The World Series wrapped up just a few days ago, but a much bigger showdown for the future of Major League Baseball looms on the horizon as owners and the players’ union risk starting an arm-wrestling game. iron in the coming weeks.
Indeed, the collective agreement binding the two parties will end on December 1 and the animosity between them seems quite perceptible. As the descriptor of the matches on the TVA Sports channel Denis Casavant reminded us in his most recent podcast “Du champ gauche”, winter is shaping up to be hard at the negotiating table. It will take hard work to avoid the ninth conflict in the history of the big leagues and the first since the strike of 1994 that broke the hearts of Montreal Expos fans whose favorites dominated the field.
As various sources have mentioned, the shutdown of activities could be ordered on December 2 under a lockout, paralyzing the free agent market at the same time. The start of the next training camps may also be postponed. There is still a long way to go to reach common ground.
“There are several important points to negotiate. The famous hitter of choice, will he be in both leagues? It was on the table a few years ago and in the season cut short by the pandemic, there was the hitter of choice in both home runs. This year, we have returned to the old regulations, but I think that will be a point to be discussed, ”said Casavant.
“Then we talked a lot during the season and the playoffs about the length of the games. How can we make the meetings last three hours […] closer to that than four hours? I’ve seen a lot of nine-inning games last longer than four hours in the playoffs, ”he said.
The measures to be taken
According to the baseball expert, players and owners will therefore have to look at the length of the games and this involves discussions on specific points, including the number of pitchers allowed in each formation – currently clubs can use 14 gunners. and 12 position players – as well as overtime.
“Are we coming back to the formula under which a runner is in a scoring position to start the 10th inning and prevent the matches from lasting 11-12-13-14 innings? […] Obviously, if we reduce the number of pitchers in the teams, we will have to keep the rules of the overtime, warned Casavant. We want the games to end as quickly as possible, not to get to the 13th inning. We want it to end in 10th or 11th. “
