The month of February is upon us. Soon, baseball will enthrall us with the sights and sounds of Spring Training, as facilities across the states of Florida and Arizona fill up with teams preparing for another season of major league ball. However, if the words of President Biden and the league are any indication, baseball is also faced with the distinct possibility that the season will be delayed until April due to the ongoing pandemic. This would be against the expressed wishes of the MLB Players Association (MLBPA), who have so far resisted offers from the owners to delay the season in exchange for Universal DH or an expanded playoff. This is just the latest example of MLB orchestrating its own demise; other examples include poor marketing strategy, inconsistent competition, and the lack of cooperation between owners and players.

The Super Bowl just wrapped up at the end of an NFL season that, despite having a few bumps, occurred without major conflict between the league and its players or a single pandemic-related cancellation. The NBA and NHL have both overcome early Covid-19 issues and postponements, and are now looking clear, with the former having had zero positive tests league wide the past week. With a lack of delays for other sports, why is there such discord for baseball? This disagreement between the league and its players coincides with a confusing offseason that has had a delayed announcement for the sport’s flagship video game, and as of the second week of February, also contains a majority of the top 25 free agents still unsigned. Uninteresting offseasons are a symptom of baseball’s inability to grow its brand or market itself to a wider base of fans.

Also props to Dodgers for being one of the only teams to not cry poor this winter

— LOVE SHACK (@dcNATSHACK) February 5, 2021

Another large component of baseball’s lack of direction is its horrible marketing strategies. If surveying a random person about Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, or Steph Curry, they’ll at least be able to identify what sport that athlete plays. Many will be able to identify them based on appearance. But what about Mike Trout, arguably the best player in baseball, or Mookie Betts, his closest competition and defending World Series Champion? It’s unlikely non-baseball fans would recognize such players by name, let alone appearance.

This lack of player recognition is a by-product of baseball’s poor marketing strategy; MLB TV, the league’s official streaming service, commonly blacks out games in fans’ local areas, and there are still a number of local TV affiliates who do not offer cable-free streaming. The “unwritten rules” of the game are stunting its growth. Young stars such as Fernando Tatis are being unduly criticized for irrational reasons, like when Tatis was berated by the media and even his own manager for “running up the score” when hitting a grand slam late in a game last summer. How is a sport supposed to market itself when it sabotages its own selling points? Baseball is disconnected from younger fans, and these errors are perfect examples as to why.

In addition to bad marketing, baseball is also plagued by a lack of consistent competition throughout the majors. Just recently, free agent and reigning Cy Young winning pitcher Trevor Bauer came to terms with the Dodgers, signing a massive contract worth $102 million over 3 years, including opt-outs after the first two seasons. As noted by ESPN journalist and reporter Jeff Passan, Bauer’s contract is higher than some teams’ entire payrolls; a thinly veiled criticism aimed at organizations such as the Tampa Bay Rays, who have created a formula for competition without spending. Teams such as the Rays can sell off talent and continue to compete at a low cost level. Why is this bad? Simply put, not every team has the same loaded farm system as Tampa Bay, whose prospect pipeline is arguably the best in baseball. Other organizations, such as the Pittsburgh Pirates sold off a number of talents at low cost in the offseason and only have a few future stars. They are not expected to be competitive for the next several years.

I think Trevor Bauer getting paid as much as some teams' entire payrolls this season says a lot more about those teams than it does Bauer or the Dodgers.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 5, 2021

How can a sport be at its best and its most appealing when half its franchises are unwilling to compete? Even in the era of Tom Brady and LeBron James, other sports have managed to keep most of their franchises spending money to improve. This cannot be said for baseball. A simple solution to make MLB more competitive would be to introduce a “salary floor”, or a minimum threshold that would require teams to spend money for the sake of competition. This is a rule in multiple other major leagues and is easy to enact, yet baseball chooses not to.

Another issue with MLB is the disconnect between the league and its players. So far, the owners and the MLBPA have been unable to reach a compromise on a modified 2021 season. This is the latest in a series of set-backs between the two sides over the past few seasons. With the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) expiring after this season and no talks of a new agreement, it has become increasingly likely a lockout or strike will occur in 2022. Nothing good can come of this, as it is difficult for a sport to grow without games being played. The 1994 MLB strike that cancelled that year’s World Series set the sport back years by itself, and it took two franchises (the Minnesota Twins and Montreal Expos, now the Nationals) nearly being contracted by the league to save it. A strike that calls off a large chunk of 2022 might be the final nail in the coffin for a sport struggling to keep itself relevant.

Baseball as a whole is an iconic American pastime, and it is unlikely the sport will ever die off completely, especially with the rising average value of contracts for every player. But that does not atone for MLB’s inability to properly market, maintain consistent competition, or stay on good terms with its players. If the game does not institute better measures of growing itself, it will just be a matter of time before the game phases into a niche or small-time sport.