Deputy commissioner Dan Halem and MLBPA lead negotiator Bruce Meyer are expected to meet today at an “informal” one-on-one sitdown in New York, tweets Evan Drellich of The Athletic. It’ll be the first time since Commissioner Rob Manfred announced the cancellation of Opening Day earlier this week that representatives from the two parties have met in person.
What’s on the agenda isn’t clear, though it’s at least mildly encouraging to see two key representatives meet just days after the “deadline” set by MLB passed. After the last deadline (the expiration of the prior collective bargaining agreement), six weeks transpired before the league put forth a counterproposal to the union. At present, it’s the league that made its most recent offer, which the union unanimously agreed to reject.
Of note, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post tweets that, moving forward, the two parties hope to reduce some of the very public back-and-forth nature of prior talks and keep negotiations closer to the vest. Both the recent week-plus of negotiations in Jupiter, Fla. and the 2020 return-to-play negotiations were public spectacles, to varying extents.
As things stand, the league has only canceled a week’s worth of games, though it seems quite possible (if not likely) that additional cancellations will follow. MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes recently ran down where both parties sit on the issues at hand, for those looking for a quick reference point on the gaps that remain in need of bridging. Now, on top of those issues, the league and union will have to also discuss scheduling matters — the union has reportedly expressed a desire to reschedule canceled games; Manfred indicated Tuesday that would not happen — and the possibility of prorating pay and/or service time based on games missed.
Another great column- thanks Steve. Owners: You know that the season could be completely cancelled and that the country would hardly care or even notice (because baseball is culturally irrelevant- and that’s why, for example, the recent cancellation of games was hardly a blip on the radar) and you also know that you could easily find much better ROI’s than MLB. MLB players are already extremely well paid, treated great in general, ungrateful, greedy, and selfish in exchange for playing a game with a stick and a ball and mittens 7-8 months per year and you know it. Lifetime benefits after 6 weeks on a MLB roster, many of them receive signing bonuses (frequently major bonuses) before ever playing their first professional game, entry level salary is in the top 1% of incomes, average salary (more than $4 million!) is in the top 1/10th of 1% of incomes, playoff bonuses, awards bonuses, free tickets for friends/family/etc., daily food allowance, luxury hotels, luxury travel accommodations, etc. Enough is enough- stop being weak and stop allowing MLBPA to make you look like chump pushovers. Hold the line! Stop giving in! BREAK THE MLBPA UNION!
No one pays attention to posts this long.
reads like pasta
I was surprised at how little it appears the Braves owners profited after winning the World Series and having all that revenue. It looked like the Braves had $578 million in revenue but ended up spending $558 million of that on everything they need to run the team. It looked like the owners only profited by a cumulative $20 million. That’s a really low return. Less than 4% of the revenue ended up going into the owners pockets. Actually, less than 3.6%. I’m not sure if I read that right because I’m not in finances but I’m surprised people focus so much on total revenue and not on what the owners actually make in profit. It costs a lot more than the player payroll to run a team every year. If I was reading that right, for every $2.89 in revenue the owner only got to keep 10 ¢ents. So the owners of the team made less than half of what Max Scherzer or Trevor Bauer will make next season. $20 million seems like a really low profit for the owners. Especially when you consider they had to finish top 2 in attendance and win the World Series to even make that much. There are a ton of safer investments where you can make way more money that that every year while investing a whole lot less. Does anyone know if that’s what that $20 million figure represented in the Braves financials. It looked to it represented the cash left over after the team spent the other $558 million in other areas. I can’t really think of anything else that $20 million would have represented if it wasn’t the part that was the pure profit the owners didn’t end up spending. I wonder what kind of profit left over after expenditures an average team made if the champions only had $20 million left over. It looked like if the Braves had added just one more $22 million player to their payroll last season, the owners could have actually lost millions despite finishing with great attendance and winning the world series.
That’s interesting. I’m not a finance guy either. Anyone out there that can help? if what you’re saying is true, you’re right, that’s nothing.
the numbers you are using are completely wrong. The Braves brought in at least $104 million in profit after expenses last year.
skip another
skip
I was going to say the same thing. Bad teams profit way more than this-especially from TV deals.
@Hammer, You’re missing a couple crucial aspects.
1. A number of franchise owners, Braves included, have media outlets that they partially or wholly own. This makes it easy to sell broadcast rights for cheap, so the media outlet has a huge profit and the team’s profit is low. Any side businesses, however, are not included in baseball revenue.
2. Think of owning a team like owning a dividend stock. The stock doesn’t necessarily have to pay a dividend every year to be a terrific investment. With the way team values are going up, owners have made gobs of money, even if their operating income was close to break-even (which I highly doubt once you include baseball-related media outlet income, save in 2020).
Hyrax: Those are great points. Hammer frequently writes the same narrative, discounting facts about the teams’ profitability in favor of his perspective. It’s no use trying to get him to see any perspective lending to the possibility that owners actually make a huge profits on their teams.
The Braves have not owned their own TV outlet since the heyday of the SuperStation.
@acell10 and anyone else: The $104 million figure was “before debt and amortization.” The Braves had $84 million worth of debt and amortization tied to the operating costs of the 2022 team alone. That left them with $20 million. You surely can’t be counting money the owners had to use to pay off debt just to run the team as profit, are you? That’s not money the owners got to take home. That’s money they had to pay other people who were involved with aspects of the team. After they paid that $84 million it left the owners with only $20 million. Did you not read about this? You can’t count money used to pay off team debt as profit that goes in the owners pocket.
Hyrax and Yankee Clipper: The Braves are not one of those teams that own their own television network. Also, the value of the team going up is irrelevant. They have to sell the team to get that money. The idea that owners should be okay with losing money each year just because they can make more when they sell the team is ridiculous. No other business runs like that. No one is okay losing money on their business every year just to make some down the line. When they sell it. Teams are supposed to be profitable every year. That’s what they are there for.
Hammer: WRONG. Not before debt. Again, that’s misinformation. It’s before depreciation and amortization.
blogs.fangraphs.com/the-braves-made-some-money-in-…
You assign the term “debt” as if it’s a normal expense that the players should take into consideration. No, that’s wholly incorrect and a very one-sided perspective.
They made $193M in OPERATING expenses alone the last four years. That’s not total profit, mind you, that’s just operating (ballpark, mainly) expenses.
Hamer, this is all fascinating, but you also can’t count it twice. If that debt was already written as a prior expense, it cant be counted twice here. Only the interest can be.
Without context, we don’t know anything. I think that’s the entire point.
Creative accounting if anything. As a publicly traded entity, pressure would build for the team to be sold if the profits weren’t there.
