With Major League Baseball’s lockout of players about to enter its 10th week and no end in sight, the chances of Spring Training 2022 beginning on time is becoming increasingly unlikely with each passing day.

…or hour.

Although there are still nine days until pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report on February 14 (with most usually arriving a week early), and the first Spring Training games scheduled for February 26, both are very much in jeopardy of not doing so.

Oh, sure, you can certainly argue that the typical six-week(-ish) Spring Training could conceivably be shortened. But make no mistake about it; doing so significantly increases the risk of injury, especially for pitchers.

For the most part, the media – national and local – have very noticeably avoided talking or writing about a delayed Spring Training start and/or (Heaven forbid) a delayed start to the 2022 regular season. But the painfully brutal truth is that both are becoming increasingly likely with each passing day

…or hour.

Should a new Collective Bargaining Agreement between MLB and the MLB Players Association not be reached within the next few days, an on-time start to the regular season is unlikely.

…or worse.

Should a new CBA not soon be reached, there could be – and probably would be – another MLB players’ strike, which hasn’t happened since 1994-95.

What boggles the mind is that the average U.S. household income in 2021 was $96,955, yet the MLB minimum salary in 2021 was $570,500. As of this writing, the MLBPA is seeking a new minimum salary of $775,000, which would be a 36 percent increase from the 2021 minimum salary. Let me ask you this: When was the last time you received a 36 percent pay increase (rhetorical)?

At a time when our country – and the entire world – is struggling with the worst pandemic since the Bubonic plague, the very last thing we need right now is another MLB players’ strike.

Come on, guys. Do the right thing.

Play Ball!

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