As talks continue about the possibility of the 2020 season getting underway, “the greatest differences between the players and owners, for now, remain economic,” Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic (subscription required) write in their latest update on the status of the negotiations. While nothing concrete has been established between the two sides, June 1 is seen as “an informal deadline for negotiations to be completed if the season is to start by early July.”
On Tuesday, the league will present the MLB Players Association with a proposal for how finances and revenues will be divvied up over a shortened 2020 schedule. Rosenthal and Drellich hear from sources that the owners’ reported original desire for a 50/50 revenue split will not be included in this proposal, though owners will still seek to reduce player salaries in some fashion, as per Major League Baseball’s claim that paying prorated player salaries while still hosting games without any fans in attendance would result in a loss of over $4 billion in free cash flow.
That $4 billion figure was delivered as part of a financial document presented to the MLBPA over a week ago, which naturally resulted in the union requesting for the league to back up this claim with more paperwork and documentation. According to Rosenthal and Drellich, the league provided the players with some but not all of the requested information this past Friday. It isn’t clear whether the documentation provided will be sufficient for the MLBPA, or whether there is enough time for the union’s analysts to properly access the league’s financial claims by the informal June 1 deadline.
At least one agent, Seth Levinson of the ACES agency, believes “there isn’t sufficient time,” and that “MLB doesn’t just seek further salary reductions from the players but also their blind faith” that the losses will be as steep as the league suggests. Levinson also added that “any agreement must protect the players heading into 2021,” as several agents are concerned that the loss of 2020 revenues will result in a crunch for free agents and arbitration-eligible players in the 2020-21 offseason. To this end, Rosenthal and Drellich write that some agents might prefer some manner of “financial protection for players this offseason” in exchange for players agreeing to accept less than their prorated salaries for 2020 games.
These longer-term issues add another layer of difficult to the talks between Major League Baseball and the players’ union. The majority of current negotiations are centered around the 2020 season first and foremost, and there are already enough logistical hurdles (both financial and health/safety related) yet to be cleared that it seems difficult at first glance to imagine an agreement being reached by June 1. That said, the June 1 date only applies to the rumored early-July start date for an 82-game season, so everything could be pushed back or reduced. The length of the regular season, Rosenthal and Drellich note, is another possible negotiating point between players and owners: “The league also prefers a shorter schedule to enhance the chances of playing the postseason, when greater revenues are assured.”
If I’m reading this correct, it seems setting an agreement beyond 2020 is the issue.
Go back to the tables for 2021 issues. Just hammer out a 2020 deal and break out the spikes. Leave 2021 minutiae to the offseason and PLAY BALL!
that’s what everyone seems to want, but the [well founded] fear of the PA is that the owners make these changes long-term.
I understand that the persistent, strange and historic MLB Players vs. Owners dichotomy exists… not saying I understand it ALL but that I understand it exists. To which I would say: can’t we all just get along? Just for 2020? Let’s roll!
Yea. That whole leap of faith by players for owners would be my hard no. Owners have already gotten over on stadium employees, umps, and players and they dont want to open financial records, and now want players to take another hit with blind faith. Hell no
Understood and agreed… but if the deal is pro-rated money deferred over a year or two instead of 50/50 revenue splits then I would imagine a deal could be rather simple. Deferrals are usually frowned upon but we’re not usually in a pandemic situation. I know I’m glossing over a lot of details but I think it could work out rather quickly. July 4th Opening weekend?
Completely opening financial records to players would be a huge mistake. Would cause nothing but trouble and there would certainly be work stoppage. What right do employees have to see a company’s books?
Gwynning, I agree. I have long thought that if owners “can’t afford” to pay their players their full/prorated salaries (which we’ll never know cuz they aren’t ever going to open their books), I agree that deferrals might work. In the end the players get their full contract earnings (prorated for 2020) and owners get a year, two, or three to recover from this bummer virus.