Regardless of what the potential asst value of the team is, spending $558 million just to make $20 million in pure profit (after debt and amortization) is a terrible investment. The fact that the Braves had to have great attendance and win the World Series just to do that makes it look like a lot of teams do way worse. I don’t know how well the other teams do because they don’t open their books. I find it hard to believe terrible teams with low attendance do much better than the world champs who has great attendance. Every other business I know is expected to be very profitable (after debt and amortization) every year and the owners get a whole heck of a lot more than 4% of the revenue in pure profit.
Halo11: It’s not counted twice. I’m getting all this information from right here on MLBTR. Go back a few days to the article about Braves revenue. They wrote “$104 million before debt and amortization.” Then they wrote “$20 million after debt and amortization.” That number was only counted once and MLBTR actually came up with the $20 million figure themselves. I didn’t deduce it. Those are the real numbers. It’s right here on this site. You don’t have to look at spottrac or anywhere else. MLBTR has the numbers and posted them less than a week ago.
I’m not talking about the players, Yankee? When did I once bring up the players? I was just pointing out, that according to MLBTR, the world champions who had great attendance only pocketed $20 million in pure profit out of the $578 million in revenue. This isn’t a referendum on the players or anything. I was just pointing out that for the owners, there are ways to make a lot more money than that for the kind of money they are spending.
@Yankee Clipper: I am reading the MLBTR article right now. It says “before DEBT and amortization.” It doesn’t say “depreciation.” It says DEBT. You don’t know what your talking about.
I’m just saying things are complicated. I’m not an accountant but I did stay at a Holiday Inn express last night.
Look, Hammer, you’re referring to operating profit for ‘22, not total profit. That’s with Covid shutting down their attendance, this profit derived therefrom, in the first part of the season. You’re math is way off. They are not nearly at the slim profit margin to which you’re writing. You’re misinterpreting these numbers because it’s confirming your bias. Step back, look at the numbers with an objective mind, and reassess. You’re doing yourself an injustice by repeatedly citing incorrect numbers over and over again while arguing the owners of the Braves are making $20M profit after debt, which is factually untrue by every single article written.
I added the Fangraphs link which clears up the definitions and language a bit, but you ignored it. Whatever, dude. You can post what you want and embarrass yourself if you choose, but I let you know….
Yankee Clipper. Obviously I’m an Angel fan and I know the Angels.
Gen Autry had to sell the team because he didn’t have the resources to run the team. Disney won a world Series, couldn’t justify the losses on the books and was forced to see the team for a substantial loss,
Moreno says he loses a little money every year and I believe him.
I don’t know how many owners are raking in the cash, but I don’t think there are a lot.
@Yankee Clipper: What you said was, “WRONG. Not before debt. That’s misinformation. It’s before depreciation and amortization.”
I’m still sitting here reading. Right here on MLBTR. It says DEBT. It doesn’t say “before depreciation and amortization.” It says “before DEBT and amortization.” You are sitting here accusing me of switching words around and spreading “misinformation” when it’s you that is doing that. Since when is “depreciation” spelled D-E-B-T? You were the one that was wrong. Not me.
Those of us who actually invest in the stock market, which apparently you don’t or if you did you lost your shirt a long time ago, invest in a dividend stock, as opposed to a growth stock, precisely because the dividend is reliable and paid every quarter, not every year. Nobody, or nobody with any sense, invests in a dividend stock that “necessarily” doesn’t pay a divided every year. That is not a “terrific investment.”
I believe there were time before where they weren’t. I think there were times prior when they had legitimate gripes about players’ salaries going to high too. I e never disputed that, ever, until now. I’ve followed the trends in MLB, particularly the Yankees, of course. But, with revenue sharing, teams are profiting more than what many, like Hammer are perpetuating rumors about.
I don’t particularly care of it turned out they made $1M per year and proved it…but I can’t stand constant misinformation just to prove a point. The $20M profit was from the Braves operation expenses – their Battery. That’s not their total profit, which was $104M. Hammer is taking their total profit and then saying they had to pay bills which led the with their operating profit. It’s terribly inaccurate. And, there are multiple articles addressing and explaining this, one of which I posted.
Nonetheless, I researched team profits through the only available means (Bleacher Report & Statistica) and the only available information lines up with owners’ profits significantly increasing proportionally to revenue, which supports what the Braves / Blue Jays are also reporting. Ot also explains why they won’t open their books to support their own claims of a low profit margin.
To extrapolate one’s own formulas and suggest one’s own conclusions with no supporting information or evidence (outside of “unrelated business ‘X’ does this”), but inserting loads of conjecture (like he and others seem to continue to do) is an asinine endeavor.
@Yankee Clipper: I did read the link you posted. It wasn’t the article I was referring to, though. In your article they used they term “depreciation” but never said that what they meant was completely different from debt. In the MLBTR article they use the term “debt” and the number definitely includes debt. What I took exception to was you asserting I was spreading misinformation by using the term “debt” when I got that term from this very website. All you have to do is look up the MLBTR article from 6 days ago titled “Liberty Media Reports Substantial REVENUE Increase For Braves.” Based on the title of that article you would think the Braves owners walked home with gobs of money. Then you find out that after “debt and amortization” they walked home with $20 million of that “substantial” $578 million revenue. Yes, some of that “debt” comes from the Braves paying for their stadium. They don’t have a sweetheart deal like the Marlins where the city paid for everything. The Braves had to invest and are still investing hundreds of millions of dollars into their own stadium. That is debt and should absolutely be counted as debt. Paying for the place you play in is definitely part of operating costs and is absolutely considered debt. The way you are talking about it, anything the Braves owners spend on the Braves stadium should be counted as profit going into the owners pocket and not debt. Of course the stadium payments are debt and of course there are other forms of debt. It’s not a house that gains appreciation because people can live there. Almost all stadiums get torn down in around 25 years and they always lose value. The Braves stadium payments are debt and that is not money the owners are putting in their pocket. The Braves team created $104 million in profit in a vacuum. That’s assuming the team could just play anywhere for free and tens of thousands of fans would pay handsomely to show up every night with no real stadium. $84 million of the $104 million had to go towards various forms of debt including the stadium payments. Sure, maybe some of it goes to paying off debts from the COVID season but that’s still debt. You can’t just pretend that when the owners pay off debts from previous years or when they pay millions and millions towards their stadium that they are just putting that money in their pocket. If someone uses the money to pay off their personal credit card bill, that would be profit. If someone uses the money to pay for the stadium the team plays in or pay of debt accumulated by the team during a low period like COVID, that is paying off team related debt. That is not profit. The money that has to go towards things like that did not end up in the owners pockets. To imply otherwise is misleading.
Yankee, things definitely change, I’m hearing the same stuff today that I was hearing 50 years ago.
I’m sure some eras it was true and some eras it wasn’t.
I’m blown away that the Cubs are cutting expenses. Either they are complete crooks, or they are not making that much money.
I honestly have no idea.
