Samson: Breaking the MLB Lock and What’s Next for Baseball

As of Thursday at 12:01 a.m., Major League Baseball is officially on lockdown. The players and owners were unable to come to the terms of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, resulting in the first stop of MLB work since the 1994 players’ strike.

On Thursday’s episode of “Nothing Personal with David Samson,” David Samson dedicated his entire show to MLB key and addressed some of the ongoing issues as the negotiations progressed.

One of the first points Samson made was that the two sides begin negotiating a new Collective Bargaining Agreement as soon as the existing one is ratified. For example, when the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement went into effect in 2016, the two sides began discussing terms for the next agreement.

“It’s a consequence of you starting to let the other party know where you stand on certain issues and why you believe certain things are fine as they are,” Samson said. “Or certain things like the pitching clock or the ball need to be adjusted. Where the players say ‘too many things are falling apart or there isn’t enough market for our members’.” Then you start face-to-face meetings. The union and owners met over the course of five years from 2016 to 2021, but they met more about micro-economic issues and what to expect in a given season. “

As a result of the lockdown, the tournament does not use any of the players’ names, images or characters in any capacity. So that means if you go to any Team MLBThe official website of, or MLB.com, will look different than usual. Fans can still find lists of the respective teams, but individual player photos have been removed.

“There was an agreement in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, where the federation had rights to the names, pictures and images of the players. The photo website or the free agency contract, could not take place. again. “

Following the layoff, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred wrote a letter to fans of the sport and explain the lockdown situation and how both sides got to this point.

“When you send a letter and pretend it’s to your fans but do it the way you send it as a message to the players, you’re insulting your fans,” Samson added. .

In addition, the players union also had an announcement that they made shortly after the start of the lockdown. The union calls the strike an owner choice and wants to put pressure on the union to gain more benefits for the owners.

“When you hear about the lockdown today, it’s important for you to realize that nothing out of the ordinary is going on,” Samson said. “It’s not the end of the world as we know it. It’s simply a step as we look towards next season under a new deal. That’s all.”