MLB Has Officially Requested Immediate Help From A Federal Mediator To Help Fix The Lockout. This Is Good News...Maybe?

So this sounds like good news, right? Jeff Passan tweeting out that MLB has requested immediate help from a federal mediator to help resolve the lockout. On the surface this looks like a great move, bring in a neutral, third party and lets get the ball rolling. It still has to be agreed to by the players but I would hope that they will take the help and try to get this thing moving in a more serious manner. No more bullshitting around with 30 minute meetings, get in a professional to help move these proceedings along. Maybe because there is now less than 2 weeks until pitchers and catchers reporting it lit a fire under the suit's asses? It is a weird move by the owners and MLB. Lock out the players, refuse to make an actual offer that could end the lockout, and then request federal mediation to end the lockout. 

My guess is this will kind of expedite the hearings and meetings and we can get some real terms and conditions on the table. Now I know that the two sides also had a mediator in the 1994 strike, and we know how that ended. No World Series and it took them 7 months to reach an agreement, there's no way that will happen this time around. This at least shows that the sides know they need to get something done. It's a little late in the game for me, but acknowledging that they need to fix this shows that they're' serious about moving forward. I'm not sure why it took 2 months for this to happen, but better late than never I guess. 

Right off the bat this reminds me of the opening scene of Wedding Crashers where Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson are mediating the divorce hearing and splitting up what each side will get. Great scene, very funny. In the end both sides end up with something they want and they come to an agreement, that's the goal here. I need Owen and Vince to get these hard headed people to buckle down, give up some stuff they want, but also realize they'll get some other things in the end. And then we all get what we want, baseball. So let's hope the players agree to this and that they can get this train moving towards a full season. It doesn't sound like they were all too impressed with MLB's request for a mediator, the players basically think it's a PR stunt. Either way all I want to do is eat a billion hot dogs at Camden Yards this summer, please make this happen.