So for stuff like this I keep it simple. Good young players need to get paid more and the Luxury Cap should be a speed bump not a barrier. I say that because it’s fair regardless of how much money owners are making or not making.
Hammer: I gave you the link but you refuse to use it. I never debated with you what MLBTR wrote. I said your interpretation of it is wrong. Stop rereading the words and thinking the same thing, bro. I know you’re committed to your view and I respect your commitment, but you’re missing a key piece of information in the MLBTR article and the other articles addressing the issue. It’s $104M profit, not $20M. Look, I’ll give you the quote:
“The Braves enjoyed a banner year in 2021. Per their filing, they turned a profit of $104 million. That’s full-year OIBDA, or operating income before depreciation and amortization.”
“Operating income refers to the money that the team has left over after it takes in all its revenue and pays all of its costs.”
So, according to Fangraphs, they had $104M leftover after they paid all their costs, brother. The $20M was from their Battery stuff (ballpark/mix-use area).
That is what you’re misinterpreting, my friend. The MLBTR article was worded a bit strangely, but the other online articles confirm Fangraphs. Truce?
BTW. I’ll do you a favor. I will throw the word depreciation in there, too. Depreciation is part of it but DEBT is definitely part of it in addition to depreciation. After paying of the “DEBT, depreciation and amortization” the owners of the Atlanta Braves combined only took home $20 million of profit to their families. At least out of the money that is created by the Atlanta Braves. Any other profit the owners took home came from a different endeavour because Liberty Media owns a bunch of things including F1 Racing. So they probably made more money overall but I’m not about to consider F1 Racing profits or anything else when it comes to evaluating how profitable an MLB team is. $20 million. Combined. That’s a fact. To act as if the owners walked away with $104 million take home last season is untrue. To act as if the Braves owners even combined to walk away with $21 million last season is untrue. It was $20 million combined that those owners got to take home to their families after spending $558 million towards winning the world series. That’s after last season where they made it to the NLCS and actually lost money. Paying off previous years debts and paying for the stadium for your team to play in is not profit. It’s not even depreciation. It’s debt.
And, I will apologize for the misinformation comment. But, it literally says “After ALL costs”, so it’s quite a leap to start citing $84M hasn’t been included in “all costs.” Nonetheless, I don’t know your intent, you’re right, so I extend the olive branch.
So the total team profit for owners was the equivalent of a trout on Scherzer sandwich with a side of Kershaw..
I was listening to mlb radio and a writer from Forbes was on there. Apparently most of these teams make their money off outside ventures tied into their baseball operations. For instance, the Rickets own 90 percent of Wrigleyville and are opening a casino. Without the Chicago cubs these ventures wouldn’t be nearly as profitable. It did cost them an ungodly amount of money. Baseball also highest split of salaries to revenue of any major sport but it includes minor leagues. At its height it was as high as 57 percent. It was certainly an interesting interview.
SCarton: No. As far as the owners personal bank accounts and their families are concerned, they all worked to win the world series so they could all end up splitting less than half of a Scherzer sandwich. Scherzer takes home $43.3 million before taxes. All the World Champion Braves owners combined to take home $20 million before taxes. Less than half a Scherzer sandwich. They can’t afford the full sandwich or even a side of just Kershaw. Much less Trout. Actually… When you look at the numbers… The world champ owners took home a Chris Davis sandwich. With no sides. And three bites were already eaten before they got it because Davis makes $23 million and they only got $20 million. So there you go, folks. Invest billions of dollars in a baseball team. Spend over half a billion every year keeping it going. If you are good enough to win a world series, your reward is a partially eaten Chris Davis sandwich. Then everyone will call you greedy and demand more from you because taking that partially eaten Chris Davis sandwich home once a year is way too much in their eyes you greedy basterd.
I haven’t looked at it but this is the article you are talking about. mlbtraderumors.com/2022/02/liberty-media-reports-s…
They should sell their team then. Why are there people lined up to own these teams and each time one sells it sets a new record for a North American sports franchise? Sell the team and buy savings bonds if the ROI isn’t there for you, but don’t stop baseball for the rest of us.
larkraxm.
Serious question. Let’s say you owned your favorite baseball team, had a few billion in assets, Liquid to the low 8 figures.
How much would you be willing to lose every year before you sell the team?
People own baseball teams because they love owning baseball teams. Not because they are profitable. The reason the teams sell for so much is the same reason Bit Coin has gone up so much in value. There is a set number of teams. Even if you save up $10B you may never be able to buy one. It’s like those super cars that are so expensive even though other cars are pretty close in performance but cost 90% less. They are exclusive. The exclusivity is the only thing that makes them a good market investment.
Hammer, you should learn from the posts about long posts,
That 20M profit figure cannot possibly be right for a team that wins the World Series. I don’t even have to do research.
No one is paying attention to any post he makes.
Although I haven’t read it, Let me sum up his post, Owners good, players evil.
How close did I come?
I bet he worships his corporate masters when he gets his 1% raise every year.
I’m very thankful to my corporate master for my 6 figure salary.
@halo
Pretty close!
Actually, he’s probably the biggest complainer about his boss at the workplace. Likely the one threatening to unionize too.
If you are making 6 figures I can only imagine how much money he/she is making off of you
I am making six figures and I honestly couldn’t care how much they make off me. Im a programmer, sometimes I do custom work. I know what they charge and I’m happy they get it.
In nurse follars: Agreed. I only read half of The voice of insanity’s rant just to see how much hogwash he was spewing this morning that I could take. I’m surprised that I made it that far.
Prospect, you know better that Voice is Johnny One-Note. Why would a supposedly non-baseball fan wastes his time on a site for baseball fans?
…because somebody has to be the voice of reason!
i do and it is spot on.
The players make the game what it is. The owners have gotten the better of the last couple agreements so it’s the players turn. After all, salaries have declined the last 4 years & if the players didn’t get the money, the owners would. I just wish they’d meet somewhere in the middle. Both sides would still be filthy rich.
The problem is the players think they can make up for all those bad agreements with one good agreement. They need to temper their expectations, make up some ground this agreement, which the last Owners’ offer does, quite a bit more than people are willing to acknowledge, and I’m sure there’s still a little more wiggle room, and then wait for the next CBA and make up some more ground.
This is perhaps the more prudent position the Union should take. Players are upset FOs are now more reliant on stats to assess player worth and they don’t like it. To some degree I agree since not only has this change led to some on-field developments that are less than appealing but this are now used by writers to water-down who gets into the Hall. On the other hand, teams are smarter in how they evaluate players since they have to navigate a world where some players are paid way beyond what they are worth (is Andrew Heaney worth $8.5 million?).
Chuckie……I agree!
If baseball doesn’t matter why are you ranting on a site for diehard fans? Its a rhetorical question no response by rant required.
Break the owners …. Fk then!! They make billions and billions
Yeah, and will continue to do so w/o baseball as that’s not where they make their money.
redsox – being rich isn’t a crime. But apparently it can cause envy in those who aren’t rich.
