MLB work stoppage almost certain on Dec. 2

[PSUColonel]

Originally Posted by MathBandit

I mean, as of 2018 the owners each receive over $200M per year from revenue-sharing and national TV deals alone, before selling a single ticket, concession, piece of merch, their own local TV deal, or any of the new league-wide deals since then (gambling, the new Apple deal, etc).

So if the owners have a floor of $200M in national revenue and no cap to their possible earnings, is it so crazy to suggest that a true fair 50-50 deal would give the players a similar floor with no cap?

Here's some comparisons for example:

• NBA Salary Cap: 2011 $58M, 2021 $112M
• NFL Salary Cap: 2011 $120M, 2022 $208M
• MLB CBT: 2011 $178M, 2022 (Owners $220M, Players $238M)

Sure looks to me like neither offer is remotely in line with what it would be if it almost doubled from 2011, like MLB revenues did and the caps in the other leagues did. A CBT of almost $300M for 2022 would probably be the number if both sides wanted to keep it exactly in line with the previous deal (that everyone agrees was very pro-owner).

But how on earth does a higher CBT stop tanking? In my opinion this still makes richbteams wealthier and mandates small market teams continue to rely on draft picks!! No?

[GeoWar]

I am watching College baseball on ESPN+
And picking up "vintage" Major League baseball on Pluto TV.

Getting ready to watch some live college baseball ......

Hope they get the season started . For players , owners, and fans . But I am not interested in "watering" down the regular season and having an expanded playoff . If that is the the case .... have an expanded "exhibition " season and put all teams in the playoffs . *** LOL ***

[Rain King]

The idea that the players have "negotiated poorly" or been "asleep at the wheel" in past negotiations is just ridiculous.

The owners have been bullying the union for years. The players want to play baseball, so have given in. Now, when the players actually stand up for themselves just a little bit the people who say they were swindled previously automatically call them selfish. It is appalling.

The players proposal at the beginning of this was a decent middle ground. The owners have chipped away at that to the point where at best the current MLBPA proposal isn't a major loss.

The owners are waging a press war. They leak that "things are close" then say the union isn't playing ball when a deal isn't signed. The reality is things have yet to become close enough to warrant those leaks, it is tactic. Anytime MLB has moved significantly at all they've introduced something new to stick a wrench in things. They keep issuing deadlines and ultimatums for no reason and then cutting off negotiations when the Union doesn't fall in line. It is a ploy, as MLB is back at the table a few days later.

The players are the face, so MLB uses their media power to leak things specifically to generate fan pressure against them. They didn't need to issue the lockout and they didn't need to cancel games, those are simply negotiation ploys. April games are nothing to the owners...especially when they can cancel them, still collect the TV money, and also say they won't pay the players for those games THEY decided to cancel.

Meanwhile, they hide behind fans' love of the logo. It's funny that the league doesn't use that media power to actually promote the players any other time...can't have them getting popular to the point fans won't turn on them.

MLB is running this strictly as a business and they are finally getting a business (albeit still a weak one) response from the Union and honestly, this is exactly what they wanted. This thing won't become real to the owners until TV money is truly in jeopardy.

[CONN CHRIS]

My son and I have tickets to the Hartford Yard Goats home opener next month and the UCONN home opener in a few weeks. Maybe I'll pick up my early pandemic favorite Rakuten Monkeys again. I wonder if they still stream in twitch?

[Reed]

Originally Posted by MathBandit

I mean, as of 2018 the owners each receive over $200M per year from revenue-sharing and national TV deals alone, before selling a single ticket, concession, piece of merch, their own local TV deal, or any of the new league-wide deals since then (gambling, the new Apple deal, etc).

So if the owners have a floor of $200M in national revenue and no cap to their possible earnings, is it so crazy to suggest that a true fair 50-50 deal would give the players a similar floor with no cap?

Here's some comparisons for example:

• NBA Salary Cap: 2011 $58M, 2021 $112M
• NFL Salary Cap: 2011 $120M, 2022 $208M
• MLB CBT: 2011 $178M, 2022 (Owners $220M, Players $238M)

Sure looks to me like neither offer is remotely in line with what it would be if it almost doubled from 2011, like MLB revenues did and the caps in the other leagues did. A CBT of almost $300M for 2022 would probably be the number if both sides wanted to keep it exactly in line with the previous deal (that everyone agrees was very pro-owner).