@heater
About as much right as owners have of asking player to to take a pay cut based off of revenues. If u want somebody to take a pay cut based on revenues, then show what revenues are. Would u take a job, not knowing how much u make or what u make is based off of? And, if u work for a big company, it’s not that hard to find out on google if u know where to look. Obviously that mom and pop grocery store in nowhereville USA isn’t gonna be available, but if u work for frito lay, pepsico, google, apple, gm, or some big co like that it is
Whoever thought about keeping in the service time whether there’s a season or not should be shot. That would make a world of difference on hundreds of players traded and FA’s signed before Feb. 2020.
Whether the owners make less money this year or even lose money this year is largely irrelevant (especially to them), their concern is the value of their franchises.
As such, the players are as, or perhaps more valuable than, ever to them.
I doubt some owners, if not all, take the position that losing money is inconsequential Some franchises would rather play because they are now teams why other, of course, can benefit to some degree without a season. Baltimore is much better off not having to pay Chris Davis for a year, especially since no one is going to those games anyway. The Yankees are worse off. They lose a year of Cole in his prime yest still have to pay $36 million per year whenever they return. They want to play now.
Also, all team franchises should increase in value if they play. I doubt values wiill increase by not playing. .
I’m just guessing here, but….I think the Dodgers would like to play too!
They’re not “losing” money, they’re making less profits. Too many, seem to have trouble distinguishing the 2. And franchise values arent determined by if they play or not, that irrelevant. They’re determined by equity and revenue. Equity isn’t gonna change, just revenue. But, the mets are really only team that affects, bc they’re only team for sale. Any other team may lose some value, but when things return to normal, so will values
Loss of revenues means loss of earnings this means loss of appreciation in any business. its very relevant. No season no salaries to players period.
Its almost June. Can we just stop disagreeing and start playing? The longer we wait, the more likely a season isnt going to happen. Especially if you have to worry about a spring training
I see people packed into grocery stores all the time…so why is everyone worried about the spread when it comes to leisure activities.
I know this is a serious disease and lethal for a rare amount of people but this all seems a bit much.
I had covid a few months ago and all I felt was a bad cold for 3 days
90,000 deceased USA citizens wish they could say the same thing.
Care to explain what proportion 90,000 is out of a population of 330 million plus?
All 330 million+ haven’t been exposed yet. Only confirmed 1.6mil+ so far.
Divide the 90k+ from 1.6mil+
Nearly 100,000 deaths and it’s “rare”
Your lack of compassion is what’s “a bit much”
I wish people could be less extreme.
100,000 of 331 million is .0003 you moron lmao ya it is rare especially when you consider every cause of death seems to have taken a vacation in 2020 lol
100,000 of 1,600,000 cases. Learn to math.
Learn to understand and practice grammar
No WAK your the moron. Would actually call you much worse but it would be reported. Of those 100k if 5 we’re your family i’m sure you’d still be saying the saying the disrespectful and ignorant things huh? Of course it’s probably safe to assume your family would love to disassociate from you any way they could.
“Exceptional” U. S. A. idiots are what’s a “bit much.” Your ignorance could fill a lifetime’s worth of medical and sociology journals.
Just be like the NHL and invite 24 teams to the playoffs and be done with it.
Which 24? How are you going to decide that without having some sort of season. The NHL are inviting the 24 teams according to the amount of points for 19/20 season.
The 24 who are not i last place in their division in baseball-reference.com’s daily simulations.
Seriously, get this done and start playing. The longer this goes in the worse it looks for both sides.
No pitcher is going to be willing to ramp up their arm and get ready to play what could possibly be a 4 game season. All that work to get ready, one start and you are done? Good luck finding pitchers ok with that
can we stop with the “get this done already” comments? dont you guys understand that this isnt as simple as just flicking a switch? they will get the season started when they do, but complaining wolnt do anything about it. also, next time i see “PLAY BALL” my brain will literally melt down.
