While it sounds like neither of January's first two weeks will include a proposal from Major League Baseball to the Players Association, it sounds like there might be better luck in the back half of the month.
Sort of.
Over at The Athletic -- which the New York Times is buying, in case you hadn't heard -- Evan Drellich says the league is readying "new core economic proposals" to send the union's way, but everything is going to be designed to impose maximum leverage. That's not necessarily a surprise, given that the MLBPA seeks some pretty big changes while the league would more or less be content to re-up the previous CBA.
Drellich tries to beef up the article -- or actually make it into an article -- by asking those around the NBA how its several lockouts played out, The economics of a lockout don't inspire winter action.
“Nothing happens until the very last minute,” said a person involved in NBA labor negotiations. “It’s a very primitive mentality that people feel the other side is not going to give its best offer until they are looking down the barrel of what’s ahead.
“The point of (a lockout) generally is to impose economic pressure. And it’s not going to happen in the beginning, because people aren’t feeling it. They’re not getting paid. The season hasn’t started. So if the point of it is to impose the economic pressure, then yeah, in theory, it’s not going to really be effective until you get to the end.”
PERTINENT: Spare Parts: New year, no movement
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One of the minor, minor, minor pending issues that can't be resolved until the lockout ends involves Adam Eaton, whose abysmal season we recently discussed has him considering a career change.
Eaton spent about a month on the Los Angeles Angels roster after the White Sox released him on July 12, but the Angels cut him loose on Aug. 20. Still, those weeks were enough to forge a positive impression and give Joe Maddon an idea of how he could contribute to future Angels teams. He'd just be a member of the coaching staff, not a player.
The problem is, given that Eaton's just 33, the league still considers him a major-league free agent, even though he was released well before the end of the season and the union supports him exploring a career change. Rosenthal makes it sound like Eaton's not necessarily intent on retiring, either:
It is not certain Eaton would accept a coaching position that almost certainly would pay him less than the $1 million buyout on the $7 million free-agent deal he signed with the White Sox last offseason. He and his wife, Katie, also have two young sons, Brayden, 5 and, Maverick, 3.
But based on his discussions with the Angels, Eaton is at least considering retiring after he batted a combined .201 with a .608 OPS last season. The uncertainty surrounding his situation is but one reason the Angels have yet to announce their staff, though several other coaches are in place, awaiting their assignments, sources said.
ESPN's Alden Gonzalez explained why the Angels see Eaton as a potential fit, saying he worked well with their key young outfielders Brandon Marsh and Jo Adell.
PERTINENT: White Sox decision review: Right field
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More than a fortnight remains before the Hall of Fame voting results are announced, which is a long time for Mark Buehrle's candidacy to continue living on the fringe. He received a vote from Jon Morosi, which brings him up to seven votes total. He'd briefly cleared 5 percent, but now he's back below it.
The hope is that Buehrle will benefit from private ballots like he did the last time, when he got a 2.7 percent bump that pushed him into double digits. If you were looking for him to build upon his 11 percent showing in his second year on the ballot, those hopes can probably be shelved.
PERTINENT: How few innings does a Hall of Famer need to throw?
