Man-splaining

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred addressed us commonfolk Thursday on the state of labor relations between management and labor. Management’s mouthpiece, er, the commissioner admitted owners could lock out players next month, but not to worry. “Honestly, I can’t believe there’s a single fan in the world who doesn’t understand that an offseason lockout that moves the process forward is different than a labor dispute that costs games.” But doesn’t a lockout move baseball one step closer to games being lost, after which a season, in part or whole? Isn’t the wiser course for both sides to sit down and bargain until they have an agreement? Doesn’t locking out one side tempt the other side to sit there, arms folded, tongues stuck out, until the cows come home? The commissioner didn’t say.