Implementing the designated hitter into the National League is going to happen.

However you feel about that, it’s true.

The Major League Baseball Players Association made a push in February to introduce the universal DH, but MLB commissioner Rob Manfred shut it down pretty quickly. If the players want to make the universal DH a reality, their next opportunity will be when the collective bargaining agreement expires in 2021.

As the offseason ramps up, however, talks of player demands will arise. Even though the CBA does not expire until after the 2021 season, player frustration after consecutive winters of futile free agency could lead to a work stoppage over the new deal.

That means players and owners alike will be pushing to reach a new deal sooner rather than later.

When they are negotiating, the players should not bother fighting for the universal DH. It will come to the game eventually and will not result in the outcome players are hoping for.

The main gripe the MLBPA has with the owners is the owners’ failure to offer fair, long-term, guaranteed contracts — specifically to veteran players who still have gas in the tank. The thought is that a universal DH would open another 15 roster spots on teams for those aging sluggers, but that simply is not the case.

Only two DHs qualified for the batting title in 2018. That means 13 of the AL’s 15 DH slots did not feature full-time DHs, but instead shuffle around the lineup to keep players fresh.

While that’s certainly an objective of the Players Association, the focus should be set on its primary goal: improving free agency and the contract situation.

It’s all about the money, so let’s keep the focus there. The players will have to make compromises to get what they want, and they shouldn’t waste a compromise on something that’s coming to the game regardless.

If the players make a strong push for the universal DH, they may miss out on resolutions to problems like the manipulation of service time and concerns over teams colluding on veteran contracts.

Beyond that, there are legitimate reasons to avoid adding a universal DH to the NL.

The NL is baseball’s “historical” league (The American League achieved major league status in 1901, but that’s still a quarter of a century after the NL.), so let the Senior Circuit respect its history by letting pitchers hit. If the more historical of professional baseball’s two leagues wants to honor its history by maintaining the sport’s traditional lineup, then that desire should be respected.

And you know what? Even if the universal DH is inevitable (which it is), why can’t anyone just have a heart? People should enjoy it when Bartolo Colon hits a home run, or Madison Bumgarner hits a dinger off Clayton Kershaw. It’s fun.

Not everything has to be about maximization, optimization and efficiency. Part of why sports are so great is that they serve as an escape from the cold, harsh reality that many of us live in. Jim the accountant can escape the depressing fluorescent office lights of corporate America and laugh at Dae-Sung Koo ripping a double off the most dominant pitcher of the time, and then score from second while diving head-first into home plate and wearing his pitcher’s jacket.

Think about how ridiculous that sentence is. People want to take that away?

I get it, there are over a dozen automatic outs for every fun pitcher at-bat. There is no argument, however, against the fact that everyone will tell their grandchildren about when Colon hit his home run.

“This is one of the great moments in the history of baseball,” Mets’ broadcaster Gary Cohen said live on-air.

If you implement the universal DH, the players lose, and the fans lose.

Everybody loses.