Play ball!
Billions at risk, closed door meetings, with arbitrators and high priced lawyers between two parties that have been fighting for decades. There is nothing simple about this.
I don’t think ownership can say “trust us” because of their track record.
LOL
You mean their checks to the players aren’t clearing the bank?
No Samuel I mean the 220 million fine for colluding against free agents. That is not their only violation. Do some research. LOL
LOL
Like the players and their agents don’t “collude” with other players and other agents during contract negotiations.
Grow up, son.
Except that the owners were found guilty of collusion and the players weren’t. Whoops!
Part of growing up is accepting that you don’t get to make up facts to support your argument, son.
Samuel are you that naive? Ownership got together and price fixed what a F.A. could get. How do the players force owners to pay them what they want? Negotiation is not colluding. Owners agreed to honor a CBA as long as the players didn’t strike. Then the owners broke their promise (stopped paying into the pension fund) and the players struck. Do some research.
I saw a tweet earlier today about how instead of a 50/50 split, the players would instead get their pro-rated salaries, just spread out over a few years to soften the blow for the owners. I see baseball starting by early July now, these updates have given me hope.
That’s basically deferred money, which owners and players usually try to avoid. Seems to me owners are just using this as a negotiating tool to position themselves for cba negotiations. Play on pro rated contracts (void guarantees) Were gonna pay u based on 50/50 split of revenues that we choose to disclose (salary cap), were gonna pay u but were gonna stretch pay out over years (deferred contracts)
Lol, I meant to say deferred, but blanked on the word…
yeah, “usually.” has anything about this year been in any way “normal?”
Totally agree whatever the pro rated percentage of games the season come to would be the % of their salary. Then spread that over the next twenty four months, 50% now and 50% deferred. Its the MLPBA (Union) that is the pain in the back side.
Yea. That whole leap of faith by players for owners would be my hard no. Owners have already gotten over on stadium employees, umps, and players and they dont want to open financial records, and now want players to take another hit with blind faith. Hell no
If they can’t this figured out they will lose 100% of revenue and salary. If that happens some of the smaller clubs may go into a rebuild and sign only bare minimum contracts and play the kids, which could reduce future opportunities or destinations for free agents as owners may tighten their check books even further.
As for 2021 free agents, they need to be realistic. If there are millions or billions lost in revenue, then it’s only natural there will be less money to spend. If agents and/or players don’t understand that, then they have no idea how business works.
BestNo 5 – Im praying the fans are realistic-
I cant endure another “owners colluding” pity party again next off-season
Don’t play in 2020…. it’s a stupid farce!
I don’t think a season happens, the players and owners just want to publicly negotiate to make themselves look good and try to one up the other side. They know logistically that a season can’t be salvaged.
Owners don’t want to give up the TV money, players don’t want to give up their salaries, they will just publicly string this out until they have no choice but to cancel.
if they knew it wad futile them why would they battle? no one “looks good” because of this. if anything this will repel fans.
I am only worried about the “logistically”part of your post-
They will reconcile to play but the longer the bickering the harder the logistics will be to iron out on time-
This is not posture though, its just a bunch of greedy people in a room who lack leadership and vision to help them see the whole picture- Everyone knows a strike/layoff is a death wish here. As a fan, thats really your last hope and prayer right now to see some product on the field
Baseball is over.
definitely. especially with the mlbpa and the mlb agreeing on june spring training 2.0 and july opening day. the only disagreement is payment. if they get that figured out, baseball’s comin back soon
If this isn’t settled, baseball will cease to be a major sport, the backlash will make 1994 look like a picnic.
which is why I strongly believe they will work the financial arrangements out.
The 1994 strike isn’t fresh enough in the minds of players (who may not have even been born yet) or owners. Players should play at pro-rated salaries. Seems pretty straightforward.
