The 2021 MLB season was crazy! Fans saw the Atlanta Braves win a title without their star player as well as a scandal involving some of the league’s best pitchers.
What’s even crazier is that an argument over the leagues collective bargaining agreement is overshadowing last seasons events, and things look as bad as they did in 1994 during the last MLB shutdown.
On Dec. 2, 2021, baseball commissioner Rob Manfred’s letter announced the MLB’s shutdown to force the player’s association and the owners to create a new collective bargaining agreement — a contract that outlines players’ rights, like salary caps and free agency deadlines.
The shutdown is meant to put urgency in reaching a compromise; however, there’s nothing that guarantees this dispute will not pan out like it did 30 years ago when a World Series was canceled and replacement players were brought in.
It’s difficult to gauge how long it will take to settle this dispute or who will cave first. What’s imperative about this situation is that the MLB and the player’s association are the two most important organizations in American sports due to the debate.
Six years ago, the NBA signed new TV deals, adding money to the league. After meetings, NBA commissioner Adam Silver caved in, agreeing with the players to raise the salary cap.
The move caused chaos! Average players like Timofey Mozgov and Chandler Parsons were signed to massive 4-year deals fit for superstars. An executive from the Golden State Warriors, Jerry West, took advantage of the situation and ruined league competition.
On July 4, 2016, Kevin Durant announced that he was signing with the Warriors. The Warriors had just come off the winningest regular season in basketball history with a 73–9 record. By putting Durant on the team, the Warriors went to the next three NBA Finals and won two.
During the two Finals series they won, the Warriors only lost one game. In their last Finals appearance, Durant was injured, giving the Toronto Raptors the upper hand.
The MLB shutdown could change the way the NBA looks at its current situation when signing a new collective bargaining agreement during the 2023-24 season.
If the players’ association backs down to Manfred, NBA owners may see Adam Silver as too weak. It’s possible that policy changes will occur or that Silver will even have to step down.
However, if the opposite happens, NBA players could ask for even more during their collective bargaining agreements. This attitude could spread to other organizations like the NFL and NHL, resulting in the largest contracts we’ve ever seen.
Manfred isn’t the best commissioner for baseball, but he could be the best commissioner for team owners. Whether you agree with the owners or the players, it’s likely that this shutdown won’t end soon. However, when we do get baseball back, the landscape of sports contracts could forever change.
