Owners and players agreed last night in labor peace, good for them, the fans were watching and waiting
Interesting times for baseball labor negotiations, as last night sealed the deal for labor peace in the US MLB for 5 years.
Many stumbling points of the contract had people thinking that this might not go as smoothly as planned to get a deal past.
Read all about the finer points of what happened with the new contract here in an article in the Chicago Tribune.
It came down to the wire almost, just 3 and a half hours until what was described as a player lockout which may have had an impact on the 2017 season. With each labor issue that baseball has had, they have lost fans, many of whom have never looked back. So, it’s great that this didn’t happen.
Interestingly, the player seemed to be very fearful of baseball opening the draft up to an international pool, I think that could have only helped salaries go higher. If teams speculated on international players that didn’t pan out, there would have been plenty of money to go around for those players still in the regular draft.
This labor agreement could’ve had a significant impact in the future of baseball, had a lockout occurred, there would have been fans to close the book on the game. A generation perhaps? In this day and age of easy TV money, this agreement was a no-brainer. I am waiting on the day when the fans will speak to baseball a little. The high ticket prices passed on to fans with a myriad of other fees until you get in your seat at a ballpark is at an all-time high. Baseball is entertainment, a luxury, an item that people can choose to attend.