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The state of Major League Baseball, end of January 2022. To be honest, a whole lot of nothing unfortunately. Lockout conversations are starting to heat up, but they are still lukewarm. Big Papi was voted into the Hall of Fame, while some key historical players like Bonds, failed to hit the threshold on their 10th and final year, and somehow Rob Manfred still serves as Commissioner after 7 years. Here's everything you need to know.
Seven Years of the Manfred Era
This past week was the 7 year anniversary since Rob Manfred became the Commissioner of baseball. The past seven years have been tumultuous to say the least. Since he took the helm, he has created the most strained relationship with the players union, creating a ton of controversy, and now of course the lockout.
His handling of the Astros cheating scandal was piss poor. He cost the city of Atlanta and its economy over $100 million dollars when he abruptly moved the All-Star game of out Atlanta based on political considerations. His insecurities and pettiness led to the firing of Ken Rosenthal, one of the most respected and knowledgeable journalist in the sport.
Despite his law degree, he has handled CBA negations poorly. It doesn't seem he has any respect for the game or a care in the world of growing it.
He also called the World Series trophy a piece of metal once. Let's check out America's pastime in World Series viewership since he started as Commissioner.
David Ortiz earns Hall of Fame honors. Bonds, Clemens, and Schilling fall short in final year.
One of the most controversial Hall of Fame ballots has just been completed, and Big Papi was the sole selection this year. Ortiz was the only one of the 30 candidates to reach that threshold with 307 votes, which accounted for 77.9 percent of the electorate.
Barry Bonds (66%), Roger Clemens (65.2%), Sammy Sosa (18.5%), and Curt Schilling (58.6%) all are now off the ballot after 10 years of debating. What is so confusing to me is a guy like Schilling, who was the highest vote getter in the 2021 election when no player achieved the 75-percent mark, somehow got 54 fewer votes in this year’s election. It is hard to tell the history and story of baseball without these gentleman in the hall.
David Ortiz was one helluva DH, and won a lot in his career. Was I surprised he got in on his first ballot? Yes, but he is definitely deserving of the hall. No surprise Alex Rodriguez didn't get the love he deserves, and hopefully things change in the near future.
If former Commissioner Bud Selig is in the Hall of Fame, then you have to include guys those guys. Time to clear house on the voters and get people in who truly love the sport.
Lockout News
Spring Training is just around the corner... and there is no new update on an agreement. The last meeting that took place between the MLB Players Association and the league was December 2nd. Over a month and a half later, the two sides sat down this past week to start talking business.
Spring training is supposed to start next month, and regular-season opening day is scheduled for March 31. The topics that are being discussed right now include increasing minimum salaries, rules around the arbitration system, service time manipulation and revenue sharing among MLB clubs. Not starting on time is detrimental to players routines and conditioning. Pushing back or rushing some of these dates could lead to pitcher injuries and unpreparedness. There seems to be some optimism around the league that this will come to an end soon, the question is, when?