Happy Friday, Athletics Nation!
The league and players met for a fourth straight day today in their attempt to accelerate negotiations towards a new collective bargaining agreement, but progress was once again minimal. Both sides will be back at it tomorrow, and with Monday set as the last day to strike a deal without delaying Opening Day, it is clear that big breakthroughs will be needed in a hurry to crack the impasse.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic wrote scathingly yesterday of MLB’s bargaining approach:
“But the owners’ strategy from the start was to squeeze the union until regular-season games were in jeopardy, all the while recoiling in disgust when the player-serfs rejected their crumbs and refused to view them as benevolent despots.