MLB 2020 - SPRING TRAINING FOREVER

[RIPPA]

Mary Pratt - the last surviving member of the Rockford Peaches - passed away at the age of 101

[elizium]

2 hours ago, RIPPA said:

Mary Pratt - the last surviving member of the Rockford Peaches - passed away at the age of 101

In happier women's baseball news, it is Winnipegger Audrey "Dimples" Haine Daniels 93rd birthday today. She threw a no-hitter as a 17 year old in 1944 and another as an 18 year old the next year.

She played for the Minneapolis Millerettes (1944), Fort Wayne Daisies (1945-46, after Minneapolis folded), Grand Rapids Chicks (1946-47), Peoria Red Wings (1947-48) and the Rockford Peaches (1951, after a 2 year hiatus to get married).

She's in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and the MB Baseball and Softball Hall of Fames.

http://www.instagram.com/p/B_963ySAA8U/

Fuck if I can figure out how to embed Insta-posts

Edited May 9, 2020 by elizium

[Dolfan in NYC]

Alright, the owners have approved a modified season plan/schedule.  They have to get approval from the players, which could be tough.  The details:

• Season will start July 4th.
• 82 games (Divisional games & Other League, Same Division - so, NL East vs AL East, NL West vs. AL West, etc.)
• Playoffs expand to 14 teams (4 wild cards)
• Where approved, the teams can use their home stadiums.  No fans (yet).
• Spring Training 2, beginning in early-mid June.  Probably no games. 
• 30 man rosters.  Teams can carry an NFL-style practice squad of 20 more players for call ups/injury replacements.
• Most travel done by bus. 
• 50-50 revenue split.

---

The revenue split is bound to be the big stumbling point.  The minor leagues are probably in deep trouble for the season. 

[RIPPA]

Ken Rosenthal had a report up on The Atlantic a day or two ago and right now - reportedly, the players biggest concern is safety

For example

Quote

The Cardinals’ Andrew Miller and the Yankees’ Chris Iannetta (both members of the MLBPA executive board) recently went into further detail about these concerns in a chat with ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers.  As Miller put it, “I don’t think anything can be done” until a concrete plan is put forth about how players, coaches, clubhouse members, and others can be protected from the threat of coronavirus infection.

“We want to put a good product on the field, but that’s totally secondary to the health of the players,” Miller said.  “We are generally younger and healthier, but that doesn’t mean our staff is, that doesn’t mean the umpires are going to be in the clear.  It’s not hard to get one degree of separation away from players who have kids who may have conditions, or other family members that live with them.”

And that doesn't even touch on all the players with underlying conditions (both known and unknown)

[RIPPA]

48 minutes ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

The revenue split is bound to be the big stumbling point.  The minor leagues are probably in deep trouble for the season. 

Joel Sherman already tweeted 

Quote

the MLBPA considers the league’s revenue sharing proposition a “nonstarter,” further underscoring that substantial hurdles need to be navigated.

And not in Dolfan's list but pretty much expected is that Universal DH will be in place for this year

[RIPPA]

World Baseball Classic in 2021 is postponned.

As of now they are thinking about running it in 2023 but that isn't definite yet

Expect there to be another push now to have MLBers play in the Olympics (beyond the top prospects that they already agreed on)

[grilledcheese]

Doolittle broke all of his concerns down in a most righteous thread on Twitter. 

He makes lots of very excellent points, and points you towards additional reading material should you want to further educate yourself on the statements he is making.

[Dolfan in NYC]

Former Houston, New York, and Oakland manager Art Howe is in a Houston ICU battling the coronavirus.

[RIPPA]

Bob Watson has passed away at the age of 74

His son said it was due to kidney disease

[EdA]

As things stand now, wanna guess who would be the highest paid player in baseball??

If you guessed anyone but Prince Fielder, you could be very wrong.

Caveat: everything depends on how the owners try to screw the players and how public shaming goes, of course.

[Dolfan in NYC]

On 5/14/2020 at 11:31 PM, Dolfan in NYC said:

Former Houston, New York, and Oakland manager Art Howe is in a Houston ICU battling the coronavirus.

Good news here.  Howe has recovered and was released from the hospital yesterday. 

[RIPPA]

The Orioles really are moving into loveable loser territory

 

[Dolfan in NYC]

Well, looks like the owners are going to fuck this up.

They're proposing sliding percentage pay cuts based on the amount they make. Starting at ~55% cuts for the minimum guys to nearly 80% cuts for the top guys. 

The players are uniformly telling the owners to, capital F, Fuck themselves.