You’re sadly mistaken. The country DOES care. I’m even hearing about it from my wife, and she normally couldn’t care less. It’s on all the news shows. To say it was “hardly a blip” just is not accurate. Look, if you have a beef with the union, that’s fine. But back it up with facts, not conjecture. The country cares deeply about baseball, even if it has fallen in popularity as compared to the NFL, which has gambling to always hold attention, and the NBA, which markets it stars much better than MLB does. People do care. Baseball signifies the unofficial start of spring. It is still VERY culturally relevant.
Yes it’s true that both sides have it made. Not the point to me. I love baseball! I played it well into my 40’s. The owners and players “own” Major League Baseball. That’s simply a fact! They are human and selfish like most people and think primarily of themselves. I accept that, but they do not own baseball!!! Regardless of what the owners and players do I will continue to love and enjoy the game I grew up playing. I have college and American Legion baseball to watch, yes it’s not the same quality as the MLB but it’s still baseball. I’m lucky enough to have a partial season ticket plan to the Salem Red Sox and sit with the major league scouts, am waited on by polite waiters, and generally made to feel like I count. I realize that the owners could cancel part or all of the minor league season as well, but if they do I’ll watch UVA and VA tech play until the season ends. Not a perfect solution but I will make it work.
Mr. Manfred missing a few baseball games is not a tragedy!!! What’s happening in the Ukraine is a tragedy!!!!
PS watching the Red Sox as a life long Yankee fan is challenging but I love the Game of baseball!!!
Any Yankee fan watching Sox farmhands is a true baseball fan. Hats off to you sir!
“Baseball is culturally irrelevant”?? Your garbage rants are what’s irrelevant TBH.
I’m now on board with bust the MLBPA. Can’t imagine watching their internet Clown Show every 5 years, complete with media stooges and Useful Idiots.
There are many of us who, although may not agree 100% with you, agree are many valid points that, as you can see you are getting trashed for holding. Doncha just love todays keyboard warriors?
What’s funny is that people posting things calling other people ‘corporate bootlickers’ or the like, think they sound persuasive. Or perhaps they think they can bully others into silence. Either way they’re wrong.
In my experience, you could always tell the most aggressive sjw’s on the internet in class, because they were the wormiest cowards in real life. Insulting others anonymously online gives them a feeling of compensating.
Best Screenname: How about non-SJWs who respond appropriately but question the validity of your position?
Again, “breaking the union” may sound good to you and other short-sighted people on here, but nobody has responded with an answer yet to the the question: to what advantage?
MLB risks another unfair labor practices claim, which will be a death sentence in this negotiation and probably the next CBA. They also are responsible for the lockout, which is going to be a strong factor when considering whether they negotiated in good faith.
Moreover, more than one news outlet have authored articles about the long-term impacts of season-long work stoppages on baseball. All invariably have a negative impact on the owners & games itself, much more so than on the players.
Who’s your boss? Maybe we should tell him or her that you make too much money.
Baseball’s current payroll structure is a bit odd. In reality they’re all independent contractors but they’re provided with every amenity neccessary that actually independents don’t get such as food, room and board, 1st class transportation, and even daily food allowances which is almost ridiculous. Not feeling sorry for either sides complaints, I just think that both sides lose focus on who’s actually paying for their high end lifestyle…..us fans.
Alwaysgo4two: That is my position and several others too. Both have unrealistic goals, both have compromised little where it truly counts to make this season happen, and both have terrible lead representatives if one considers engendering trust & communication preferable qualities.
Rob Manfred, is that you?
I created an account just to mute this guy.
mute
If anyone ever decides to pay for drivel by the word, you’ll be a rich man indeed.
skip this post
The Voice of Reason’s tired “baseball is culturally irrelevant” take that somehow he manages to post on every article of the sport that he, ahem, doesn’t care about.
Every article. Very first post on this article. Doesn’t care about baseball. Okay.
You say that no one cares about baseball and here you are running your mouth at the owners and missed games. Double standard dude. Which makes your name tag Voice of Reason, inclusive and a laugh in your face.
More like the voice of 1955. It’s not a boys game that take is the biggest tripe. We’re not talking marbles here. Sure, Break the union! Bring back the reserve clause too while we’re at it! You do the likes of Charles Commisky proud.
So by supporting the owners so vehemently you must be on board with more 7 inning double headers, wiffle ball rules like starting extra innings with runner on 2nd, the stupid 3 batter faced rule, the even stupider 14 team playoff concept…
Would people pay money to watch you work? Doubtful. MLB players are the best at what they do and should be paid at that level. The owners won’t even open their books so we have no idea how much they are raking in.
What? You think breaking the union will magically bring prices down and players will cut their hair, shave, change color, and fit into your pre-expansion mindset.
Here this: MANFRED AND THE OWNERS DON’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOU, THE SPORT, COMPETITION, TRADITION OR THE FANS.
All they want to do is water down the sport and rake it in. Few owners are even baseball fans. A lot of the don’t want to pay minority or foreign players as much as they do. That is a subtext to why they want to break the union.
Here’s how dumb the owners are: instead of paying players more early and in their prime they continue to want to overpay players on the downside of their career, and then whine about how players are overpaid. No, they are not. Not in comparison to how much $$$ these teams make on TV deals, merch, parking, attendance, luxury boxes, licensing deals, sponsorships, etc…
So just stop with whole “baseball is a boys game” bs. All sports are. It’s a tired and old take that is just making an excuse for greedy billionare owners who care so much about the game they and their Commissioner still won’t change ridiculously archaic TV blackout rules that penalize people sevreral hours away from the ballpark from ever watching their favorite teams.
Instead of break the union half the owners should sell their team because they are “only in it for the money” and nothing else.
Nineteen dumb people upvoted another dumb person. Fascinating.
Lol. No, I think 18 of them are his alternate accounts. Welcome to the MLBTR Terry, you tiring of the YanksGoYard folks?
They have talent. They get paid accordingly.
Let’s get it done so the FA frenzy can begin!!! That’s going to be fun, lol.
I bet teams sign fewer free agents and for less money arguing inadequate time to work through arbitration and contracts for their own players. I suspect hard times ahead for a lot of mid level players, retirements and disappointment.
There’s probably going to be quite a few FA’s still out there come Opening Day, considering there’s about 200 or so still unsigned. They’ll all get jobs though, imho. I’m wondering how they’re going to figure out all the arbitration salaries in such a short period of time.
Good point, could be. Could be some spiteful ignoring of these type players. Or, they may stick it to the high priced guys, and focus more on the mid-level guys, kind of the Red Sox recent M.O., to also be spiteful and say, “You want more money to go to the younger guys, well, you got it, take your $20M AAV max offer or don’t. But eventually some owner would probably crack.
