Cubs' Jason Heyward breaks down MLB's lockout 'goal' of delaying 2022 season

Author Photo
Jason Heyward

The J-Hey Kid says, "Hey, wait a minute."

After MLB and the MLB Players Association failed to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement before the owner-imposed deadline Tuesday, commissioner Rob Manfred announced the cancellation of the first two series of the 2022 MLB season.

While players were upset with the goings-on in labor talks, the strongest and clearest message of condemnation came from Jason Heyward, who spelled it out for fans Wednesday: The owners didn't want the 2022 season to start on time.

The Cubs outfielder, in  a lengthy Instagram message, blamed ownership for taking its time during negotiations to ensure the season would not open as scheduled on March 31:

MORE: MLB lockout news and updates

Heyward's message in full: 

The look on [Manfred's] face is a sigh of relief… He thought the players were about to accept the deal and we were going to start the season.. Which all along he didn’t want to start on time…

Numbers, rule changes, CBT’s, Super 2’s, League Minimums, Extended Playoffs,Pitch Clocks,Shifts,International drafts etc……

All of these things and more put to the side.. From the last day of the former CBA to the “good faith..” extended deadline of March 1, 2022 at 5pm, they(Manfred and whoever signed up to follow..) have been operating with the intent to delay the season. Period. Similar to the 2020 pandemic season, they drag things out because they have their ideal amount of games they hope we play during the season.

They know the proposals they made were geared towards benefiting them significantly enough that if the players ever elected to accept the terms it would be a big win for them and a huge loss for the current and future players of this game. Each time both sides “went to the table..” they chose to acknowledge bits and pieces of what needed to be discussed to delay and drag out the whole process..

They continued to make offers they know were in the players best interest to refuse.. Hoping both sides could continue to “disagree..” and that they would get their end GOAL… their GOAL of delaying the 2022 MLB season….

Bottom line.. they know the amount of games we need to play in order for them to profit.. they view the first month of the season as debt… season delayed = they meet their goals..

As players, all of us make different amounts of money each year.. regardless of the contract we went into these negotiations in hopes of actually discussing the game we “thought” they cared about.. the outcome to this date has been one side in the players(MLBPA) negotiating with ourselves because the other side wants division and they truly don’t care to play the scheduled 162.. that’s the route they chose..

While it's almost impossible to prove that it was the owners' "goal" to delay the start of the season, a few things are factual: The lockout is league-imposed; the league didn't come to the bargaining table until more than 40 days after the lockout was imposed; and now the owners will save a few bucks on player salaries by canceling games.

Heyward isn't the only one who felt this strongly about MLB's lack of movement. Blue Jays pitcher Ross Stripling also painted the owners as unwilling to negotiate in good faith, which seems to be a recurring theme for these CBA negotiations.

Angels outfielder Mike Trout on Wednesday joined the chorus of players who are outwardly distressed by how the owners negotiated.

Negotiations may continue this week, but time will tell when — and if — the 2022 season will get underway.

Author(s)
Joe Rivera Photo

Joe Rivera is a senior content producer at The Sporting News and teaches Multimedia Sports Reporting at his alma mater, Rutgers University.