 

[Southside Jim]

I wonder which of the super debt heavy teams will be the first to file for bankruptcy.

 

The Dodgers?

 

I could see Rob Manfred letting one team file for Chapter 11 to serve as a warning to the players and force them to cave in and make major concessions.

Edited May 27, 2020 by Southside Jim

[EdA]

Sigh.  First off, the Dodgers and Rangers went through bankruptcy in the past - and MLB is not gonna want that since teams have to open the books and it makes it tough for teams to lie about their profits.  So tinfoil helmet conspiracy about Manfred and owners and bankruptcy is sportstalk nonsense.  

Plus, given that the the A's (and potentially at least one more team) have said they are not going to be playing their minor leaguers after June 1st ALONG with MLB potentially forgoing revenue sharing this year, it's going to be the small market teams that go belly up first.

Obviously, the A's would be the prime suspect.

[RIPPA]

And because this was going to happen

And I giggled at all the sports shows immediately jumping in going COME ON OUR SHOW TO DISCUSS!!!! Starting with Pat McAfee

[RIPPA]

On 5/26/2020 at 11:41 PM, Dolfan in NYC said:

Well, looks like the owners are going to fuck this up.

They're proposing sliding percentage pay cuts based on the amount they make. Starting at ~55% cuts for the minimum guys to nearly 80% cuts for the top guys. 

The players are uniformly telling the owners to, capital F, Fuck themselves.

Hey - it worked in the NFL why not in MLB!

[Doc Townsend]

13 hours ago, EdA said:

Sigh.  First off, the Dodgers and Rangers went through bankruptcy in the past - and MLB is not gonna want that since teams have to open the books and it makes it tough for teams to lie about their profits.  So tinfoil helmet conspiracy about Manfred and owners and bankruptcy is sportstalk nonsense.  

Plus, given that the the A's (and potentially at least one more team) have said they are not going to be playing their minor leaguers after June 1st ALONG with MLB potentially forgoing revenue sharing this year, it's going to be the small market teams that go belly up first.

Obviously, the A's would be the prime suspect.

Particularly since the A's told the company managing their stadium that they "have no capacity to pay" their rent.

Still, I think MLB does everything it can - for now, at least - to keep anyone from filing bankruptcy and opening up their books.

Some commentators think the owners are just trying to play hardball before caving and making a deal at the last moment.  Though the same people think the owners estimated how the public would respond to their proposals.

[EdA]

48 minutes ago, Doc Townsend said:

Particularly since the A's told the company managing their stadium that they "have no capacity to pay" their rent.

Still, I think MLB does everything it can - for now, at least - to keep anyone from filing bankruptcy and opening up their books.

Yeah.  Forgot to mention the A's refusing the pay rent bit too.  Thanks.

MLB is not going to allow a team to go to bankruptcy this close to the CBA being up again.  There's no chance they want to MLBPA to see the books at this point.  MLB will infuse money into Oakland - or worst case, buy them like they did Montreal prior to their move to DC.

50 minutes ago, Doc Townsend said:

Some commentators think the owners are just trying to play hardball before caving and making a deal at the last moment.  Though the same people think the owners estimated how the public would respond to their proposals.

Yeah, the Owners made the PR move on the players: they struck first.  Anyone haggling about money at this juncture looks like greedy bastards.  Which...ALL of the them are, of course.  It's just that the players have a shorter window of opportunity to get theirs.

Meanwhile the Owners are still getting MLB.tv money.  They're still getting their money from the RSN's.  Oh and you probably/maybe are still paying for it.

Shrug.  Billionaires v. Millionaires?  What are ya gonna do?

[Dolfan in NYC]

3 minutes ago, EdA said:

Yeah, the Owners made the PR move on the players: they struck first.  Anyone haggling about money at this juncture looks like greedy bastards.  Which...ALL of the them are, of course.  It's just that the players have a shorter window of opportunity to get theirs.

Meanwhile the Owners are still getting MLB.tv money.  They're still getting their money from the RSN's.  Oh and you probably/maybe are still paying for it.

Shrug.  Billionaires v. Millionaires?  What are ya gonna do?

Two points, and this has always stuck in my craw when it comes to sports negotiations.  

1. Not every player is  a millionaire.  A guy making $250k  a year for 4 years is not a millionaire.  

2. You remember that one guy or girl in high school who was really, REALLY good at sports?  Didn't have much more skills beyond that?  Well imagine you're that person and only get 5-10 years (if you're EXTREMELY lucky) to make all the money you're going to make for the rest of your life.  Absolutely anyone in that position is going to want to maximize their income.

