MLB Official Doesn't Expect Work Stoppage in 2022 Despite MLBPA Tension

Major League Baseball may have labor strife between the players and owners, but at least one official believes the two sides will avoid a work stoppage in 2022. 

"If the state of labor in baseball is only judged by is there or is there not a work stoppage that causes games to be missed, I think this will have a good ending," a longtime official told ESPN's Jeff Passan. "I don't think any baseball games in 2022 are going to be missed."

That seems to be the consensus around baseball, with Passan reporting that "Nearly everyone with whom ESPN spoke—all of whom requested anonymity to discuss negotiations the parties have pledged to keep behind closed doors—agreed with the official's sentiment."

Despite the ongoing tensions between the sides, baseball has avoided a work stoppage since the disastrous strike in 1994, which forced a cancellation of the World Series and cost baseball an estimated $1.7 billion, per that report. 

Another strike could cost teams billions and players an estimated $1.5 billion. There is every reason for the two sides to strike a deal. 

"It's not as dire as I think the public perception is," another official told Passan. "I'm a big believer that the principles of liking or trusting each other are not ultimately as important as the fundamentals, which is that there's objectively no reason we should have labor conflict. It might be a painful process of getting there, but I think ultimately that will win out."

Last season's struggle to come to an agreement amid the COVID-19 pandemic—MLB commissioner Rob Manfred ultimately imposed a shortened, 60-game season—has justifiably led to pessimism among some fans that the players and owners could come together on a new collective bargaining agreement. 

But that showdown—alongside another one to start this season when the MLB wanted to begin the campaign later and play just 154 games, as well as add the designated hitter to the National League and expand the playoffs (the union rejected the offer and baseball went ahead with its standard 162-game format)—has some people in baseball optimistic that the two sides now understand one another.

"I have to believe that the experience we had trying to work together in 2020 has at least given us a better perspective on each other's priorities, on how we work, how we talk," a veteran player representative told Passan. "It's like going on a first date. You go on one. And then a second date. It feels like this CBA is the third date. We can get rid of the small talk. What do we want? What do we need? Is this gonna work?"

The prevailing belief around baseball seems to be that it will.