As MLB fans await what they hope is the end to the lock out and getting teams back on the field, players are expressing their frustrations as well with what’s going on.
The latest? Chicago Cubs third baseman Patrick Wisdom.
Wisdom went on air with 670 The Score to share his thoughts on the MLB lockout. Wisdom had an impressive rookie season with the Cubs in 2021.
“There’s no Opening Day because the league has not negotiated in good faith,” Wisdom said on the Parkins & Spiegel Show on Wednesday. “We’re fighting to make it fair on both sides. I understand it’s a business, and I understand both sides need to come together and communicate and negotiate to get something done. We can’t just keep having days where there’s nothing going and we can’t have 43 days before anybody talks. I think that’s another reason why we’re at where we’re at right now. If we would’ve had this week of negotiating 40 days ago, we’d be in a much better spot. But it is what it is now ….
Wisdom’s thoughts have been echoed by many players across the league. The notion that the league is not negotiating in good faith seems to be a common belief. Wisdom’s newest teammate, Marcus Stroman, has been outspoken against the commissioner and the progress of the CBA negotiations.
Manfred gotta go.
— Marcus Stroman (@STR0) March 1, 2022
Other Cubs players have voiced their displeasure as well, but Wisdom brings an interesting perspective to the ordeal. Wisdom spent a large portion of his career in the minor leagues. Wisdom describes how playing professional baseball isn’t always the lavish lifestyle that some may think.
“I’ve spent time in the minor leagues, I was making maybe two-thousand dollars a month… and then I’m sleeping on an air mattress in an apartment with four other guys…”
Everybody has a different journey to the majors. After only his first year there, Wisdom finds himself in unchartered waters.
“That is fair – yeah, I’m conflicted,” Wisdom said. “Like you said, I spent a lot of time in the minor leagues – so not represented by the union – and I was able to go out and play, we didn’t really have these kinds of conflicts. So now that I’m in it, it’s new to me. And I understand it fully, I understand why we’re doing this and why the two sides need to come together and what they’re arguing about. I get it. But my old self is like, ‘Yeah, but we need to play. I need to play games and earn money and provide for my family and put food on the table.’”
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