of the owners, doing whatever it takes to undermine the other side. I mean, does cutting hundreds of minor league jobs sound plausible? That's definitely not great when MLB takes over the operations, too.
You can also pin the blame on Tony Clark and company for many reasons. One of the main reasons is both sides didn't get a deal done sooner. Otherwise, we would've had pitchers and catchers reporting for duty.
Baseball has been in a slow death spiral for some time. An aging demographic, people not catching on to the analytics side of baseball, and shortened attention spans have made life miserable for MLB. The fact that a clueless Rob Manfred and a weak Tony Clark and player's union are running this to the ground isn't going to make matters better.
It's unfortunate for baseball to be in this situation because it has so much to get out of this funk. Incredible superstars like Shohei Ohtani and Fernando Tatis Jr. and an incredible atmosphere make this an amazing game to watch. Unfortunately, it's bogged down by two sides that hate each other's guts. When they'll resolve their issues will remain to be seen, and it'll be a death knell for the sport of MLB.
