Major League Baseball Must Achieve Collaboration When It Comes To Unlocking Spring Training

Emptiness and uncertainty engulf spring training facilities across Arizona and Florida. The labor dispute between Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) must come to an end and finally produce a ratified collective bargaining agreement. Time is short for everyone involved and there can no longer be multiple rejections of proposals, breakdowns in communication, and 15 minute negotiations. Major League Baseball has just increased the pressure stating a new collective bargaining agreement must be in place by February 28th for the regular season to begin as scheduled on March 31st. Don’t be surprised if we see round the clock negotiations beginning next week with a large group of owners and ball players finally engaging in meaningful conversations.

Major League Baseball has experienced tremendous pain and difficulty this week. The delay of spring training has fans feeling as if they are an afterthought as well as several communities whose economies are fueled by hospitality and tourism associated with baseball. Instead of civic pride inspired by the presence of a major league ball club for six weeks every year, residents and politicians are wondering whether building state of the art facilities using taxpayers’ dollars was a wise investment given the perils of the pandemic and lockout.

Recreational drug use created a self-destructive clubhouse culture for the Los Angeles Angels which led to the horrific death of left-handed pitcher Tyler Skaggs in July 2019. In a courtroom in Fort Worth, Texas, major league ball players chronicled their issues under oath with cocaine, fentanyl, and oxycodone while describing how they were obtaining the drugs from teammates and an employee of the organization. Former Angels communications director, Eric Kay, was found guilty of distributing fentanyl and causing Skaggs’ death. Opioids and cocaine testing for ball players began in the spring of 2020 with an initial emphasis on treatment instead of punishment. Testing for performance enhancing substances has been halted due to the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement which presents a new series of challenges amid the lockout.

Minor League Baseball has been in the news due to Major League Baseball’s revised proposal to the MLBPA. It has been widely reported the owners would like to see flexibility regarding the Domestic Reserve List and possibly reduce the number of minor league ball players a major league ball club can have under contract from 180 to as few as 150. Minor League Baseball has already undergone seismic changes over the past year and have been confronting serious issues for ball players regarding compensation, housing, facilities, health, travel, and nutrition. Instead of being treated with the utmost respect for their potential of one day becoming the future stars of Major League Baseball, minor league ball players have been viewed as liabilities on a balance sheet as they confront abject poverty in pursuit of their lofty dreams.

Major League Baseball should be consulting with crisis management experts and public relations firms to quell the damage that has already been done because of the lockout and recent legal developments. This is the third consecutive year in which there has been a disruption to the normal rhythms of spring training, but this time it is a self-inflicted wound. As ball players are creatures of habit, any disturbance to their rigid schedules can lead to injuries and lack of preparation which manifests itself in poor quality of play. Let’s also not forget ball players do not have access to the medical staffs or facilities of the ball clubs as well.

In Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr.’s address to the media at the conclusion of the owners’ meetings in Orlando, he acknowledged that since his arrival in 1998 Major League Baseball has successfully negotiated four basic agreements with the MLBPA without losing a ball game and most of it was done without public rhetoric. Manfred hasn’t been the sole caretaker of labor peace over the past 26 years. Across the negotiating table sat multiple individuals who can share a claim to that honor but none more deserving than Michael Weiner. A man of principle and conviction, Weiner was the former Executive Director of the MLBPA who sadly passed away in 2013 after a courageous 15-month battle with an inoperable brain tumor.             

As strange as it may sound given the current animus between Major League Baseball and the MLBPA, Manfred and Weiner enjoyed a collegial relationship. Weiner thrived on logic and reason while also being a master negotiator. He joined the MLBPA in 1988 as a staff attorney and meticulously studied all aspects of the business of baseball. He had an innate ability of taking complex topics and explaining them in a clear and concise manner. A trustworthy collaborator, Weiner was usually the smartest person in every room he walked into even though his humility wouldn’t allow him to acknowledge reality.

Manfred has admitted that negotiations with the current leadership of the MLBPA are different than how he conducted business with Weiner. The distrust is palpable between both parties and for good reason. The contentious 2020 negotiations which led to Manfred imposing a 60-game season still lingers along with issues pertaining to compensation for younger ball players, service time manipulation, revenue sharing, free agency, and the Competitive Balance Tax.

Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association must reflect on what made their negotiations successful over 26 years of labor peace. In most instances, it was the presence of Michael Weiner and how he focused on the big picture. Weiner always considered the fans and wanted to see growth and prosperity throughout baseball. He respected the history and romanticism of the sport, but also appreciated the importance of innovation while negotiating mutually beneficial collective bargaining agreements. Weiner knew the bedrock of baseball’s overall health began with balance and a willingness on both sides to embrace creativity and collaboration.