Owners need to eat the losses (if they occur) because negotiations for 2021 are not going to be smooth and owners benefited enormously from the last agreement. Owners are going to lose money regardless of what happens and their product has already shown major weaknesses in marketability. Losing all of 2020 won’t help bring more fans to the stands in 2021. The long term profitability and value of their franchises is on the line and they’re fighting over the equivalence of peanuts.
The ’94 strike isn’t fresh enough in the minds of the fans, either. I’ve seen quite a few argue here that if ownership gets tired of negotiating with the MLBPA that they should just go out and hire 750 scabs. Because that worked out so well before.
Going on 65 years watching and this is it for me.
I’ve always backed the owners in these financial disputes, because they are the only ones representing the fans. Ridiculous statements by Scott Boras and other agents – which like American politics are repeated by the media that has no life experience in much of anything – to the affect of “salaries have no impact on ticket prices”….uh-huh. My 7th grade Business class in pricing products stated that the process is to add up costs – including Expenses (which is what player salaries are) – factor in a profit, and therefore price your product. Now “profit” is selfish – unless one is investing in stocks, homes, collectibles, etc. So with no fans in the stands we suddenly find that salaries are an issue. Golly, it seemed that anyone with an IQ over 70 could have seen that coming.
–
I’m tired of the: “they only offered my client $100m which just goes to show they don’t respect him”. Combined with at least half the markets in MLB not able to afford to keep more then one or two of their star players (if that) once free agency approaches. A product so poor that fans around the country are asked to choose to root for the Yankees or Red Sox as a back-up team because their teams might only be legit contenders 3 years out of every 10…if that.
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To all this factor in the shifts so players are only held responsible to catch a ball hit straight to them; no strategy; working counts; bandbox ballparks and juiced baseballs (even Yankee RH hitters have altered their stances to hit routine fly balls to RF which become HR’s) resulting in HR, K, or W……mixed in with more then 40% of pitches resulting in the fan sitting around watching endless foul balls. Every game being managed like the 7th game of the WS, with almost all position players off the bench used and at least 6 pitchers used most games. Who can sit around and watch a game that should take 2 or 2-1/2 hours turn into a 3 or 4 hour boring waste of time more then once a week? Rosters being changed at least 3 times a week, so that if a fan doesn’t follow their team for a few weeks, they’re not sure who their guys on the field are. So the entire sport is basically unwatchable unless being done by looking at the highlights on cable TV or ones phone. Not the best way to build and keep a fan base. Add in the ever accelerating greed of the players and their agents – and fans hoping to find a $35-45k a year job in the next 4 months because they lost theirs are waking up to the fact that MLB is too expensive for them. One has to be making a guaranteed government employees salary to afford to go to a game….and sometimes the agency even gets free tickets.
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Put it off, but Tuesday I’m calling MLB.TV to cancel my subscription. Enough is enough.
Goodbye. People like you complain about game times but also complain about things like the 3 batter minimum. If you can’t follow your teams prospects and roster moves you probably shouldn’t be watching. Sorry this isn’t the 1970s anymore.
you’ve probably forgotten more baseball than I have ever known, and I respect your longtime experience as a fan. however, if you’re insinuating rising players’ salaries are causing the game experience to be more expensive, I disagree with that. owners charge $14 for a beer because they can (attendees at events will still buy despite the price), not because they have to (it’s the only way they can keep the lights on after paying the starting pitcher $34M this year). the economics of running a baseball team are too complicated to boil it down the way you’re describing. a baseball team has many income sources – TV, ticket sales, concessions, parking, merchandise, revenue split from other MLB teams. I think reasonable minds can disagree as to who is more deserving of their money, owners or players, but I believe this to be certain: almost everyone involved is in it to make the most money possible, so if you believe capitalism works, then players and owners get paid the appropriate amounts (or close to it). whether a baseball player deserves to make $100M vs a schoolteacher making $50k is moot because the market supports those salaries. in the same way, if baseball players believe they are deserving of more money, they have the right to negotiate, which is what’s going on right now. negotiation is important to capitalism, so I don’t think we Americans can complain about people exercising their right to negotiations, even if it means the game we love is kept from us.
the rest of your complaints about the style of game being played and the pace of the game can’t really be the fault of the players. in fact, ownership has much more influence on pace of play and strategy than players do. to put that on the players is not fair. I don’t know if you are blaming the players for these things, but if you are, I’d encourage you to reevaluate your position on that.
