Baseball's offseason has now entered what is supposed to be the preseason, the clean-slate rebirth, the start of spring training and the new calendar. But commissioner Rob Manfred's so-called "defensive lockout" has been very much offensive. There is no new season as of yet.
Spring training games have been canceled. Barring an agreement in the next several hours, regular-season games are undoubtedly next.
This, following January's Hall of Fame announcement, which signified another of the game's lowest points: the iconic Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and David Ortiz reduced to a self-imposed spectacle of steroid suspicion and the display of selective justice.