Rob Manfred and Tony Clark walked to the edge of the cliff and decided the outcome of jumping was a rather injurious one. This is not a surprise. This is often the way labor negotiations work in baseball: threats, posturing and fighting a PR battle until a deadline is nigh. Like procrastinating middle schoolers facing a term paper assignment, they act rationally when they have to.
They don’t have a deal yet, but they have the framework of one. The union is studying the owners’ latest proposal and may well come back with a counter or tweak, but a return to play is now possible.