The regular season will be delayed

*Photo from The Athletic*

   Right after there was supposedly progress, we get the worst case, doomsday scenario in baseball. It's official, the regular season will be delayed. MLB presented it's "best and final offer" to the MLBPA a few hours ago, and the MLBPA has rejected the offer. With the deadline in effect and no deal reached, the start of the regular season will be cancelled, and games will not be made up.

   According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, MLB's final offer to the players was comprised of a $700,000 minimum salary, with that number increasing by $10,000 each year. The pre-arbitration bonus pool money would be at $30 million, up from $25 million. They offered no changes to the CBT threshold from their previous proposal, with the 5 year total sticking at $220 million, $220, $220, $224, and $230 million.

   According to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, other items in MLB's offer included the universal DH and 12 team expanded postseason, which the MLBPA was ready to agree to. There was to be an option limit of 5 times per season, limiting the amount of times a player with minor league options could be sent between the big leagues and Triple A. All draft pick compensation for departing free agents was also to be removed, ending the qualifying offer system. The amount of teams in the proposed draft lottery was to be 5. 

   Now, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but baseball just ruined their own game. MLB and the MLBPA could not find any common ground on any major issues with any importance to the game, and now the fans, the ones caught in the middle, are going to suffer the most. I don't want to hear any arguments about how the owners are more at fault, or how the players are more at fault, and I'll tell you why.

   It's because they did this to themselves. Commissioner Rob Manfred said, at the start of the lockout on December 2, that he hoped that by locking out the players, it would jumpstart negotiations for a new CBA. Yet, neither side talked to each other until the end of January. Nothing was jumpstarted, it only increased the very clear and apparent hatred that both sides have for each other.

   I would also like to remind you, the reader, that this didn't have to happen. If commissioner Manfred and the owners did not vote to institute a lockout, things could have been different. Sure, there would not have been a CBA in place, but I'll tell you this. If the CBA had just expired with no lockout, league business could have continued as usual. Players could still have signed with teams. Spring training, and the regular season, could have started on time, on the terms of the previous CBA, until a new one was agreed to.

   What really aggravates me personally, is the fact that the lockout and all the negotiations that took place turned into a PR stunt. Both sides tried to play the PR game in this last week of negotiations, and were more concerned about how they looked publicly rather than negotiating with the other side. Yes, they had long negotiating sessions, but it was sandwiched between more and more PR stunts. They cared more about PR than their own good.

   And now, because of all these factors, Manfred's "doomsday" scenario has come true. And there is no one to blame but the owners AND the players. I'm emphasizing the AND because none of these two sides deserve to be let off the hook. They did this to themselves.

   As for the blog, I'm still here. Posts will continue to be published daily, with the important developments related to the lockout you need to know. At the end of the month, I'll slightly switch gears and start bringing you college baseball recaps, because it looks like we won't have MLB for a while. Hang in there baseball fans.