Throughout the CBA negotiations, we saw a pattern. The MLBPA kept making major concessions, and they were met with little to no movement from the owners. In fact, many times, MLB’s offer could have been perceived as a step backwards.

Consider what the owners have tried to slip into negotiations. At one point, they tried to get the MLBPA to agree to give MLB the right to unilaterally eliminate minor league jobs as they saw fit. MLB eventually pulled that back, and we can assume MLB realized they could do that on their own volition anyway like when they contracted minor league teams.

On the day of MLB’s self-imposed deadline, they tried to insert many new clauses and conditions into the new CBA. That included but was not limited to:

• Eliminating shifts
• Increasing base sizes
• 20 second pitch clock
• Incorporating meal per diem into the CBT calculation

Introducing those and other measures at the last minute was not designed to get a deal done. Rather, it was introduced to get each and everything the owners truly want. They made a take-it or leave-it offer with everything they wanted. They did it with the threat of cancelling games which would accompany a cut in player salaries and interference with service time.

In total, the owners said surrender, or we will make things worse for you in the future. Of course, the players didn’t relent even though they had done it throughout the negotiations. They stood firm, and in all likelihood, they will continue to do so. As has been noted many times over, in all likelihood, this is going to push baseball towards a protracted legal dispute.

Put another way, we are in this for the long haul. With the owners having hardliners who can block the consummation of any agreement, we know the owners aren’t going to bend unless they are forced to do so. This means there’s really no chance for a last minute unexpected deal.

In the end, that means the cancellation of the first two series is just the tip of the iceberg. We are going to see more and more games cancelled, and at some point, much like in 1994, we should be bracing for the inevitable and shocking result. It is very, very possible we will not see the 2022 season be played.

In the event that does happen, it will ultimately be the owners who are to blame. They don’t care about the present and future of the game. They just care about total domination of the players. They’re not going to get it, and in the end, that will mean no baseball.