Despite the proliferation of Spring Training countdowns on social media these days, the news from labor negotiations in New York has been discouraging.
While some progress was reported after players returned to the table with their latest proposals Tuesday, the two sides still remained far apart on core economic issues, and ownership raised the possibility of missing games rather than ending their eight-week lockout. So it appears likely that a tactic of dehumanizing and devaluing players will, in fact, at least delay some of the rites of spring.
This was only the appetizer for the big baseball news, that of the 30 players on this year’s Hall of Fame ballot, only David Ortiz passed muster with the baseball writers who vote on the honor.