Trevor Bauer Challenging Rob Manfred Publicly Shows How Ugly A Lockout Could Get

Reds ace Trevor Bauer tweeted this morning to invite commissioner Rob Manfred to a discussion on how to grow the game. It was a clear challenge to the current state of the sport and should show how ugly an MLB lockout will get. If baseball wants to turn this train wreck around, they have to work with the players towards a solution.

Bauer wants to have a transparent conversation, but MLB leadership doesn't see player involvement and happiness as an accomplishment. Manfred knows that a public dialogue might lead to player empowerment and that's bad for league owners. Players being able to promote and express themselves the way Bauer suggests would give them leverage. Players that have power will in turn dig into their cash and that's the issue here.

Transparency that Bauer suggests will expose the league for what's blatantly obvious for those that are paying attention: Rob Manfred is facilitating the easiest possible path for ownership to silence player power. Powerless workers in general have no leg to stand on in negotiations. What a coincidence that the MLB CBA expires by the end of the year.

The Reds ace even pinned a tweet that shows how often Manfred moves independently without any input from his players.

So where is this headed?

Trevor Bauer is simply trying to make baseball a partnership between MLB owners and the players. He wants baseball to mirror other leagues lending an ear to players that clearly works. The problem is that team yearly revenue is no longer important because they'll just take a bigger piece of a smaller pie. If a team loses $200 million due to COVID, they'll just break the dreams of minor leaguers throughout their system. They in turn get every penny they expected.

Bauer's mission would eventually put a halt to money grabs like this and that's why Manfred won't be a part of it. Here's another example of baseball refusing to give players a platform:

Rob Manfred sees giving up power now as a punt on lucrative and one-sided deals for ownership. What he doesn't calculate for is that growing individual players will influence revenue across the board. Rob would rather cut a slice for himself than make a bigger pie for everyone.

Tony Clark and the Players Association are taking note of all the minor league cuts and player suppression. They'll take those gestures personally, and a league lockout will reflect their anger. Disagreements will now be more public and players won't be taken advantage of in this offseason's CBA.

Players are headed towards an all out war with MLB ownership and Trevor Bauer is trying to help. Our only hope now is that Manfred agrees to the dialogue and accepts some criticism.