It looks like according to the information you provide the NBA and NFL have been lagging and are just know getting in line with MLB, which is still the highest. See how the same numbers can be manipulated to fit a narrative. You can’t look at one set of numbers and say see, see, see. You have to look at the whole picture. For example, how has the popularity of MLB changed in the past 10 years compared to NFL and NBA? How about profits over the last ten years? How have expenses over the last ten years compared, etc., etc.

I haven’t watched MLB in over ten years and I really don’t care how the negotiations go. Neither side is negotiating in the best interest of baseball. Both sides are greedy IMO and just trying to get as much as they can. In the end, they will agree to something both sides are sort of happy with but neither side totally happy. Unless one side decides it is losing to much and decides baseball is just not worth it anymore.

[Dave Stieb II]

Originally Posted by Rain King

The idea that the players have "negotiated poorly" or been "asleep at the wheel" in past negotiations is just ridiculous.

The owners have been bullying the union for years. The players want to play baseball, so have given in. Now, when the players actually stand up for themselves just a little bit the people who say they were swindled previously automatically call them selfish. It is appalling.

The players proposal at the beginning of this was a decent middle ground. The owners have chipped away at that to the point where at best the current MLBPA proposal isn't a major loss.

The owners are waging a press war. They leak that "things are close" then say the union isn't playing ball when a deal isn't signed. The reality is things have yet to become close enough to warrant those leaks, it is tactic. Anytime MLB has moved significantly at all they've introduced something new to stick a wrench in things. They keep issuing deadlines and ultimatums for no reason and then cutting off negotiations when the Union doesn't fall in line. It is a ploy, as MLB is back at the table a few days later.

The players are the face, so MLB uses their media power to leak things specifically to generate fan pressure against them. They didn't need to issue the lockout and they didn't need to cancel games, those are simply negotiation ploys. April games are nothing to the owners...especially when they can cancel them, still collect the TV money, and also say they won't pay the players for those games THEY decided to cancel.

Meanwhile, they hide behind fans' love of the logo. It's funny that the league doesn't use that media power to actually promote the players any other time...can't have them getting popular to the point fans won't turn on them.

MLB is running this strictly as a business and they are finally getting a business (albeit still a weak one) response from the Union and honestly, this is exactly what they wanted. This thing won't become real to the owners until TV money is truly in jeopardy.

The 'asleep at the wheel' quote comes from Scott Boras, who is without a doubt playing a key role behind the scenes on the players side. (( think he represents 4 of the 6 players on the negotiating committee). So if you consider it ridiculous......
As for the rest - everyone is entitled to their opinion.

[Déjà Bru]

This is what I was saying earlier. There are ways to enjoy the game that don't include the moneyed bozos of MLB.

[low]

Rumors are a deal has been struck. It's all over Twitter.

[SouthernStar71]

Originally Posted by low

Rumors are a deal has been struck. It's all over Twitter.

Too much money involved for them to waste a season.

[nutt]

CBS and The Athletic reporting it is over!

[cephasjames]

Originally Posted by low

Rumors are a deal has been struck. It's all over Twitter.

And that it's going to be a full 162 game season.

[Westheim]

Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association reached an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement on Thursday, paving the way for the 2022 regular season to begin on April 7.

The CBA must still be ratified by both sides before it becomes official. Once that happens, Spring Training camps are expected to open on Sunday, bringing the three-month lockout to a close.

The deal came to fruition a day after MLB postponed Opening Day until April 14 in the absence of a new agreement and announced that each team’s first four series were removed from the schedule. However, as part of this agreement, a full 162-game schedule will be played, and the four series that were previously removed from the calendar will be rescheduled.

from MLB.com

Squee!

[rudel.dietrich]

The lockout is over. Early indications are that it is a pretty bad deal for the players.
There are some movements to make the games shorter (which is the biggest issue facing MLB baseball) but they are not required and cannot go into effect until 2023.