The guys looking for long term contracts are probably better off holding out past opening day until the rush subsides. Better to sit out until June than to panic into getting $20M less on your 8 year deal.
Players seeking 1 year contracts will get squeezed though, because games missed reduce their earning potential and they’ll want to sign ASAP.
Yeah ill hold my breath on this….
ukraine or mlb labor negotiations which gets solved first
Definitely MLB. That’s a no brainer. As a matter of fact, that war will probably last years. If Russia stays in Ukraine, because they’ll take and occupy the country, they’ll face an insurgency as bad or worse than we did in Iraq, probably. The entire world is condemning Putin. America more or less had the world’s support.
America doesn’t have the world’s support. Ukraine does. The worst thing you or your country can do for Ukrainians is try to make their tragedy all about America getting to claim moral high ground while getting to hurt America’s enemy.
Unfortunately, although they’re putting up a valiant fight, Ukraine doesn’t stand a chance against Putin’s forces. It’s just an awful tragedy and to place it in the context of sports is cruel and unfair to people who have relatives dying over there.
Ya, I don’t think anyone disputes the fact that the Russians will end up occupying the country.
super sad but there are armed conflicts all over africa all over the middle east all over south and central america hell a thousand people die a year from chicago gun violence. its a sad reality of life and our country and media’s reaction to this conflict is surprising considering how little we do about other armed conflicts. maybe it has something to do w the fact that the ukraine is unabashedly corrupt and has acted as a cookie jar for western globalists for decades.
This is messed up, you started a war with Ukraine and you are posting on MLBTR site during it?
you are sick dude.
Putin, is that you?
Players should make it clear
Pro rated pay = no expanded playoffs
You are absolutely right. The back pay needs to be negotiated.
Since this wasn’t in the last contract rejected by the players, I wonder if Stripling and the players will try to sneak it in. (Sarcasm)
Fine by me! I don’t care for making MLB the NBA.
Why should players get paid for games they didn’t play?
They want those games to be rescheduled.
The players have an ace up their sleeve with expanded playoffs. The players position should be that if any more games are cancelled, then no expanded playoffs this CBA. That would get a deal done right quick.
They already said if opening day is delayed there will be no expanded playoffs. I hope they keep their word.
No.. they said if they were cancelled. I am just correcting for accuracy sake. 🙂
This is not Players vs. Owners. This is skinflint Owners against good Owners.
The owner that wants to put a good product on the field wants to boost the CBT thresholds. The skinflint owners are happy to collect their revenue sharing checks, tank and tank and tank, and never put a decent team on the field. They hate baseball fans.
Agreed, though I am surprised the cheap owners are wielding this much clout. Part of it is because the new Steinbrenner says stuff like, “We should be able to win with a $200M payroll.” while the old Steinbrenner said stuff like, “I paid for a large market team, I am entitled to the large market advantages.”
This is exactly right. If Steinbrenner didn’t try so hard to be like Stu, and instead pointed out how detrimental Stu’s business model is to baseball, it would be a different story. Instead, to save money, Hal’s done nothing but give those guys a bigger voice with more influence.
You only need 1/4th of the owners to scuttle anything. Tyranny of the small markets.
I don’t know if the cheap owners wielding clout so much as they are paid handsomely to not complain about revenue disparities and further are rewarded for failure on the playing field. MLB collectively stitched together this Frankenstein monster. Now it runs the show.
But all the rules the Owners are trying to hold on to, and the Players hate, benefit the cheap teams. The Dodgers and Yankees, etc. don’t WANT to pay a tax to the cheap teams, but they aren’t fighting for the removal of the taxes or a raising of the CBT threshold, like old Steinbrenner did and would be doing now, because the new generation doesn’t mind near as much because it gives them that excuse not to spend $300M. Almost anything that would benefit the Dodgers and Yankees would also benefit and be supported by the players, but it’s also not good if you crave competitive balance.
Its not “cheap” teams, its small market teams. Their budget can’t be as large as NY, LA or BOS. Its just not an option.
So, I’m tired of this. Pick a direction please. You cannot say that teams can’t buy championships and/or money doesn’t win championships, while also crying about raising the CBT or how much teams spend. It’s was designed to mitigate spending, not prohibit it.
Pick one! Because it’s just lazy speech otherwise.
With 12 teams in the playoffs, good luck buying Championships.
You can buy playoff births, but not Championships.
Yankee Clipper, was this directed at me? I hate MLBTR’s threading of comments, tough to follow who’s replying to who. I’m a Yankee fan too. I don’t like the CBT and I don’t like the Yanks being accused of buying championships, but I do appreciate the need for it to curb runaway spending. I do think it is the main reason every stud free agent used to be assumed to be going to the Yankees and now it’s much more up in the air and a Manny Machado goes to the Padres. That is a form of competitive balance in the pursuit of free agents.
Halo, I think this is exactly Hal’s thinking, and why he’s content to only spend up to the CBT. It’s also why there needs to be significant playoff advantages for the higher seeds.
stymeedone, I think there’s some of both, but I was trying to avoid someone pointing out the A’s, for example, so I used “cheap”, in lieu of small market, to mean “teams that don’t spend”. I do believe every team could spend some greater amount, I also understand why teams think better of spending more just to still finish last.
I’m surprised that none of the big market owners are saying anything to the media.
Top Chuckie. I don’t think you can have it both ways.
There are four or five teams that can spend like crazy. If the luxury cap is to be a speed bump, then the equalizer should be the playoffs.
If the luxury threshold is more of a barrier, it should cost team’s to have an easier route through the playoffs.
Pick one.
That certainly is an interesting take. Another thought: due to more teams making the playoffs, perhaps teams will be content to not aspire beyond that .
Bobby boy, what you say is absolutely true. The players want their cake an to eat it too. It’s bad for the game.
I was listening to a pod cast yesterday where they were saying the players care about the game. That’s complete bull and this is an example of why.
Pick one. Speed bump or barrier. Your choice.
The playoff team with the tenth-best record in the ten-team playoffs won the 2021 World Series.
@Beldar J. Conehead
That team won their division though so changing the playoff format wouldn’t have kept them out.
Also, two of the bigger payrolls in baseball (Phillies and Mets) are in that division so you can’t blame it on weak markets either. It’s just that Atlanta is a better-run organization than those two teams.
And when the expanded playoffs come it will be the the team with the 25th best record.
All these people complaining about the Braves winning the 2021 World Series don’t consider that the Braves finished 10 games ahead of the Marlins in the NL East in 1997 and the Marlins still got a chance to play the Braves for the NL pennant and simply got hot at the right time. You can’t have it both ways. Give credit where it’s due. The Braves won. Get over it.
Beldar, what’s your point? I’m missing it.
My point is if a team wants to spend twice or five times as much as other teams, the equalizer should be the playoff format.
I understand that might slow down their spending. The players want nothing to slow down their spending. That’s not right.
