[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by NoOne

there's a clear cooperation amongst owners to stagnate salaries for the last 5 years (including this one).

And yet no grievance by the MLBPA. Seems there is little evidence to indicate collusion. Instead, there is the pressure of the luxury tax, which got quite a bit harsher in the current CBA and the threshold for which has fallen well behind the industry's revenue growth rate, and the ever-growing impact of 'moneyball'-type analyses and judgements.

Originally Posted by NoOne

there's no way to predict what's going to happen with salaries other than a general trend upward over the long-term due to inflation.

Both player salaries and club revenue, since the mid-1970s, have grown at rates far in excess of the general consumer inflation rate. As long as revenue grows, player salaries will grow, though not necessarily at a matching rate (see above for some reasons).

Originally Posted by NoOne

it grew so fast because the owners were hording most of the money and still are...

No, salaries grew because revenues started growing sharply, largely driven by cable television's growth in the late 1970s and early 1980s. That was combined with the introduction of free agency and the curbing of signing bonuses for amateur players via the adoption of the amateur draft. (It should be noted salaries grew during the reserve clause era as well.)

Originally Posted by NoOne

if you think the %'s from teh CBA relate to real net cash inflow, you are severely mistaken. accounting is the science of hiding money.. and they do a really good job of it to reduce tax burden as well as ammunition during negotiations with the mbbpa.

The MLBPA has access to the audited financial statements of the clubs as part of the CBA. The union can easily hire economists and accountants to examine those club financial statements.

Originally Posted by NoOne

just look at how the marlins duped their local city to pay for a large portion of their new stadium...

That is a mostly American phenomenon, where municipalities fork over considerable amounts of public dollars to help finance the construction of parks/stadiums/arenas for private clubs, usually under the auspices of it generating general economic growth the that area of the municipality. (Whether there actually is such general economic benefit is hotly debated; studies can be found both for and against.)

Originally Posted by NoOne

they could have afforded it themselves, yet take/extrort gov't handouts by threatening a move... what a joke.

That is hardly limited to baseball; it's been seen in the NHL, NBA, and especially the NFL (which as a league has little effective control over clubs relocating after Al Davis successfully sued). Look up the term 'franchise free agency' to find some studies on the subject.