With time running out before regular season games start getting cancelled, MLB and MLBPA got together at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla. on Monday for a total of five hours. But once again, minimal progress was made towards reaching a new collective bargaining agreement.
While no agreement is close as of yet, MLB and MLBPA are set to meet at 1 p.m. this afternoon for the second day in a row, and then everyday for the remainder of the week with the hope that they can actually gain some momentum that will end this lockout.
If a deal is not reached by Friday, the 2022 regular season (Opening Day: March 31) is destined to get pushed back.
In the meantime, Mets relief pitcher, Trevor May, who hasn't been shy about expressing his disdain for MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and the rest of the owners, shared his prediction about when he believes the work stoppage might end.
Unsurprisingly, May wasn't very optimistic about the season starting on time due to MLB's lack of good faith negotiating tactics.
"This isn't based on any sort of insider information, I have none. I genuinely don't know if this is true," May told The Chris Rose Rotation. "But just knowing from the last two years of how the Commissioner's Office generally just handles anything that they want to do, they have a pretty long term plan laid out.
"I think that Rob (Manfred) has put together a (plan such as), 'Hey, guys, if we are willing to not really give at all until this date, I think that'll give us this much leverage. And if we're willing to sacrifice this many games it'll make us this much more money in the next four and a half years of the CBA.'"
Earlier this month, May was very vocal on his Twitch stream, accusing Manfred and the owners of negotiating in bad faith. And yesterday, he provided his perception of what he truly thinks is going on in the other room. May feels that the league is willing to sacrifice regular season games in order to gain leverage over the players union.
In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if the season didn't start until May.
"There might be a number where we've already seen it. They've already said, 'Hey guys, we're gonna miss games.' It's a tactic. It's always a tactic. But that's within the framework of what I just said.
"They have one where they're putting that pressure on us, because they believe we have a date where we're like 'this is where it's getting real we need to start thinking, making real adjustments' or we're gonna do it because they have one internally."
The good news is that no matter what happens, there will be a season in some way, shape or form. May admitted that if there is no season, both sides lose because they don't get paid and will lose a substantial amount of revenue.
"Everyone's like, 'Are we gonna have a season?' Of course, we're gonna have a season because at the end of the day making $0 is just unacceptable," May said. "There's no way we can do that especially with what we're arguing about losing a season over, we both lose a lot there."
In the end, labor sessions have been nothing more than a game of chicken up until this point. With the possibility of playing a full 162-game schedule in serious jeopardy, negotiations have yet to heat up.
If no agreement is made by the end of the week, and the season gets delayed, May's accusations will be confirmed. But there's still time for MLB and MLBPA to strike a deal without the 2022 schedule being harmed. The next four days will be pivotal towards preventing a delay to the season.
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