If owning a baseball team was so expensive and onerous then people wouldn’t do it. That tells you all you need to know about how much money the owners really make, despite their claims of being poor…
I think hes saying more or less tickets should be 20-30$ and food and parking affordable and the players/owners eat the rest while still being profitable- It is disgusting hearing 300 mill contracts as disrespectful when the backs of this game was built on players who took a 2nd job in the off season
Logistically – Probably not possible at this point sadly
Utopian World- Im with Samuel 100%
It amazes me with how much energy people spend into siding with players vs business owners and how little they ever side with the FAN-
I think Samuel was taking the side of the fan here,the forgotten soul in all these battles. I Never want to see a strike in baseball but if there had to be one the next one should be a “Fan Strike” not a players strike
Enjoyed the post Samuel, hope your back after the dust settles and we get to some sense of normalcy
See you at the crossroads!!! (Possibly only Pittsburgh fans will get that)
Why not Cleveland fans?
Boy, this kind of stinks….Tony Clark has to face the players on Tuesday and tell the union they are short another $118 because Samuel canceled his subscription. I hope Yasiel Puig isn’t around for that bit of bad news.
HA. Owners NEVER represented the fans, only their self interests.
So, how’s your tin foil hat collection coming along?
I would think that it is clear that playing without fans in the stands is less lucrative than playing with them. Whether the 40% figure advanced by MLB is exactly correct is debatable. And the inclusion of the “good faith” clause (that MLB and MLBTR would negotiate in good faith if there were no fans) in the original agreement pretty clearly indicates that this was recognized as an issue at that time. So, to me, the only question is whether the players should share in that 40% loss and, if so, by how much.
If player salaries are 54% of total revenue, and revenue will decrease by 40% without fans, that would mean that the players would be getting 90% of total revenue (54%/(100%-40%)). It is hard to imagine that being preferable to the owners to just shutting down until 2021.
Then they can shut it down and pray the 2021 negotiations go well and pray fans return (unlike what happened last time we lost a season). The owners can fight over peanuts now and risk losing their product’s viability for the next 10 years or they can take some of the enormous profits they’ve made since the last CBA and ensure their product remains viable in the future.
Has anyone seen Dark (Netflix)?
Started to watch it. SUCKED. But this is a baseball site, why would you even bring that here???
Because at least it give us a 5 second break from Covid-19
This is getting old. Players are clearly worried about more than 2020 season. And it’s not that hard to figure out how much revenue will be lost by not having fans. No fans, no gate, no concessions no merchandise etc.
Agreed – it’s getting old. Should have never been allowed to been played out in public like this.
On top of that add in MLB changing the ball, and sweeping it under the rug. The entire Astros debacle. Then this public debate that is akin to watching Republicans and Democrats bicker. Insanity at its finest…
Not having a season might actually be in some players best interests. Especially those coming up on free agency. Since in March it was agreed that they would get the year of service time no matter if a game was played or not a guy like Mookie Betts or Trever Bauer if they got serious injuries that could potentially end their careers theyd be better off sitting out the season. Same for any pitcher coming up on free agency in 2021 or 2022. One year less of stress on their arm and also one year of recouping some time on that same arm. It does a body good. It might help a lot of players to not play this year. Just collect the service time that should have been negotiated better by owners to reflect on games played or not. This is one reason I see players waiting it out and delaying playing. I’m surprised nobody has thought of this.