---

Point is, Gerrit Cole taking an 80% cut isn't going to kill him, he'll still make $5 million.  The 25th guy on the Royals? Marlins?  A's?  Those guys losing $200k off their salary will fuck them for the rest of their lives.  

Always side with the players.  

[EdA]

9 minutes ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

Two points, and this has always stuck in my craw when it comes to sports negotiations.  

1. Not every player is  a millionaire.  A guy making $250k  a year for 4 years is not a millionaire.  

2. You remember that one guy or girl in high school who was really, REALLY good at sports?  Didn't have much more skills beyond that?  Well imagine you're that person and only get 5-10 years (if you're EXTREMELY lucky) to make all the money you're going to make for the rest of your life.  Absolutely anyone in that position is going to want to maximize their income.

---

Point is, Gerrit Cole taking an 80% cut isn't going to kill him, he'll still make $5 million.  The 25th guy on the Royals? Marlins?  A's?  Those guys losing $200k off their salary will fuck them for the rest of their lives.  

Always side with the players.  

Or course.  No question.  There's no sane reason to EVER side with owners.  Their track record alone is...not...good.  They are rich, venal assholes who want free money.

Your points are of course 100% spot on. 

And yet...this situation - just like the 94 strike - becomes a perception issue: there's no good way to say that "a scrub" is ONLY making $250K a year to the masses who aren't making remotely close to that. 

I'm no class warrior.  But someone making the league minimum (which was supposed to actually be $563K this year - lessened to whatever the owners want to dick them over to) even ONLY being able to get that for say 2-3 years, is still a FUCKTON better off than a helluva lot of people - ESPECIALLY in this economic environment.  Shit, I am not making the league minimum.  I'm not gonna lie, I'd take that even for a year. 

Which is huge problem players have.  The INSANELY RICH owners have the advantage to say - OMG! JOE SIXPACK!!! LOOK AT JOHNNY NOHIT MAKING THE LEAGUE MINIMUM AND YOU, JOE SIXPACK, ARE SCRAPING BY!  And the rubes buy in.  And because the owners control the media's access to the teams, the rubes are hit with - OMG!  HOW CAN SOMEONE MAKING A HALF A MILL A YEAR (at least) BITCH ABOUT MONEY?

Over and over.  If the MLBPA cared about perception, they'd actually take care of the lesser members - like you know, screaming bloody murder that the A's are not going to pay their minor leaguers after June.  But - as we see with rumors of Boras dicking around with negotiations and the lesser members taking a more meaningful financial hit -  the MLBPA (which is comprised of richer, veteran players as leadership) don't show that they care about the scrubs.  Ergo most people not caring about the MLBPA since they've spent the last 25+ years falling into the same trap over and over and ALLOWING themselves to be played up as greedy assholes. 

Mind you...I'd still take the MLBPA over the NFLPA.  But that's obvious.

[Kuetsar]

I think a mitigating factor is the fact that ALL sports are out, not just MLB. If this was a strike, and the playoffs were going there would be pressure. But I'm not sure who is caring that much right now, given the overall havoc Covid is causing. Just me personally, I'm not going to be surprised to have no sports at all this year, even the NFL.

[Doc Townsend]

4 hours ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

Two points, and this has always stuck in my craw when it comes to sports negotiations.  

1. Not every player is  a millionaire.  A guy making $250k  a year for 4 years is not a millionaire.  

2. You remember that one guy or girl in high school who was really, REALLY good at sports?  Didn't have much more skills beyond that?  Well imagine you're that person and only get 5-10 years (if you're EXTREMELY lucky) to make all the money you're going to make for the rest of your life.  Absolutely anyone in that position is going to want to maximize their income.

To this, I'd add that making a million - or even a couple million - doesn't necessarily mean you're set for life.  Athletes, like most of the rest of us, spend more money when they make more money.  There are probably a lot of MLB players who overextended themselves on the theory that they have a guaranteed income for the next three or five years.  

There are also a lot of guys who are simply bad with money, or who signed a backloaded contract.  Am acquaintance of mine is related to a MLB player.  The player in question made 30+ million over six years but signed his contract after only a year in the league and agreed to a backloaded contract that paid him less than 2 million a year during the first few seasons (and only a few hundred thousand in the first year), and most of the contract value was tied up in years 4-6.  He borrowed pretty heavily against future earnings to build a couple houses and take care of his extended family,  If play had been suspended due to an act of god before the fourth year of his contract and he hadn't continued to get paid, he would probably have been ruined financially. 

[odessasteps]

"We earn a lot, but also spend a lot" as was famously said.

[grilledcheese]