3 ways the lockout was different than the 1994 strike for the Chicago White Sox
By Todd Welter
Chicago White Sox baseball is back.
The Major League Baseball lockout is over as the owners and players’ association agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement.
After all the haggling about a competitive balance tax, minimum salaries, and an international draft, the owners and players made peace and decided to play ball.
It came close to where there was the potential of more games being canceled.
Union executive board appears to be voting against approval. Uncertain how this could affect full player vote.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 10, 2022
The players decided to overrule its executive board.
Union executive board vote was 8-0 against the MLB proposal but teams voted 26-4 in favor of it, carrying the day, Unusual that the general player population goes so far against player leadership.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 10, 2022
It is great to have baseball back. Hopefully, the Chicago White Sox have a special season ending with a World Series win.
One thing is for sure, the lockout put a damper on the usual excitement for the 2022 Chicago White Sox season.
The 2022 White Sox season was supposed to be part of the contention window they took years to put together. The more it becomes potentially compromised, the worse for a fan base that hasn’t gotten to fully enjoy their team’s rise to prominencehttps://t.co/lVvuL9S2vj
— James Fegan (@JRFegan) March 10, 2022
Chicago White Sox fans just cannot catch a break.
At the same time, this lockout is nowhere near as bad as the 1994 strike was for the Chicago White Sox.
Reason 1: Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf was not driving the owners, hardline stance.
Reinsdorf was one of baseball’s most powerful owners in the mid-1990s.
He wielded that power during the 1994 players’ strike. He was able to influence his fellow owners to dig in and refuse to meet the players’ demands.
That led to the World Series and the remaining portion of the 1994 season being canceled. It took Major League Baseball four seasons to recover from the strike’s ugly fallout.
Fast forward 28 years later and Reinsdorf was reported to be one of the owners who did not obstruct efforts to get a deal done.
Sources: Angels, Diamondbacks, Reds and Tigers owners opposed MLB luxury tax increase to $220 million. MLB also proposed including player meal money in calculation of luxury tax, which irked players. https://t.co/gBKrqAx9wV
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) March 4, 2022
It made sense for Reinsdorf to not stand in the way.
First, the Chicago White Sox are World Series contenders. Jerry wants to win another World Series before his time is up on this world.
Also, the Chicago White Sox have been willing to spend money on their younger talent. The White Sox have given out big contract extensions, for example, to Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert, and Yoan Moncada.
While the financial terms favor the White Sox, Jimenez, Robert and Moncada get paid good money while some other younger players on different teams face financial uncertainty. That is because those players’ teams will not commit to those type of deals.
This gives the Chicago White Sox cost certainty in their payroll for a couple seasons.
Plus, if the Sox ever needed to trade one of these players before they reach free agency, those players become more attractive because of the team-friendly deals. Think back to the haul the Sox got for Chris Sale.
Reinsdorf, team president Kenny Williams, and general manager Rich Hahn have found a way to navigate baseball’s current financial state to be competitive on the field–unlike some other teams.
Having a sweetheart stadium also helped Reinsdorf to not have worry too much about the lost revenue in the 2020 season with no fans in the stands because of COVID-19.