.500 teams making the playoffs bothers me as well, but something has to give. If the CBT is not going to be the equalizer then the playoffs need to be the equalizer.
Topchuckie: I agree with you wholeheartedly. Mitigate the spending? Sure. Stop it? No.
Glad to see you’re a smart fan!!! And no, I wasn’t responding to you. I try to list the name to whom I respond because it gets confusing but sometimes I miss it. I was responding to Stymee. He’s a good dude, I presume, and a long-time commenter, we just disagree on certain issues.
Agreed, MLBTR needs a “see replies” button on each post rather than these threads that bump around other posts.
Also an up-vote / down-vote system so we get the best comments up front rather than the poster who is quickest.
If a big-spending teams wins the World Series, someone will say they bought the championship. If a big-spending team doesn’t win the World Series, someone will say it’s proof that you can’t buy a championship.
People will say anything.
It’s harder to buy a championship if you have to wade through a crowded playoff field. It’s easier to buy a championship if the big spenders are handed water wings because the Players Union said so.
There is no good answer.
You either let 500 teams in the playoffs and let big market teams spend like crazy or you make it harder for big market teams to spend like crazy.
If you just allow big market teams to spend like crazy and give them beneficial treatment in the playoffs, it’s a weaker game. Letting 500 teams in the playoffs is a weaker game.
But the Players Union wants big money teams to spend, and give them extra bonuses for winning, so how do you combat that?
Halo, I think of giving playoff advantages to the higher seeds more of an incentive to get teams not bumping up to the CBT to spend to improve their chances. A little more spending by a non-playoff team might get them into the playoffs. A little more spending by a bottom seed playoff team might improve their seed and their playoff advantages, And then the Yanks who have stopped at the CBT lately because $200M was enough to insure the playoffs, but they have gotten bumped out of the playoffs too early too many seasons in a row still have the option to blow past the CBT to give them that #1 seed and all the playoff advantages.
ETA: And I just want the regular season to have meaning, regardless of who’s spending what.
TopC. I just don’t think there is a good answer.
If you are going to let big market teams spend like crazy, then I’m pro having a larger playoff pool and less incentive for division winners.
If the penalty for going over the threshold is more severe, then I’m pro having a smaller playoff pool and more incentive for division winners.
What I’m 100% against is big market teams being able to spend like crazy and getting huge advantages in the playoffs.
The problem isn’t what the union wants. They are dealing within the insane revenue system created by MLB. The owners could pool all of the revenue of game, divide it 30 ways, and reward the teams that succeed. But if they did that, then the justification for restraining their own spending (and we know it would be higher if they didn’t) vanishes. You can tinker all day long with balance taxes and draft lotteries and it will never reach the actual problem, which is that that incentive system is upside down, by design.
It’s March, and I’m going to do what I do every March. Read Ball Four.
Life was so much less complicated then. Military wars, race wars, cheap owners, bureaucracy, political controversy and unfair media.
I’m glad so many things have changed.
Yep.
How many owners, not management teams, owners, are committed to winning? I don’t know how you’d measure that but those willing to back a short-term talent pick-up that might be an overpay in the attempt would point in the right direction for me.
5 …maybe …in any one year? If that.
And they don’t change much, do they?
The Angels do that every year, they just suck at it.
Cool, keep the children out of the room and let the adults talk.
Exactly: This may be a meeting where they can actually talk to each other like two normal people without all the posturing. Maybe get past the official offers and asks, “Look, what is is going to take to get this dropped; or this included, so we can get back to the field?”
maybe theyll give their true best and final offers for now
D’accord.
This is the type of meeting that could actually accomplish something. One thing I have learned in re navigating bureaucracies; if you are eventually going to be transferred to the top, it’s best to just start there.
I listened to that Bill Maddon interview that someone posted yesterday. Sounds like Scherzer has been a disaster during the process and Boras has had too much influence, if you believe Bill Maddon. Hopefully Halem and Meyer can can get it done over a few bourbons in New York.
After reading Stiplings comments, it’s obvious that getting the Amateurs out of the room is a good thing.
Yes.
Let’s get some of the Big Picture/thinker guys together. Guys whom have actual power as opposed to just having access to an InstaFace blog or whatever.
Ha – “InstaFace”. Love it. It beats my home-grown, “BookFace”.
Get a deal done ! Meet in the middle instead of both sides feeling like they have to come out ahead.
Tough to negotiate when players keep changing “the middle”.
Example: Arbitration bonus pool- Players 100 million, Owners 10 million,
Owners raise their offer to 15 million, players counter with 115 million!!!!!!!!!!!!
The owners haven’t ….changed…..the middle? Is this…Rob Manfred, perchance?
Meeting in the middle is only encouragement for both parties to make outrageous demands to start with. Not a serious solution.
Skeptical, I completely agree. Too many people think compromise is meeting in the middle. If I tell my employer I want a 100 percent raise, and I get a five percent raise, does that mean my employer wasn’t negotiating in good faith?
The owners who are not in it to win it should sell their teams and get the F out of the way for someone who does want to win. Makes no sense to be an owner and not caring about winning.
I couldn’t agree with this sentiment more. The unfortunate fact is that they probably outnumber the ones who actually want to win now, so they rule the day. What a sad state of affairs…
This is exactly why MLB wouldn’t let Mark Cuban buy the Pirates. There were a lot of owners who didn’t want him spending a bunch of money and trying to be competitive. It’s the same reason why so many owners didn’t want Cohen to buy the Mets.
On the contrary, it makes all the sense in the world, at least economically. There is very little connection between winning and revenue unless you go all the way to the World Series, and that’s just a crapshoot and only lasts that one year anyway. So it’s irrational to spend big.
MLB is just an entertainment business, a content provider like a movie studio or TV production outfit. Pro sports carry this myth that the people involved are obsessively competitive and care only about winning championships, because it’s harmless and convenient and keeps hard core fans able to justify the emotional involvement. One of the differences between baseball and the other major sports is that there is a very high percentage of paying fans in baseball who AREN’T hard core. They just go to games a couple times a year maybe and don’t care that much who wins. The other sports have a very different mix, and so the myth is clung to more tightly.
Hopefully Stripling, Trout & Stroman will not insert their two cents worth and scuttle the discussion.
Feel the Bern owners.
Definitely want to take this new communication approach as a positive. Progress has been made, now it seems like it’s down to two reps to simplify this, keep things on track and turn down the heat so cooler heads can prevail and finish this!
Fingers crossed!
MLB: We’ll schedule a meeting so we won’t look bad
Union: We’ll go the meeting so we don’t look bad
Outcome: Both will come out after 20 minutes and report the other side is not negotiating in good faith so…………they don’t look bad.
20 minutes ? Ha! Way too long. I think you meant 5 minutes. Seems to be the norm.
