Matthew Bores

Staff Writer

mdb5896@psu.edu

The MLB lockout has some fans worried that there may be a delay in the start of the 2022 season. The lockout began on December 2, 2021 and there wasn’t much progress on either the league officials’ side or the MLB players association. Reported by Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers, two of ESPN’s baseball experts, the league had a proposed plan for a pre-arbitration pool which would help fix disputes between the league and players. The league proposed a 10-million-dollar pool while the players wanted a 105-million-dollar pool, so the negotiations have been at a stalemate. Another thing the league brought up with this pool is rewarding teams who bring up extra prospects with some more draft picks and some small changes to the draft lottery. The players association didn’t find any of the given options appealing if they went along with just a 10-million-dollar pool. But a small glimpse of compromise is being done, so the lockout may not last as long as many may think. The MLB locked players out on the second of December, but there were 43 days of inaction from both sides. This led to many fans thinking the season could be delayed, but the first Zoom call happened on January 13, 2022. Spring Training for the players begins around the middle of February, so a deal would need to be agreed on very soon by both sides. Passan and Rogers said, “On a scale of 1-10, we’re at a solid 4.” This being a scale of how worried fans should be, meaning the two experts believe there isn’t too much of a threat to the season being pushed back, but to not just assume the players or MLB will just roll over and sign the next deal given to them. The regular season starts around March 1, 2022, so if there isn’t a deal made by then, there should be a certain level of concern.