Rob Manfred Blames the Players for the MLB Lockout

On Thursday the MLB owners officially locked out the players.  Their puppet, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, released a statement about the work stoppage and placed the blame on the MLBPA.

According to Manfred, with the owners' hands firmly up his ass, the MLBPA came to the table with a "strategy of confrontation over compromise."  He actually wrote those words.

From Larry Brown Sports:

The two sides are at odds over numerous issues. Manfred addressed a letter to baseball fans that was published after the lockout was imposed. He said in the letter that locking out the players now is necessary to communicate the urgency to the players to strike a deal by early March so that no games are missed in 2022.

There was one part of the letter that was problematic, and it involved Manfred accusing the players of taking an extreme and confrontational approach.

“Regrettably, it appears the Players Association came to the bargaining table with a strategy of confrontation over compromise,” Manfred wrote. “They never wavered from collectively the most extreme set of proposals in their history, including significant cuts to the revenue-sharing system, a weakening of the competitive balance tax, and shortening the period of time that players play for their teams. All of these changes would make our game less competitive, not more.”

This fucking guy.  Without the players there is no sport period.  Fans show up to watch the players, not the owners, not the umpires and certainly not tiny little Rob Manfred.  Maybe take a step back from pointing fingers.

Since becoming the MLB commissioner, Manfred has made it pretty clear that he doesn't give a shit about the game and that appears to still be the case.