Discuss the Negotiation Contexts with respect to the MLBPA and MLB. Provide specific evidence from the case and support with concepts from the section 3 of the book.

In understanding the contextual issues in regard to negotiations between Major League Baseball Players Association and Major League Baseball one would have to go back to a relationship that began over a hundred years ago. The contextual manner that Baseball negotiations present stems from a history of culture that has affected all of America. Baseball negotiations are unique in that the relationships between owners and players are that of friends. Since there is a relationship in many cases between owners and players this may or may be advantageous. When Negotiating with friends we tend to pay more attention to their behaviors and monitor their words and actions for standards of trust and fairness. In this context there is alot more pressure on both parties. Another issue at hand is that in the MLB relationships are very long lasting spanning ten to twenty years at minimum. This creates that much more pressure on both sides as they are bargaining on their relationship as well. There are many contexts in sports that do not exist in other business negotiations. The relationships of athletes to their managers and owners must be preserved no matter how negotiations turn out. There are several key contextual issues that may affect negotiations between the MLBPA and the MLB. These are the history of the relationship, future expectations of this relationship, how many rounds of negotiation will follow, time limits and the common acceptable practice in which the deal is done. The history of the relationship began with the founding of the MLBPA in 1953 some 74 years after the founding of major league baseball. A union was established that would protect the basic rights of all the players as well as