A lot of posters here criticize the NFL for greed, rule changes, etc, but the sport is as healthy as ever. Ratings and popularity through the roof.
Meanwhile, MLB isn’t even close to coming back after the players rejected the most recent proposal from the owners. NBA & NHL have a clear plan while MLB isn’t anywhere close.
The sport is pretty much irrelevant nationally, it doesn’t move the needle at all. If they don’t play this year, it will only get worse. Pretty pathetic by both sides here.
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I couldn't care if the NFL was the only sport on TV- I would watch it if you paid me. You could give me a choice between watching paint dry and watching hockey. Paint will win every time. Could care less if the NFL folded tomorrow.
The NBA gets the fan experience- but unfortunately, it will be without for a while. THe NBA had personalities, fans right up to the edge of the action and loud indoor arenas. Could teams pretend to care about defense, sure- but it gets old fast- look at the Pistons from the 90's.
With that said, MLB is just the first sport that admits its money problems. Neither side is willing to be the one to eat the losses, so you are seeing all the posturing about splits and salary cuts. The problem with MLB is that it expanded into too many small markets that simply cannot compete with financial powerhouses like LA, NYC, Boston or Chicago. The Milwaukees, Kansas Citys, Tampas and Pittsbughs are the problem- can't and wont' compete, so their owners expect everyone else to subsidize them- and the commish goes along.
You want to see fighting, wait until the NFL and NBA have to knock tens of millions off the salary caps next season. The TV contracts won't be anything like what the NFL was planning- and without full stadiums (not happening in 2020)- then we will see strife. People getting their jollies off on MLBs fighting are due for a reality check next spring.
I couldn't care if the NFL was the only sport on TV- I would watch it if you paid me. You could give me a choice between watching paint dry and watching hockey. Paint will win every time. Could care less if the NFL folded tomorrow.
The NBA gets the fan experience- but unfortunately, it will be without for a while. THe NBA had personalities, fans right up to the edge of the action and loud indoor arenas. Could teams pretend to care about defense, sure- but it gets old fast- look at the Pistons from the 90's.
With that said, MLB is just the first sport that admits its money problems. Neither side is willing to be the one to eat the losses, so you are seeing all the posturing about splits and salary cuts. The problem with MLB is that it expanded into too many small markets that simply cannot compete with financial powerhouses like LA, NYC, Boston or Chicago. The Milwaukees, Kansas Citys, Tampas and Pittsbughs are the problem- can't and wont' compete, so their owners expect everyone else to subsidize them- and the commish goes along.
You want to see fighting, wait until the NFL and NBA have to knock tens of millions off the salary caps next season. The TV contracts won't be anything like what the NFL was planning- and without full stadiums (not happening in 2020)- then we will see strife. People getting their jollies off on MLBs fighting are due for a reality check next spring.
LOL - you criticize the NHL for "letting everyone in the playoffs", yet the NBA actually fewer number of teams left out of playoff (15 for NHL, 14 for NBA).
NHL actually has the most constant action of any major sport, but don't let facts get in the way...
Oh, and if you "could care less", that means you actually care a great deal about it. The phrase you might want to use is "couldn't care less".
Carry on...
I haven't seen a season proposal, but it's the bottom of the pay scale players who will crack IMO because that 434k may mean more to them than the 7.8M to the player who is making $35M in the example (just IMO)
@JesseRogersESPN
Sources: Under MLB proposal to players, a player making $35 mil in 2020 would make about $7.8 mil. A player making 10 mil would get about 2.9 mil and a player making a mil would make $434k.
This. And after the reduced schedule and cutback I thnk players would only be making 33% of what their salaries would have been.
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the problems....
This. And after the reduced schedule and cutback I thnk players would only be making 33% of what their salaries would have been.
After seeing PJ's thread, it is less than 33%.
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In comment 14911200 Crazed Dogs said:
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the problems....
This. And after the reduced schedule and cutback I thnk players would only be making 33% of what their salaries would have been.
