Official *MLB Season Delayed* Thread

[cavebird]

Ken didn't post the next part of his rant:
“Like, I ain’t making s–t. and on top of that — so, all that money’s gone, and now I play risking my life. And if I get the ‘rona — on top of that, if I get the ‘rona — guess what happens with that? Oh yeah, that stays, that’s in my body forever. That damage is not gonna be like — the damage that was done to my body? That’s gonna be there forever.”

25% of $7m is still $1.75m. Maybe not Mike Trout money, but like Ken said, many people are working for minimum wage or are unemployed.

Well, the unemployed ones are not required to go out and risk catching the virus. I don't see this as a big deal. Players are scared, just like people are scared. The remainder of my rant gets too close to politics, so I'll have to keep it to myself.

[Ken]

Well, the unemployed ones are not required to go out and risk catching the virus. I don't see this as a big deal. Players are scared, just like people are scared. The remainder of my rant gets too close to politics, so I'll have to keep it to myself.

It's not about being scared. It's about the money. He said so himself. He even complained about his taxes. Terrible, terrible look.

[cavebird]

It's not about being scared. It's about the money. He said so himself. He even complained about his taxes. Terrible, terrible look.

It comes off looking bad, yes. But is he really just more generally complaining about the salary structure for younger players that lots of people do not think is particularly right or fair? Probably. And he started by noting the health dangers--I can get a guy who is close to free agency and a really big pay day not particularly liking the idea of the last couple of seasons before that pay day having extra health risks.

[chancellor]

It comes off looking bad, yes. But is he really just more generally complaining about the salary structure for younger players that lots of people do not think is particularly right or fair? Probably. And he started by noting the health dangers--I can get a guy who is close to free agency and a really big pay day not particularly liking the idea of the last couple of seasons before that pay day having extra health risks.

In concept, I agree with everything you're saying. Was the owners offer set up to screw the players and transfer the bulk of the risk onto them? Yup, you bet. Is the pay structure poorly set up? Sure is. Is he concerned about his long term health? Appears true. Should he make the money the owners committed to in the first agreement? Absolutely.

But he simply can not put out such a me-first sounding, poorly worded, bad look social media post like this when your union leader and his team are busting their balls to get the players the best deal they can under difficult circumstances and likely incredible pressure. That's the obvious part.

The less obvious? Players can also make a lot of money - even a Tampa Bay player - from sponsorships and local commercials. Would a baseball equipment manufacturer want a guy who just whined about making "only" $1.75 million? A local car dealer?

[GwynnInTheHall]

Agreed, he should have been smarter and made it about health concerns even if it is about the money.

The Health concerns are an easy issue to empathize with, not so much the Millions.

[Ken]

But is he really just more generally complaining about the salary structure for younger players that lots of people do not think is particularly right or fair? Probably.

Probably?

How are you coming to this conclusion? It's not supported at all by his words. Let me help you.

"Y'all gotta understand, man, for me to go -- for me to take a pay cut is not happening, because the risk is through the roof
I gotta get my money. I'm not playing unless I get mine, OK? And that's just the way it is for me.
"

How are you coming away from that thinking he's "probably" just generally complaining about salary structure for others?

[cavebird]

Well, given that he bolded and put in large letters I, me, I'm, my, and I, I guess he was trying to show he was only in it for himself. The salary structure hurts him, certainly. And "the risk is through the roof" for him certainly seems to be a reference to the fact that his big payday is coming up and having Covid-19 cause him serious health problems would be very detrimental to that. Maybe if he had bolded that part and put it in large letters. Sure, he did not say it in a way to make himself look good. He also said "but the risk is way the hell higher and the amount of money I'm making is way lower." That also seems to be a reference to his place on the salary structure of MLB. If he had included that at all instead of just saying it and not forgetting to type it in your post, maybe it would have been a bit more supported by his words.

[Ken]

Well, given that he bolded and put in large letters I, me, I'm, my, and I, I guess he was trying to show he was only in it for himself. The salary structure hurts him, certainly. And "the risk is through the roof" for him certainly seems to be a reference to the fact that his big payday is coming up and having Covid-19 cause him serious health problems would be very detrimental to that. Maybe if he had bolded that part and put it in large letters. Sure, he did not say it in a way to make himself look good. He also said "but the risk is way the hell higher and the amount of money I'm making is way lower." That also seems to be a reference to his place on the salary structure of MLB. If he had included that at all instead of just saying it and not forgetting to type it in your post, maybe it would have been a bit more supported by his words.

Again, he's making millions of dollars every year. If your salary structure is setup poorly, and you still make millons, you don't need to be whining about it right now when there are people actually suffering. Terrible look.

[cavebird]

Again, he's making millions of dollars every year. If your salary structure is setup poorly, and you still make millons, you don't need to be whining about it right now when there are people actually suffering. Terrible look.