For me anyway, about 82 games seemed like the minimum to have at least a semi-legitimate regular season. Anything less seems like little more than an exhibition. I personally don’t care to see a 60 game season followed by an expanded playoff. So if they can’t get their act together for an early July start, then why even bother with 2020? Really though, I can’t believe that the owners and players have had all this time knowing that there would be no fans in attendance this year and now we are starting to hear that there ‘isn’t enough time’ to complete negotiations to start the season in early July. Really? In that case, I don’t want to hear about no revenue from the owners, nor do I want to hear complaints about what will assuredly be a couple of very lean free agent years from the players if they can’t get this off the ground by July.
After being in lockdown for two months, the country needs some semblance of normal. 36 million are out of work, while MLB players, who are not working, are still getting paid part of their salary. Maybe if they all had to file for unemployment insurance, they would think twice about not agreeing to a deal,
When I go to a game it’s to see the players. I could care less who owns the team. Yet the owners are making billions and the players millions. It’s all too much money but you see my point.
Poppop—this isn’t about unemployment. At this point ball players stand to make about 4% of their contracted salaries. Many on unemployment are making up to what they make going to work.
This issue here is that when baseball resumes players are going to have jobs. A portion of the 36 million you mention won’t.
4%? Lmao. Where’s that number coming from?
Getright….its a fact….the $170M is about 4% of their annual pay….that bit of news has been published for about 2 months.
Reading this again it seems like no one really cares about the regular season – MLB or the players. They just want the cash-cow playoffs. Well, if their plan is ultimately is 2-ish months of baseball (August and September) followed by a bloated, behemoth postseason, then then can count me out. I am just speaking for myself of course, but I have no interest in that arrangement whatsoever.
Totally agree with you.
3.5 months, not 2 months. They’re talking about a July, August, September, and half of October regular season.
It sounds like July is in jeopardy thus, starting in August just seems too little too late.
I wish these guys would spend more time trying to hammer out a settlement and less trying to play the fans and the press. I’d like to see baseball, and there’s obviously a deal to be made, The owners aren’t reopening without more concessions, and the players aren’t going to agree to play half a season and a playoff for a quarter of their pay. The owners are already way ahead because of the draft deal. That’s a huge amount of low cost talent coming up through the pipeline and will depress salaries for years.
Popcorn, peanuts and crackerjacks. Oh and of course it wouldn’t be baseball without management/labor issues about money.
Money is, was and will be the hang up. Players know ANY give on salary will be used against them in the negotiations for the new CBA after 2021. This season is threatened and so is 2022. Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Why today’s game stinks: players concern themselves with things that make themselves more money. Playing for the statistics and building your brand, It’s all about the individual. Every player wears a jersey with a team name but that just doesn’t matter anymore. As long as they make loads and loads of money.
Why this country stinks even more than baseball: people scream about freedom and yet can’t follow basic rules that will help keep other people alive. We all salute the same flag but we don’t give a flying fig about anyone else. Don’t take my freedom away! So we lead the world in deaths by a huge margin. As long as we can all go to the beach and do whatever we want when we get there, it’s OK.
Happy Memorial Day. Maybe the people of this country will finally take their heads out of their butts and realize how freaking screwed we are right now until we see how it is each individual’s duty to do the things that keep us all alive. Wake up America!
I will limit my comment to baseball. With each passing year baseball and all related parties are only concerned with money. They will hash out a deal and tell us how they “ love the fans- and love the game.” How it wasn’t about money??? My only retaliation has been to NEVER buy a jersey, hat or anything relating to a Mlb licensing venue. I have no interest in paying exorbitant prices for a game ticket and all the extremely inflated accoutrements that go along with the expensive experience. It seems fantasy baseball- where I can own and drop players that are at my disposal is the last straw in a erosion of our national pastime. Lastly, it’s only fitting that Manfred ( who doesn’t get it) turns a out of control business into a dog and pony show.
