anything for Larry to remind you he played ball and was THIS close to getting to the league

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

about as close as I've ever been to being signed to Elektra records

Nas...I agree. I know they all fuck the younger players. They have a legitimate stand on the revenue sharing split, but they're gonna botch this and look like fools.

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I think it was more about being able to relate to a worker.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

The union has a disconnect in their arguments:

1. Expanded playoffs mean that teams won't spend money on premium players and instead try to sneak in with 84 wins.
2. Not expanding playoffs means that teams won't spend the incremental money on the bottom half of their lineups and rotations to go from a 68-70 win team to a 77-80 win team, but they think owners should be obligated to spend the guaranteed money anyway.

Can't have it both ways.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

I think it goes back to the middle class v. superstar dynamic. The union seems more interested in the high profile contracts than the whole membership.

I’d think the expanded playoff would lead teams to spend more on marginally better/proven talent if they’re close to playoff caliber.

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Again its hard to play violins for players making a minimum of 550k a year. This isnt local 701 trying to get an apprentice wage to $22 an hour.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Rooting hard for the owners who actually wanted to have a COVID season and the players were like "Nope. We won't negotiate but you can force us to work so just force us".

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I don’t really care how it shakes out, I just don’t want this fucking with a budding White Sox dynasty.

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Don’t kink shame.

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DOn't worry it will be the 2nd mythical Sox Championship! 1994 and 2022!

Damn man holding down the Sox

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

That is an intriguing part of this story.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Yep. Its the man holding them down.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

I may hate them, but it sure ain’t the “dman” holding them down.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Doesn’t count. Nobody reported on it with first hand experience, so unclear if it happened. Astros probably cheated. Hendriks was just working on his stuff in a blowout game. Wind was blowing out. Altuve cheated.

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But they might not spend the $165M guaranteed on Javy Baez.

Most players never get to third year arbitration. They simply aren't good enough compared to a AAAA type to command a raise and guaranteed money even for that year. Brian Goodwin is an example of that type of guy, better than a AAAA guy like Rafael Ortega with the eye test when they were both in the Angels organization but not so much better that a team would invest $4M in him to go through the arb process instead of putting $550k on either a fungible AAAA type or starting the clock on a prospect like Gavin Sheets. A team can then invest the remaining $3.5M on someone else, using to pay down a bad contract, or in the case of uncle Jerry just pocketing it.

Other leagues get around this problem by not guaranteeing contracts. MLB just non-tenders guys. Some sort of NHL-ish RFA should be in place in lieu of 3rd year arbitration, but neither side will accept it.

MLB should make concessions which help grow the size of the union: 32 teams by 2028, 28-man rosters and increasing the 40-man to 45. MLBPA should make concessions around horrible long term guaranteed contracts but agents will throw a fit. Meanwhile expand the playoffs to 16 teams but give teams with a 10+ game difference in the first round an automatic win in lieu of Game 1, and those with a 20+ game difference two automatic wins. Give the current players a split of expansion fees to be retroactively paid out to players between 2022-2027 as a bonus based on playing time.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

This goes back to what I said earlier. The union wants a bigger share of the pie which is understandable, but they really don't give a shit about the younger players. All of the options you mention water down the league (expansion teams, increased playoff teams).
I don't have the answer here and I don't think the union does, either. The best things the MLBPA can do is fight for salary floor, raise league minimum, and change service time. Adding playoff teams and league expansion do not equate to the players getting a more equitable piece of the revenue pie....they just increase revenue for the owners.

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MLB Network is playing random games of the past.

Right now they have Angels at White Sox 2007 - Thome's 500th hr.

The best part is hearing Hawk do the broadcast. Reminds me how pleasing it was to listen to Hawk. His baseball stories really make the game secondary at times.

update - Vlad Sr. breaks his bat and Hawk says' Matt Abattacola right there'. LOL

I think you are going to see a change in service time when everything is said and done and I think it's going to hurt every team that's not the Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, or Dodgers.That being said, the current service time rules are one of the big reasons why teams are tanking. I don't know how you square that circle, but I would hate to see them change the service time rules and leave everything else more or less in place. It's just going to result in good players getting plucked from smaller teams quicker.

The service time was always garbage, never should have been allowed. Id like to see fewer games. 140 reg season and start season on may 1st.

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I think there's probably a better system out there somewhere, but what would you propose in its place that's feasible? If you're going to do rookie contracts like the NBA or NFL, you're going to have to also impose a salary cap. If you don't, small market teams will truly become 4A teams. I don't think the players are going to agree to a salary cap.

We already have a salary cap, it is just a soft one though. Id like to see an equal split of revenue like nfl..it would get us more parity imo. The Mets and Dodgers had a 235 million payroll and Baltimore and Pittsburgh had 23 million. That is absurd.

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They should make it more difficult for a team to game the service time thing. The Kris Bryant scenario obviously comes to mind. Change the definition of a ‘full year’ of service time to actually punish a team if they’re going to choose player control over fielding a competitive roster.

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The simple solution is that you only "control" a player until they are 24 years old or for four years after you draft them. You want them longer than that then sign them to an extension.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Absolutly.

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In Dusty We Trusty!

Dusty Baker wins Manager o' the Year award:

https://www.khou.com/article/sports/mlb ... Eq039-Duis

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Buck Showalter Manager of the Mets.

Good move.

Ken Rosenthal out at MLB Network due to previous criticism of Rob Manfred

https://nypost.com/2022/01/03/ken-rosen ... criticism/


added -

This seems.....not good.

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I was just thinking about this in the morning....it's been DEAD quiet. There is zero chance the season starts on time. We don't even have a clear idea where they're in disagreement.

Not. Good.

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