Tom Glavine predicts what MLB lockout will do to the game: 'Fans are being impacted'

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Baseball Hall of Famer Tom Glavine talked about what the lockout will do to the game in the grand scheme, and to the former Atlanta Braves and New York Mets pitcher, it’s not good.

Glavine told The Athletic on Wednesday it’s going to be difficult to get people interested in baseball again, especially coming out of the coronavirus-impacted 2020 season, when fans were barred from stadiums.

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Pitcher Tom Glavine of the Atlanta Braves looks at the batter before pitching against the Pittsburgh Pirates during a Major League Baseball game at Three Rivers Stadium in 1994 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  (George Gojkovich/Getty Images)

"This is going to do damage to the game, there’s no question about that. How much? I guess we’ll see. I still talk to people who swore off the game after the strike, and they haven’t gone back," Glavine said.

"You’re going to get folks who are going to be mad, and they’ll get over it, and you’ll have some who don’t care, and they’ll come back whenever baseball comes back. But on the heels of COVID and people having their lives being altered and not being able to go to baseball games for a year, there’s going to be some hurt feelings. 

"Fans are being impacted, and both sides are always mindful of that. Whenever there’s an agreement, they’re going to have to work hard to get those people back. But there’s no question in my mind the game is going to suffer."

Glavine was on the Braves when the season shut down due to the strike in 1994.

Former Atlanta Braves pitcher Tom Glavine is honored along with the 1991 NLCS Champions before the game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Turner Field on July 30, 2016, in Atlanta, Georgia.  (Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)

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MLB owners and the players were still apart on core economic issues: luxury tax thresholds, the size of the new bonus pool for pre-arbitration players and minimum salaries.

MLB offered to raise the luxury tax threshold from $210 million to $220 million in each of the next three seasons, $224 million in 20215 and $230 million in 2026. MLB offered $25 million annually for a new bonus pool for pre-arbitration players and the union $85 million this year with $5 million increases. MLB offered raising the minimum salary to $700,000 this year with increases to $10,000 annually.

The players asked for a luxury tax threshold of $28 million this year, $244 million in 2023, $250 million in 2024, $256 million in 2025 and $263 million in 2026. The union asked for $725,000 this year, $745,000 in 2023, $765,000 in 2024 and increases for 2025 and 2026 based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners in minimum salaries.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred speaks during a news conference after negotiations with the players association toward a labor deal, Tuesday, March 1, 2022, at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

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The MLBPA says the decision to cancel the start of the season has left players and fans "disgusted, but sadly not surprised."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.