So this last four months was pretty much a waste that did not address the core issue of why most people under the age of 50 do not care about the sport of baseball.

[Syd Thrift]

Are the “make the games shorter” deals more of this BS “play less baseball” stuff? I know I saw the pitch clocks were a part of things but I have to say, pitch clocks have been tried many, many times in the past and don’t seem to work. At the very least you’d need umpires to stop allowing batters to call time between pitches and treat the 19 seconds or whatever as inviolable (also, the game operating at a regular rhythm tends to aid the pitcher).

[MK_735]

Originally Posted by Rain King

The idea that the players have "negotiated poorly" or been "asleep at the wheel" in past negotiations is just ridiculous.

The owners have been bullying the union for years. The players want to play baseball, so have given in. Now, when the players actually stand up for themselves just a little bit the people who say they were swindled previously automatically call them selfish. It is appalling.

The players proposal at the beginning of this was a decent middle ground. The owners have chipped away at that to the point where at best the current MLBPA proposal isn't a major loss.

The owners are waging a press war. They leak that "things are close" then say the union isn't playing ball when a deal isn't signed. The reality is things have yet to become close enough to warrant those leaks, it is tactic. Anytime MLB has moved significantly at all they've introduced something new to stick a wrench in things. They keep issuing deadlines and ultimatums for no reason and then cutting off negotiations when the Union doesn't fall in line. It is a ploy, as MLB is back at the table a few days later.

The players are the face, so MLB uses their media power to leak things specifically to generate fan pressure against them. They didn't need to issue the lockout and they didn't need to cancel games, those are simply negotiation ploys. April games are nothing to the owners...especially when they can cancel them, still collect the TV money, and also say they won't pay the players for those games THEY decided to cancel.

Meanwhile, they hide behind fans' love of the logo. It's funny that the league doesn't use that media power to actually promote the players any other time...can't have them getting popular to the point fans won't turn on them.

MLB is running this strictly as a business and they are finally getting a business (albeit still a weak one) response from the Union and honestly, this is exactly what they wanted. This thing won't become real to the owners until TV money is truly in jeopardy.

The best part is that they literally did that today. They told reporters like Heyman that they were hopeful, set an arbitrary 3PM deadline, then went to the players with this poison pill about the covid lawsuit lol.

The owners did nothing for more than a month. Saying they were negotiating in good faith makes no logical or factual sense.

[rudel.dietrich]

Originally Posted by Syd Thrift

Are the “make the games shorter” deals more of this BS “play less baseball” stuff? I know I saw the pitch clocks were a part of things but I have to say, pitch clocks have been tried many, many times in the past and don’t seem to work. At the very least you’d need umpires to stop allowing batters to call time between pitches and treat the 19 seconds or whatever as inviolable (also, the game operating at a regular rhythm tends to aid the pitcher).

Very few concrete measures. I was hoping for a lot more. They need to shorten game average game time by about an hour and implement it quickly.

[monkeyman576]

With guaranteed contracts honestly baseball players have it good compared to other sports. Glad baseball is back

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

This is what I was saying earlier. There are ways to enjoy the game that don't include the moneyed bozos of MLB.

I am still going to keep this in the back of my mind and maybe work toward it.

[rink23]

It figures they would figure this out after they said they could not figure this out.
I have my ticket for my 21st consecutive Opening Day with the Cardinals, which happens April 7.
I also had told my 81-year-old father, who lives in Florida and will be alone that week with my stepmother out of town, that I would fly down if the game was cancelled.
As soon, as they bagged the week yesterday, I bought my plane ticket.
As of 3 p.m., today I am at a conundrum.

[Rain King]

Originally Posted by Syd Thrift

Are the “make the games shorter” deals more of this BS “play less baseball” stuff? I know I saw the pitch clocks were a part of things but I have to say, pitch clocks have been tried many, many times in the past and don’t seem to work. At the very least you’d need umpires to stop allowing batters to call time between pitches and treat the 19 seconds or whatever as inviolable (also, the game operating at a regular rhythm tends to aid the pitcher).

I believe that the Pitch Clock rules that were being used in the minor leagues require the batter to be in the box at a specific point on the pitch clock or a strike will be assigned.