I’ll limit mine to address freedom. You have an odd way of describing freedom. To you, it means people are free do to anything… so long as they share your exact opinion and do exactly what you want them to do it seems. Freedom isn’t following “basic rules” and “duty to do the things” as you put it. That’s the exact opposite of freedom.
Obviously, every functional society needs to limit freedom to an extent with laws and rules. Trying to find the acceptable medium in our current situation and backing up rules and laws with compelling evidence is important. People follow rules and laws they believe in. They don’t respond as well to brow beating or insults.
You know, it’s almost like the economy of baseball has serious structural problems that the pandemic has brought to the fore…kinda like a certain country with massive income inequality, lack of equitable access to health care, declining infrastructure…
The American pastime and America are mirror images of each other in many ways.
The world took a beating from the virus. The return of the MLB would be inspiring for a large portion of the United States population who are looking for a return to normalcy and something to cheer for. This season is bigger than player/owner negotiations. If the players and owners can’t see the larger context and importance of returning this year then our national pastime looses significance in my opinion.
Things as we knew them will not return to the old ways of pre Feb. 2020. Businesses, employees, sports, etc. will all be in different formats that will affect their profits, benefits, etc.
I love baseball and would like to see it return but I think baseball should be the last thing on people’s minds. What I’m amazed is that the U.S. has spent so much time building this free market and it surprisingly held together (even though there are issues like income inequality, living wages etc.). They have fought anyone questioning these systems as “socialists” or “communists”. Now a virus comes and decimates it like nothing we have seen before. The virus accomplished what so many terrorists wanted to inflict on this country and it only took 2 months. But yeah…let’s go back to sports and movies. That is what’s most important to everyone right now. This is all routine… do you remember the last time the whole world had to quarantine?
One major issue everyone has overlooked. Most all of these owners have major companies that make millions, hundreds of millions. Since the shut down how has their companies doing financially? There probably just hanging on. Many major companies are going into BK. I see 2021, 2022 FA market spending way down until the owners companies can come back. It may even be two to three years before they come back to breakeven. Being smart business owners they’ll start cutting expenses and that includes Players Salaries, etc. I have friends who are being laid off permanently. Unemployment will remain high for several years that means less spending on professional sports by thoursands of fans, thus sports owners will suffer financially from the fan side as well.
You sound like a bar manager who would cancel happy hour because it reduces profit. Your thought process on this is too linear.
If the two sides can’t salvage the regular season, they might still be able to salvage the playoffs — and the TV money they generate — by holding a 32-team tournament using 3-game series in the opening round, 5-game series in the second round, and 7-game series in the later rounds. A consolation bracket could produce TV revenue in local markets for teams knocked out of the championship bracket. The NHL is already thinking along the lines of an expanded Stanley Cup tournament.
Since there are only 30 MLB teams, two wild-card teams could be added by stocking one with non-rostered prospects like Wander Franco and MacKenzie Gore, and stocking the other with college players taken in the MLB draft. It would be fun to watch these young guys compete against, say, the Baltimore Orioles.
The tournament could start in September and conclude in October. TV time slotting would need to be worked out with the NFL and the networks, assuming the NFL has a season at all (e.g., “No diving on fumbles!”). I think we’ll see baseball a lot sooner than football, hockey, or hoops. That would be good for baseball and for national morale.
Take your stinky paws off my Gore, you dirty ape! Using team’s contracted MiLB talent won’t happen but I can appreciate your ideas.
Okay, then Vanderbilt, Oregon State, Louisville, and TCU have a 4-team play-in to decide teams #31 and #32. There are other ways to fill out the field.
You and your right-wing hare-brained website: blather by and for morons.
Without fans, there is no ticket, food, or parking revenue. Without a season, there is no TV revenue. It’s the TV rev that has grown the most in the last few years.