After seeing PJ's thread, it is less than 33%.
Jason Collette
@jasoncollette
·
10m
So that’s a:
-78% paycut
-71% paycut
-57% paycut
Jeff Passan
@JeffPassan
· 9m
Potential salary cuts in MLB plan, sources tell @JesseRogersESPN and me:
Full-year Proposal
$563.5K $262K
$1M $434K
$2M $736K
$5M $1.64M
$10M $2.95M
$15M $4.05M
$20M $5.15M
$25M $6.05M
$30M $6.95M
$35M $7.84M
and an independent auditor since no one trusts MLB bookkeepers.
Or..like I said before, some of the players get desperate.
Jeff Passan
@JeffPassan
· 54m
Seen another way: 82-game prorated salaries vs. MLB's proposal
Full Proposal
prorated
$285K $262K
$506K $434K
$1.01M $736K
$2.53M $1.64M
$5.06M $2.95M
$7.59M $4.05M
$10.1M $5.15M
$12.7M $6.05M
$15.2M $6.95M
$17.7M $7.84M
@JeffPassan
· 1h
The Oakland A's informed minor league players today that they would not continue paying them $400 a week after the end of the month, sources familiar with the situation told ESPN.
Other decisions from organizations should arrive in the coming days. A bad sign to start, though.
The MLB Unifirm Player Contract contains this language:
“... and subject also to the right of the Commissioner to suspend the operation of this contract during any national emergency during which Major League Baseball is not played.”
Jeff Passan
@JeffPassan
·
2h
Just some rough math. Say there are 200 players in a minor league system. Paying each $400/week for July, July and August is $5,200 per player. To pay every minor leaguer would have cost the Oakland A's a hair over $1 million.
Owner John Fisher is worth an estimated $2 billion.
Jeff Passan
@JeffPassan
·
2h
Just some rough math. Say there are 200 players in a minor league system. Paying each $400/week for July, July and August is $5,200 per player. To pay every minor leaguer would have cost the Oakland A's a hair over $1 million.
Owner John Fisher is worth an estimated $2 billion.
I am playing Devil's advocate here. That will be his argument. This is why I say the league should pool ALL revenues for this season. This is a disgusting policy. How do teams expect to play without minor leagues below them?
They're going to expand the 40 man roster to 50, and have that entire roster with the team all year. The likelihood that a team would have a need for a minor leaguer outside that pool of 50 seems awfully low.
Jeff Passan
@JeffPassan
·
2h
Just some rough math. Say there are 200 players in a minor league system. Paying each $400/week for July, July and August is $5,200 per player. To pay every minor leaguer would have cost the Oakland A's a hair over $1 million.
Owner John Fisher is worth an estimated $2 billion.
Can probably make more collecting unemployment
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realist is as bad as the optics IMO.
Jeff Passan
@JeffPassan
·
2h
Just some rough math. Say there are 200 players in a minor league system. Paying each $400/week for July, July and August is $5,200 per player. To pay every minor leaguer would have cost the Oakland A's a hair over $1 million.
Owner John Fisher is worth an estimated $2 billion.
Can probably make more collecting unemployment
If they can file they will, I assume they're eligible for PUA which I think is federally added $600 per week to whatever your state pays.
I still think if the league can suspend the contract the player isn't under contract and should be able to declare free agency.
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In comment 14911334 pjcas18 said:
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realist is as bad as the optics IMO.
Jeff Passan
@JeffPassan
·
2h
Just some rough math. Say there are 200 players in a minor league system. Paying each $400/week for July, July and August is $5,200 per player. To pay every minor leaguer would have cost the Oakland A's a hair over $1 million.
Owner John Fisher is worth an estimated $2 billion.
Can probably make more collecting unemployment
If they can file they will, I assume they're eligible for PUA which I think is federally added $600 per week to whatever your state pays.
I still think if the league can suspend the contract the player isn't under contract and should be able to declare free agency.
Not if the contract says the commish can suspend play in a national emergency..
