No matter how you want to put it, Rob Manfred failed on Tuesday afternoon.
After failing to agree to terms with the MLBPA on a new CBA deal that would take them out of a league-imposed lockout, Manfred announced that some games would be undoubtedly be canceled at the beginning of this year’s regular season.
Of course, the MLB and its owner tried to pin the whole thing on the MLBPA immediately.
MLB Sends Scathing Statement About MLBPA With Regular Season On Verge Of Suspensionhttps://t.co/B4skOES1v1
— SideAction (@SideActionHQ) March 1, 2022
After the two sides broke following a 9-day negotiating period to try to get a deal done, Rob Manfred had to face the media. And it’s safe to say fans and others around the baseball community were done buying the commissioner’s BS.
Rob Manfred: "The last five years were difficult from a revenue perspective."
In 2019, the last season before the pandemic, MLB revenues jumped for a 17th straight year to a record $10.7 billion, per Forbes.
— Jason Mastrodonato (@JMastrodonato) March 1, 2022
Rob Manfred, Dec. 2: "Simply put, we believe that an offseason lockout is the best mechanism to protect the 2022 season. We hope that the lockout will jumpstart the negotiations and get us to an agreement that will allow the season to start on time."
Next proposal: 43 days later
— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) March 1, 2022
rob manfred’s message to the fans: pic.twitter.com/zAYSqjLiHF
— ryan is mid (@hoodieglasnow) March 1, 2022
Manfred speaking, in my experience, no bueno — Dan
— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) March 1, 2022
Manfred completely ignores the last 4 months+ and argues that they've been ready to bargain for 10 whole days pic.twitter.com/pG5z3MjQnO
— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) March 1, 2022
Rob Manfred: “There will be no deal today.”
*MLB Players walking out of the meeting* pic.twitter.com/SYyC3b2gDF
— Shooter McGavin (@ShooterMcGavin_) March 1, 2022
Rob Manfred has punished MLB fans more than he did the Astros.
— Korked Bats (@korkedbats) March 1, 2022
As the negotiations were underway on Tuesday, Rob Manfred was also trolled for being seen working on his golf swing in the concourse of Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla.
It’s overwhelming how fitting this photo is. Manfred wearing a polo, khakis and practicing golf swing while MLB season takes another hard right off a cliff. https://t.co/hSW3Bk6rZ3
— Tim Ryan (@TheSportsHernia) March 1, 2022
On Tuesday, the MLB lost, and more specifically, Rob Manfred lost.
It’s unclear when the league and the MLBPA will go back to the negotiating table. But at this point, it seems like a very high possibility that more than one week of the season will be canceled.
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