At every business when revenue drops the board looks to cut costs by severing ties with the highest earners. I don’t think MLB is that much different.
After 2020, teams are going to gut high salaries & that is going to flood the offseason with good talent. The FA avg is sure to fall steeply. There is no way to prevent that.
My team spent big in the off-season believing the talent coming back from TJ surgery in the 2nd half would produce the best rotation in the division. Now it’s looking at 8 legit starters competing for 5 spots. The rotation could be lethal from the get go.
What’s more is that guys like Rodon & Giolito who are not signed long term will likely
be bargains. So they get a steep discount for this year & savings for future years.
With one of the best prospect pools in MLB, they are well positioned to own the ALC
for years.
I want to attend these games. Let me gain my immunity.
In lieu of a vaccine, let me join a control group for a vaccine.
The “fear” that some political groups want to last forever, is losing it’s teeth.
Everyone knows now that influenza in 2017-2018 over 6 mo’s killed more persons under 55 than COVID-19. That flu killed more kids, teens, & young adults than COVID-19 will this year. The economy was booming as politicians were mostly unconcerned. Simply because we have a flu vaccine the deaths are considered tolerable. Some medical scientists belong to these fear mongering political groups. They enabled these groups to bring about a new millenium Great Depression to mostly save lives that were at high risk of dying in the next few flu seasons. This GD will ruin the lives of millions. The jig is up.
Bogus. Twitter found that roughly half of the tweets posted on the coronavirus came from bots. I wonder how many here?
Keep in mind that even if the players agreed to return for free, there still wouldn’t be any baseball. All MLB is doing now is contingent upon being allowed to stage games in July, albeit without fans. The owners have yet to make a presentation to the players yet on the economic issues which they will do Tuesday morning. Even if they can agree on everything, an upsurge in the virus could upend any plans. Seems silly at this point to take sides in an argument that hasn’t even started yet. Wait to see what the actual proposal from the owners is and the players reaction to it
Funny stuff, guys. The comments are always just as interesting as the articles. As I posted awhile back, an owner told me there was a zero percent chance of a season happening without fans in attendance. There simply is no way to make the finances work. Unfortunately for the players, it doesn’t sound like the fans will be allowed to come back anytime soon. So many are scared of this virus…they will likely mask up and avoid going to ballparks anyway. When are people going to wake up and get past the fear? Look, viruses are bad, and bad things happen to good people every day. The more fear you have inside you, the more likely you are to have bad experiences with this sort of thing. The virus isn’t going away, just the courage of the people. Yes, people die. Every day. My gosh…wake up people. Until fans are allowed to attend, there is no hope for the MLB system. I hope I’m wrong. The players have a ton of incentive to play, and the owners have very little. I doubt they will realize this.
For those who think this is just about Money (and I am not denying that is a central pillar of what is at stake) I would suggest you go back and look at the labor history between the these two groups. To a large degree one of the chief and more nebulous issues is the perceived lack of respect the owners have shown the players for over a century. While this is an abstract condition it plays out in almost every negotiation to this day between the parties. When the player representatives feel like they are being respected they have shown a willingness to compromise. But when they feel like they are being nickled and dimed tey become down right ornery.
The owners are clearly protecting their interests as they have always done but often lose perspective about where their money comes from. Both players and owners l=often lose perspective about how they are perceived as they negotiate with each other. ANd their will come a point that the general public will forsake them both- though we are not close to that yet. That being said, the reaction of Montreal after the 1994 strike says a lot about how vulnerable both the owners and players can be when they are not delivering the promised product..
After 62 years of watching baseball, I’m about done. Quibbling about money is the last thing this country needs. Millions of people have lost jobs & businesses, & they don’t want to hear this. They want to see America’s favorite pastime. Keep the susceptible players/coaches on the side line for now. I’m 67 & a prime target for the virus & on a limited income. I’ll stay at home, but this country needs to get back on track.. Screw the money.