It has been a remarkable show, up until today, of two sides unclear on the concept of “compromise,” or its nephew and niece, “give and take” and “middle ground”. Then suddenly, in a magical meeting between Rob Manfred and Tony Clark came the first framework that looked like each side comprehended what it looks like to seek common ground.
Granted it must have been hard for Manfred and Clark to speak through their masks, what with all the hot air they’ve been spewing, but by mid-day you had a purported framework where the owners increased the number of games to 60 and agreed to pay 100% of the pro-rated salaries, while the players opened up revenue stream opportunities by way of an expanded 16-team post-season and far less than the 89 games they were most recently suggesting.