He's never made more than $1 million in a season. This year would have been his first arb eligible season, and he would have made about three times as much this year as he has in his entire career (including his signing bonus) had the season been normal. I imagine that is pretty frustrating.

[Ken]

He's never made more than $1 million in a season. This year would have been his first arb eligible season, and he would have made about three times as much this year as he has in his entire career (including his signing bonus) had the season been normal. I imagine that is pretty frustrating.

I feel like you are vastly downplaying how that sounds to the typical 9-5 blue collar fan, which is his customer base. Take that down to the street corner and try reading that with a straight face. I wonder how many people will agree - "OH MY! Never more than a million. Poor sap. Whatever will he do with himself. Must be soooo frustrated since he's never made a million in a year."

[Judge Jude]

this is a Sports Business Journal reporter:


Eric Fisher
@EricFisherSBG
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred says on CNN he has "great confidence" league will be able to make a deal with MLBPA to address both economics of truncated season w/o attending fans, and address health concerns. Time will tell, and big questions still to be answered.
9:16 PM · May 14, 2020

Eric Fisher
@EricFisherSBG
·
3m
Replying to
@EricFisherSBG
Manfred says players who have concerns about safety of returning will not be forced to return.

Eric Fisher
@EricFisherSBG
·
3m
Manfred says losses of not playing the 2020 season will approach $4 billion.

[cavebird]

I feel like you are vastly downplaying how that sounds to the typical 9-5 blue collar fan, which is his customer base. Take that down to the street corner and try reading that with a straight face. I wonder how many people will agree - "OH MY! Never more than a million. Poor sap. Whatever will he do with himself. Must be soooo frustrated since he's never made a million in a year."

It sounded bad. What he meant wasn't as bad; I imagine he was letting off steam--he was going to make enough money this year to never have to work again, and now he won't. Baseball games have ads for golf digest and old fart medicine. Sadly, their base is not too much the 9-5 blue collar fan, at least not outside of the northeast. I am not so sure we particularly disagree on the main points here. The headlines on his comments were horrible. I am sure someone from the MLBPA has had a conversation with him.

[cavebird]

this is a Sports Business Journal reporter:


Eric Fisher
@EricFisherSBG
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred says on CNN he has "great confidence" league will be able to make a deal with MLBPA to address both economics of truncated season w/o attending fans, and address health concerns. Time will tell, and big questions still to be answered.
9:16 PM · May 14, 2020

Eric Fisher
@EricFisherSBG
·
3m
Replying to
@EricFisherSBG
Manfred says players who have concerns about safety of returning will not be forced to return.

Eric Fisher
@EricFisherSBG
·
3m
Manfred says losses of not playing the 2020 season will approach $4 billion.

And that's why a deal will be done. Too much for both sides to lose. It won't involve a salary cap, however. Players will never agree to that right before a new CBA negotiation.

[cavebird]

It sounded bad. What he meant wasn't as bad; I imagine he was letting off steam--he was going to make enough money this year to never have to work again, and now he won't. Baseball games have ads for golf digest and old fart medicine. Sadly, their base is not too much the 9-5 blue collar fan, at least not outside of the northeast. I am not so sure we particularly disagree on the main points here. The headlines on his comments were horrible. I am sure someone from the MLBPA has had a conversation with him.

Looking at it deeper, it goes back to the age old question. As a Cy Young Award winner while being pre-arb, he almost certainly made more money for Rays ownership than he has made for himself so far in his career. And that's leaving out the collective part about it---obviously TV contracts and fannies in the seats are there because the best in the world play---teams get more gate when their star pitcher is pitching, especially when they are not auto-sell out teams. The age old question is whether labor or capital should deserve to get what share of the money. Where someone falls on this issue gets into politics so I have to bow out, but that's the bottom line in the MLB-MLBPA negotiations. Whether it is millionaires versus billionaires or small business owners who barely scrape by versus their minimum wage employees, the bottom line is the same.

[Teenwolf]

Why should Snell want to play this season? He already won the MLB The Show '20 Players League Championship. Why interfere with real baseball?

I hate rich people generally, but he's talking about money in relation to the pandemic, specifically how enticing it is to return in the middle of a pandemic for a half season with an asterisk championship on the line, at a rate of pay in the 25-50% range. He's also talking about his arm health. He doesn't believe the haphazard league setup would be positive for his arm health going forward. His arm is all he's got. He also mentioned isolating from his family for the duration of the pandemic. What if his family lives in a hot zone, or a family member dies from the virus and he cannot be with his family to grieve because of his isolation? It's about so much more than money, as he clarified in other parts of his statement. I don't blame him for threatening to not play one bit.

I find other players mentioning the ethics of taking thousands of tests away from people who need it in order to regularly test MLB players a more compelling argument for why a season shouldn't happen.