With the original deadline passing for pitchers and catchers to report to camps, spring training is now officially delayed and the MLB lockout continues.
Normally we’d be out on a few training fields and watching players and catchers running though warmups and some perfunctory drills. These days, with players having plenty of incentives to stay in shape and in contact with teams in the offseason, spring training was less about sweating out the offseason boozing and more an exercise in advancing specific skills and getting into game shape, a multiweek process.
So with camps quiet, the next deadline on the spring training calendar is Feb. 21, the first scheduled full-squad workouts. We will see some action then, as Minor League Baseball players are scheduled to report to camps Unless we see an agreement tomorrow, we’ll blow by that deadline as well. After that, the next major deadline is Feb. 26, when games are slated to begin.
Yes, it is very frustrating, especially when by all accounts MLB owners don’t seem to be particularly alarmed by delays in spring training and likely the loss of the beginning of regular-season games. MLB owners have had years to come up with a workable Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), and yet we’re seeing the 2022 season delayed because MLB made conscious decisions along the way to leave negotiations until the last minute. We live in a rapidly changing era and we’re not entirely sure the sport is aware of the many challenges it faces from established foes like the NFL and NBA for public attention to new challenges in an era of streaming and content abundance that MLB doesn’t seem to acknowledge.
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