Fingers crossed that that won’t be what happens – but yeah, that’s probably what will happen. I mean, I’d give odds – and both sides are going to look bad, if that is what happens.
Lockout shortened season.
Hopefully they don’t go the ways of the NHL and cancel the season, then return and raise ticket prices through the roof.
Mets finish 3-93
An “informal” meeting? Casual Thursday?
I hear it’s underoos and silly hats day!
That was last week. This week it’s ugly Hawaiian shirts. I hear Manfred owns a real doozy.
Jimmy Buffet says no option is off the table, including pants
The question is…which flavor wings are they eating? Only spicy flavors are allowed.
Hot Buffalo
Spicy Garlic
Caribbean Jerk
Spicy Honey BBQ
Mango Habanero
Hot Lemon Pepper
The guy in the m
The guy in the middle of the photo looks like Conan O’Brien.
As for what the two lead negotiators will discuss: March Madness!
Whoever’s bracket wins will get to pick the CBT threshold. Sounds about right for this dumpster fire.
We will keep hearing this nonsense until they have a deal. The deal is right in front of them, if the two sides were both (both) willing to do a bit more compromising. But if it’s not there, then it’s not. As a fan, I’d say two things; 1) Don’t ask me to pay a premium price to go to a game where either “my” team or the opponent is tanking. Games with a bunch of AAAA players and retreads should charge a minor league price 2) Don’t ask me to support any taxpayer assistance to anything you want–I’m not interested in a sales tax, or bonds, or a public subsidy, and I will vote against any politician who agrees to it (even if they are of “my” party).
Mike, unfortunately for us, if AAAA players make $750+ and re-treads like Andrew Heaney make $8+ million, we are going to pay premium prices for tickets.
Someone else who slept through Econ 101!
No play=no pay
That’s what the owners have wanted all along.
no pay no play! no back pay, no expanded playoff!!
Somehow I have always felt no concern what the owner was making, as long as I was treated with respect and paid what I considered a fair wage.
I think the owners need to look back at the last many years and question why the players are mad.
1. Rays, Marlins, Pirates, A’s have breached their ‘contract’ to use revenue sharing for players salaries. There is no doubt this is true. The A’s and Rays model seem to work for them, as they have competitive teams, but imagine what they could have done with $100 million payrolls,
The solution is to indeed have a floor that is tied to profit sharing amount. Probably that would mean a salary floor of at least $90 million, maybe $100 million. This can be averaged over 5 years before penalties are instituted (teams will lose the money they did not spend).. The players need to offer something in return, and that could be forgetting about the draft lottery and allow the current luxury tax thresholds and penalties as they are.
2. Boras is butt hurt that Bryant got screwed. He is butt hurt because service time manipulation probably has cost Bryant at least $150 million. Bryant should have accepted the presumed contract the Cubs offered.
The solution is to have an independent arbitrator give back that 1 year service time to select players when service time has been manipulated. This can be determined after 2 1/2 years of service time. The players will need to accept a lesser bonus pool of pre-arbitration money. Also, players need to be willing to sign contract extensions prior to free agency (Acuna, Franco, Tatis etc.) despite what Boras recommends.
The league and players are not that far apart on all the other issues. Raising the salary floor will do more good for the league as a whole, than trying to raise the tax threshold that only creates more competitive imbalance.
In Bryant’s case didnt an arbiter already say that MLBPA didn’t prove there was manipulation?
There was obvious service manipulation with Bryant, but did not violate the CBA and why the arbiter ruled in favor of MLB (Cubs).
Bryant never expected to win, but the purpose the grevience was to bring a spotlight to an issue if service manipulation.
It really came down to the fact that the Cubs FO never admitted publicly that service time manipulation was the reason Bryant got sent down to start 2015. Admitting it vs. not admitting it makes all the difference in the world. This is why Kevin Mather was forced to resign. Because he admitted it.
Owners would never agree to a salary floor without a salary cap and the players would never agree to a salary cap period.
The Kris Bryant service time manipulation didn’t end up costing him much if anything. He had a down season in 2020 so likely would have signed a 1-year “prove it” deal last offseason anyway or maybe just accepted the QO from the Cubs. The dollar figure of that one year deal might have been a little different than what Bryant was paid in 2021 but no one was paying him the Mcmegabux after his 2020.
You can’t force young players to sign contract extensions. Especially when it ends up backfiring in many cases (Acuña).
The Bryant situation has not worked out because Bryant is not worth the money he thinks he should have been paid and Covid ruined the 2020 season, At the same time, the difference between being a free agent at age 28-29 vs 29-30 is huge. Is Rendon really worth that much more than Bryant?
The luxury tax threshold is a soft cap with stiff enough penalties. If the owners accept a reasonable floor that would stop the players from filing grievances against teams (A’s Rays, Marlins, Pirates) that might be enough to appease the players and the rest of the owners. The PA needs to divide the owners, and getting 75% of the owners to agree should not be that difficult. >75% of teams spend more than $90 million most of the time anyways.
Once again, Bryant likely would have signed a one year deal last offseason if the Cubs hadn’t manipulated his service time. Or at least a deal with an opt-out after 2021. 2020 would not have been a good platform year for him. Some fans on this site even thought they should non-tender him.
And the owners will never agree to a floor without a cap. It’s not happening.
I’d say they want to make it more private. After the last PR attempt by the league crashing and burning, Manfred being clueless about optics and players not falling for the deadline cr*p, I am sure public opinion has taken hit. Nothing but a distraction from the talks. Just get the best deal for everyone worked out and start playing ball.
My way to end the lockout between MLB and MLPA. Both sides have got to give a little.So here is my idea. MLB sets minimum salary at 750 thousand for 2022 season,800 thousand for 20 Set the 23 season,850 thousand for 2024 season,900 thousand for 2025 season and 1 million for the 2026 season. This should take care of the younger players for 5 years.What other job can you get a raise of 200 thousand per year,Set the pre arb pool at 40 mil.. CBT at 220 mil for 2022, and 250 mil from 2023 -2026., and MLPA agree to drop there lawsuit against MLB..,and to top it all is for MLB to announce there will be expansion of 2 teams in 2025 creating over 400 new jobs.
At least they are talking. Beats not talking. Maybe more would get done if just these two work it out.
The players have botched this spectacularly. Wow.
Seems like they gave up baseball for Lent.
Maybe manfred can do another press conference and laugh through it again. Maybe bring up the useless chunk of metal again. Too many owners are making money tanking and pocketing revenue sharing. You guys that think it’s the players must like losing season after losing season and keeping players in the minors to control them through their best years robbing us of seeing them more. Yeah, that’s a great model.
When it’s said the Union unanimously rejected the Owners offer, does that mean every player voted, or does it mean every team representative voted no?
player council that have been negotiating.
That’s what I thought. I have a feeling if Union allowed every player to vote, they would’ve accepted the offer made by Owners yesterday.
