Friday Newsletter time: A quick turn of events after a 15-minute labor session might have baseball on track for on-time start
The owners weren't thrilled with the union's proposal Thursday afternoon, but things were reportedly picking up by nighttime.
The Texas Rangers Newsletter has been a beacon of optimism during the MLB lockout, pumping hope that the intelligence of 30 club owners and the players association would find a way to make the 2022 regular season start on time.
We were on the verge of a dark turn Thursday afternoon.
The two sides met Thursday in New York … for 15 minutes. Sources on the owners’ side told national reporters that the union’s latest economic proposal was a non-starter.
By dinnertime, though, things didn’t seem quite as bleak. Urgency was reported.
Owners and players on their way to New York. Daily bargaining sessions next week. Owners willing to move on the luxury tax and paying players more earlier in their career.
Spring training was supposed to start Wednesday for the Texas Rangers. There is uncertainty that it will begin by March 1, which has been the supposed soft deadline for a new collective bargaining agreement for the regular season to start on time March 31.
Maybe there is some leeway to keep games from being canceled, thanks to off days and the possibility of doubleheaders, but not much. And a rushed spring training would take a toll on player health and the quality of baseball to start the season.
But if things move quickly next week, maybe March 1 is still possible.
Guilty
The trial into the death of Tyler Skaggs came to an end Thursday in Fort Worth, where a jury found former Angels PR man Eric Kay guilty on two felony counts.
Kay faces a minimum of 20 years in prison for distributing fentanyl and causing Skaggs’ death in a Southlake hotel. The Angels are facing a civil suit filed by Skaggs’ family.
The verdict is the latest turn in a sad, sad story — with Skaggs’ death the first and saddest chapter.
Kay was a club employ who was a liaison between players and the media, and he certainly took his queues from the players. He should have never agreed to give opioids to Skaggs or the other five former Angels players who admitted during trial that they took opioids from him.
Kay is also drug addict who players continued to ask for drugs after he completed rehab. They showed complete disregard for his well-being by dragging him back into the habit he was trying to kick.
It feels like Kay is shouldering too much of the blame, especially when Skaggs, an addict who had another dealer, knew the dangers that came with the illicit use of drugs.
Putting Kay in prison isn’t going to change anything that happened. It’s just the latest chapter of a sad, sad story.
Card of the Week
What my son doesn’t know, though he would if he read my stuff every once in a while, is that my cards and the ones I’ve posted previously in this weekly feature will be his one day.
But he has started his own collection, so I asked him to share with me his favorite card. He doesn’t yet have an appreciation if a card is a rookie card or what brands might be better. He’s pretty dialed in on players, though.
Right now, Ronald Acuna Jr. is his favorite, so the 2021 Panini Mosaic base Acuna card is the Card of the Week.
It is his only Acuna card. I’m sitting on four ungraded rookies, though nothing too fancy. I should probably cough up one of them now.
But we’re headed to a card store later today, so maybe he’ll stumble upon one he wants. And maybe that will be the Card of the Week next week.
Doggy video!
Great tackle. Enjoy. See you next week. It might not be until Tuesday.
