WILL WE HAVE BASEBALL?

Major League Baseball had been working with a 2016 collective bargaining agreement between the league and the player’s union. Players’ demands in negotiation included expanded player control over the terms of their contract, particularly for the younger players who are under the control of the team that drafts them for the first six years of their career. Owner’s proposals included establishing narrower ranges for each team’s combined salary and an expanded postseason playoffs from 10 teams to 14 of the league’s 30.

Unable to resolve the issues last December during negotiations, Major League Baseball owners voted unanimously for a lockout, the first work stoppage since the 1994-95 strike. Early in February, the owners requested the help of a federal mediator. And this isn’t the first time owners and players done so. In 1981, a mediator worked with partiers to resolve a 50-day strike. In the 1994 strike that eliminated the World Series, highly respected mediator Bill Usery was called in, but the mediation was unsuccessful.

This year the Players Association did not support the request for mediation, but instead, preferred to return to negotiations. Negotiations continued, but on March 4 the league officially cancelled all spring training games through March 17.

Mediations record with professional sports is clearly mixed. Mediation was not successful with disputes related to the 2011 NFL lockout and with the NHL that same year. On the other hand, the 2013 NHL mediation was successful with both owners and players publicly praising the mediator and the process.

The current status raises at least two points: Mediation can only happen if both parties believe a third party can help them work together to resolve the issues. It’s possible, for example, the players saw the offer for mediation as a negotiation tactic and not as a call find common ground. It’s also possible that players believe a resolution is not only possible, but close, and starting the mediation process would only delay the season even more.

A second point is that labor negotiations and mediations exclude other interested parties. It’s reasonable to ask if the public has a legitimate interest in seeing the season be played.