SI's Emma Baccellieri and Max Goodman discuss the latest news on the negotiations between Major League Baseball and the Players Association.
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00:00Tell us when and where.
00:01That's been the mantra for Major League Baseball players.
00:04And with baseball and its players closer to a deal,
00:07perhaps it was effective.
00:09For more, I'm being joined by our Emma Bacheleri
00:11and Max Goodman of Inside the Pinstripes.
00:13Emma, let's start with you.
00:15You know, the player side of things,
00:17how did they get movement here?
00:19Yeah, this was pretty much, you know,
00:21that phrase you said, tell us when and where.
00:23They ended their last public statement with that.
00:25And since then, we've seen a really strong show
00:29of solidarity from the players.
00:32Lots of players tweeting this, Instagramming this,
00:35using the platforms that they have
00:37to kind of just reiterate their commitment
00:41from their side to wanting to be back out there.
00:45And that is something that, you know,
00:47does shift the narrative a little
00:50in terms of how we normally see these labor disagreements.
00:53This is baseball's first real moment
00:55of serious labor strife in the social media age.
00:59And to see players using their platform on this
01:02is something that hasn't really been a factor
01:04in past baseball disagreements.
01:06And seeing just how much it really registered right here,
01:11that is something that's new and that showed real power.
01:14You know, Max, the Yankees,
01:16one of the biggest franchise in the sport, you know,
01:20so obviously what the people behind that brand say
01:23is gonna hold some weight.
01:24What shifted with the owners here?
01:26Well, considering where we were 48 hours ago, Robin,
01:30this is a monumental step in the right direction.
01:33The reports that came out on Wednesday that,
01:36well, John Heyman said that the two sides
01:38were closing in on an agreement.
01:40A couple other reporters backtracked a little bit
01:42to say that there's no agreement in principle yet,
01:45but that the two sides are getting closer.
01:46And I've used the analogy in the past
01:48that the MLB and the MLB Players Association
01:51have been two parallel lines up to this point.
01:53Emma said that the players wanna play, and that's true,
01:57but from a negotiating perspective,
01:58they haven't really given into each other.
02:00But a report that Commissioner Rob Manfred took a flight
02:03and went to meet with the head of the Players Association,
02:06Tony Clark, in person,
02:08and that these negotiations were gonna get back on track.
02:10It seems like both sides,
02:12and I'm answering the question about the league,
02:14so it looks like the commissioner
02:15on behalf of all the owners
02:17are gonna start to give in
02:18to what the players want a little bit,
02:19and that's like a peace offering in a sense.
02:21So expect potentially prorated salaries,
02:24which is what the players have been asking for,
02:26and expanded post-season,
02:28and hopefully we can get this on track soon.
02:30You can't expect a home run from any deal.
02:33You just wanna get on base,
02:34and hopefully baseball will be played.
02:37Emma, Max, appreciate your time.