I heard yesterday there were 45 Union reps on the call and it was unanimous to reject.
My guess that was a rep from each team, each of the union reps themselves, and somehow azzclown Scott Boras probably managed to get on the call.
As much as it would suck, at this point I would almost take it as good news to see Freeman sign elsewhere because it would at least mean that this ridiculous lockout is over.
would be pretty funny if an informal 1 on 1 meeting lead to a new deal
It needs to. This is an absolute joke.
Both sides give in a little and let’s play ball
“Informal” – problem solved. The answer? Watch NCAA baseball.
I just started the other day 30Parks. Got ESPN+ and watched a bit of TN, Florida and my Alma Mater, Liberty U, who’s knocking the ball around the park this year!
Good to hear, Clipper. I’ve been watching all the LSU games. I was in Baton Rouge a few years ago and loved the passion they had for their Tigers. Will be some great games this weekend against Oklahoma, Texas, and Baylor. MLB Network picked up all the games, they’ll be worth watching.
Check out Tommy White with NC State, too. Heck of a start.
30Parks: Will do! I have an LSU & NC State game in the queue for watching too! I’ll look for that kid, man, thanks!
1 NFL
2 NBA
3-NHL
4-MLS
5-Curling
6-Baseball-Irrelavant
PLEASE Baseball Go Away
You are entitled to your opinion,
Baseball
Curling
Then who gives a flying leap.
Yet, here you are with your precious time, on an irrelevant baseball site – lol.
Exactly. These baseball irrelevant takes are dogsh!t when you are taking your time to post on a baseball board.
dan halem is the evil behind most evil rule changes.
I am so happy the owners are sending someone to have an informal discussion. It just absolute proof how wonderful the owners are. Finally a ownership team has guts to break those uppity players.
<<>>>
Just today canceled my season tickets
I guess there are a possible 4860 MLB total games in a season.
So far we’re already lost maybe 91 games and the way things are progressing, it ain’t gittin no better.
Good grief.
“Where have you gone Joe diMaggio? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you ” . . .
Nice song reference…good context.
The owners should just tell the players to pound sand at this point.
MLB offered a huge raise from $570k to $700k minimum and the greedy players are still bitching. Cancel the season and pay them nothing.
Not only that but they offered to raise the CBT by $10 million and they offered $30 million for a pre-arbitration bonus pool that has never even existed before.
GUYS…I FIGURED OUT WHAT HAPPENED NOW.
We all thought that Jorge Soler only destroyed a single baseball with that moonshot in Game 6 but it turns out that he actually destroyed baseball altogether.
Please never attempt standup comedy.
@Greenberg
Maybe I’m not the one you should be saying that to when Chip Caray has his annual Bark-in-the-Park Day joke…
“Someone is guaranteed to K nine.”
This wonderfully corny nerdy baseball attempt at humor made me smile and post for the first time this year. Please more nerdy baseball jokes!
I had enough of everyone breaking apart on various sides (virtual, political, business, baseball, et al) ages ago and again during the COVID lockdown, politics, conflicts, war… ARGH there goes that thing called life banging around the park of again. Please more nerdy original baseball attempts at humor! Fail at it, flail, pretzel up at the plate, eat dirt, BUT please take a swing at some pointless nerdy baseball humor.
This request brought to you free of charge. No contract or coinage wanted or requested.
How about this solution to the player’s stated need for a pre-arbitration pool of money?
The Entire System needs to be overhauled so the HUGE gap between the 3% of player salaries that are in the $100’s of millions category and the 60% of player salaries that are at the league minimum, is shrunk to something fairer.
Right now the players say the owners are solely and completely responsible for shrinking that gap by approving huge increases in the minimum salary.
But what if the players shared responsibility with the owners to shrink that gap? How about reducing the salaries of the top 3% of players who are making $100’s of millions. Maybe 20% less…and put All of that money into the pre-arbitration pool for younger players?
Owners who sign those top $ players, let’s say $300M, would pay the player $240M directly, and be responsible for putting the other $60M directly into that pre-arbitration pool. The MLBPA would be responsible for distributing the pre-arbitration pool moneys to the younger players. That way, owners and players share the responsibility for closing the gap on player salaries.
Scott, that’s a really interesting postulation. Outside the box thinking for sure, man.
The only reason these guys are talking to each other is because during Rob Manfred’s abortion of a news conference, he announced that the two sides can start talking again on Thursday. It’s Thursday.
A lowering of tensions, giving both sides through their negotiators a chance to understand where each side might be willing to give before the next proposal is brought forward.
I remain optimistic.
My glass-half-full guy, Robbie. I agree with you. I think removing the negotiations from the hardheaded trumpeters in Florida will provide the foundation for fruitful talks. Florida is just a place where owners get to show off their ego & players get to prove owners only own the uniforms, not them. And then you throw Clark v Manfred in the mix and there is no hope for a deal coming together there, the way I see it. Different people, different location? Yeah, that’ll work.
MLB sunk it’s ship when it partnered with the “counterfeiters” & took the All Star game from the city of Atlanta, the Braves, the state of GA, the businesses that spent $ to prepare for the game & of course, their fans.
God is Just & Righteous. He sees all things. Nothing is hidden from Him.
“Fear not Atlanta, you will be paid back for what was taken from you & then some. The icing on the cake? The spokesman shall stand in front of all & present the trophy to the ones it was “stolen” from.”
WOW! MLB should have pulled the team from Atlanta. Jesus is a Yankees fan!!
Atmosphere changer: Uh, yes!
“God is Just & Righteous. He sees all things. Nothing is hidden from Him.”
Best post of the day, my friend. Truth –
Such a bad investment that’s why every owner has his team up for sale, oh no wait they aren’t selling are they? They all must be profitable right?
The Dodgers TV deal with Time Warner pays them $280 million a year for 25 years. They own the stadium and draw over a million fans a year. No idea what their radio deal pays. Most stadiums are paid for by the city in which they play.
They should sell their team then. Why are there people lined up to own these teams and each time one sells it sets a new record for a North American sports franchise? Sell the team and buy savings bonds if the ROI isn’t there for you, but don’t stop baseball for the rest of us.
That is the revenue they report. MLB has always refused to open their books to the PA. Hence whatever an MLB team makes is not reported for public consumption.
Why don’t owners just give in to the min salary request and make up for it by not giving the veterans the insane 35 million/year salary’s? Get together as a group and agree no more huge contracts for the free agents. Correa – best anyone offers is 10/250. Take it or sit out.
They have pretty much “given in” to the min salary request.
As far is coming together as a group and conspire against higher contracts… it’s illegal.
On the CBT they should show progression with 215,220,225,230,235
Not immediately 250, but better than the 220 and no increase
Small market teams that are afraid of the powerhouses getting more powerful it is what it is and should not impact the players earning potential!