I thought that the 1st plan was based on a shortened season, but with spectators? Baseball makes a lot of money off tickets and concessions. Not sure some of these teams could afford paying salaries with empty stadiums and no concession sales..
+1
Its called seeing the long picture - lots of large corporations this year will suffer some losses but while protecting the livelihoods and health of their employees... and they'll be rewarded over the long-term for that.
Oh and no one believes MLB's books either
something like that I think may make it more equitable for the players.
Kyle Glaser
@KyleAGlaser
·
30m
Add the Marlins to the list of teams who will continue paying their minor leaguers. Miami will continue giving its minor leaguers $400 per week.
Kyle Glaser
@KyleAGlaser
·
30m
Add the Marlins to the list of teams who will continue paying their minor leaguers. Miami will continue giving its minor leaguers $400 per week.
Also, not sure you know what you're talking about. From what I can find, only 4 teams have publicly stated plans for paying their minor leaguers. The White Sox, Marlins and Phillies all announced plans to continue to paying their players - though the phillies said the $400 might be lower. Only the A's said otherwise. So far.
Its called seeing the long picture - lots of large corporations this year will suffer some losses but while protecting the livelihoods and health of their employees... and they'll be rewarded over the long-term for that.
Oh and no one believes MLB's books either
Well said. And the owners know they can win the PR battle, "look at these greedy players who refuse to still play for millions while a significant amount of people remain unemployed!"
It's BS, this group of Owners, with spineless Manfred doing their bidding, are absolutely killing Baseball. There is no eye on the bigger picture, just short term profit. If they can't find a way to play this season, the sport may never fully recover.
@JonHeyman
·
1h
Union leadership, many top agents and surely highly-paid star players are upset by MLB proposal (“barely worth a response”), but many lower-paid players may have different reax. Know this: 65% of MLB players make $1M or less and off prorated pay they still get at most a 15% cut.
Sports owners have forever taken advantage of the emotional response that sports brings to people and have benefited greatly from a closed market for each of their respective leagues.
They'll never drum up that much sympathy from me.
1) How do you play baseball without minor leagues ? This isn't football where you have a practice squad. The minor leaguers have to play games to be viable as call ups, but they won't be able to. In football you play one day a week and practice 5 days. In baseball you play every day. There is no time for these minor leaguers to do any meaningful work.
2) The proposed COVID protocols are ridiculous. Players not in the game can't be on the bench ? Players are expected to social distance on the base paths ? This is going to make putting in a pinch hitter as slow as making a pitching change. The whole flow of the game is going to be disruptive to players and boring for viewers.
3) What about reporters and announcers ? Having them remote doesn't work. For example when a player hits a fly ball how does the announcer know whether its a pop up or a home run ? Unless its an obvious moonshot he watches how the players react. Otherwise from a broadcast booth its difficult to tell the difference between a pop up or a fly ball to the outfield. It won't work from a remote monitor.
I suspect many owners and many players really don't want to play. The smaller markets are going to have a negative cash flow as it is. What happens if a significant number of players want to sit the season out, the money be damned. If the product they put out there is perceived as a farce its going to be even worse for the owners.
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Jon Heyman
@JonHeyman
·
1h
Union leadership, many top agents and surely highly-paid star players are upset by MLB proposal (“barely worth a response”), but many lower-paid players may have different reax. Know this: 65% of MLB players make $1M or less and off prorated pay they still get at most a 15% cut.
Lol what kind of logic is that.... at most a 15% cut.... off a prorated pay amount (which is their annual salary). You are asking lower paid players to take a 57.5%-plus paycut for their 2020 take home pay. End of story.
of the players dont play and teams lose money you will see more teams go the way of the Marlins and Pirates and load up on minmimum contract guys. There is already to many teams crying poor and gicing up on this season before the pandemic it will double next year.
Players are painted into a corner and MLB knows it
I understand how contracts work, but if there's no basbeall nobody at the networks makes nickel. I think we can all agree that there are a little different cirumstances than normal.