We live in a crazy world right now and it does not get much crazier than the MLB player lockout which started at 12:01 this morning. Anyone who thinks that either side needs this has only to look at what happened in preceding week. If either side seriously thought they would gain a significant advantage when an agreement is reached we would not have seen the frenzy of free agent signings we just witnessed. It was obvious both management and players desperately wanted to get as many deals done UNDER THE EXISTING AGREEMENT as possible. I mean, if both sides like it so much, why not just extend it for another 5 years? Sure, there would need to be some minor changes rightfully favoring the players: Continue raising the CBT threshold, raise the minimum wage players for players in the first 3 years of service time. On the competition side, I personally would like to see a universal DH and a pitch clock. Electronic strike zone is too much to hope for, but that would be nice too. Instead we get an unnecessary work stoppage which will likely not end before the scheduled start of spring training.
More thoughts:
1. I do not recall a commissioner more blatantly championing the owners. Rob Manfred was MLB's labor negotiator before he became commissioner and it's pretty clear he did not leave that role behind. His open letter needlessly blasted the MLBPA and held them responsible for the lockout when it was the owners who implemented it. I know the U.S. Congress has much more important things to worry about, but they had more important things to worry about when they gave MLB an antitrust carve out. Congress and the Labor Department should demand that MLB get an more impartial commissioner or the antitrust exemption ends.
2. Given the current climate, I don't see this ending without the start of the season being pushed back. Both sides seem determined to get every last crumb of the best deal possible. You don't do that unless you are willing to go to the brink. In this case, the brink is Opening Day. So figure out at what point spring training has to start to not push back Opening Day and that is the very earliest we can expect a deal.
3. On a lighter note, I bet FZ and Kap are secretly hoping this wipes out the season and they get to play with scrubs/scabs. Between FZ's ability to identify potential breakthrough talent and Kap's staff's ability to coach them up, the Giants would be the runaway favorites to win the World Series!
The role of commissioner of baseball is unique: he is to preserve "the best interest of baseball" — whatever that is.
ReplyDeleteThe Commissioner has the power to take action against clubs or players if he believes they've done something that strikes at the integrity of the game or the public trust in it (expressed by Richard Justice).
However, the Commissioner is elected by at least 23 (75% of 30) team Owners and really serves "at their pleasure" and wouldn't be the first Commissioner to be dumped if he loses favor.
That said, Manfred has been around MLB for a very long time, since 1987. When he was elevated to Commissioner in 2014 it was by just a 3/4's vote, the first not unanimously elected since 1968.
His new five-year contract extension was approved in 2018 unanimously by MLB owners, beginning at $11M/year.
There are 780 Major Leaguers at one time (26 players per team). 1000 (+/-) play MLB during a year out of up to 10,000 (+/-) professional players (sub A to AAA to MLB).
Approximately 90% of the players are paid from $8,000 (sub A) to $35,000 (AAA) for a 5-month season, averaging less than $20,000. (McDonald's struggles to get people to work for $15/hour, about $20,000 for a full year.)
In CBA negotiations, Tony Clark speaks for MLBPA, and, necessarily, Rob Manfred speaks for the Owners, although the latter is also charged with the best interest of baseball as a whole, including the owners and ALL professional players.
One might think that Manfred only represents the Owners, but he still is the only person that can speak for ALL of baseball.
Offering simplistic solutions doesn't help, nor does just airing one side or the other.
Manfred and Clark (and staffs) should get into a soundproof room and not come out until they have a solution, at least for MLB. If they don't agree by Christmas, they renew what they have for one year.
If this lockout runs thru Spring Training and ends up pushing the season back, I'm sure it will turn off a lot of fans away from baseball, and popularity of the sport will go down. It arguably lags behind the NBA and NFL right now.
ReplyDeleteFor a take on Manfred, listen to Marty Lurie's comments on December 2nd on KNBR, it is available on their podcasts. He essentially states that Manfred, who previous to becoming commissioner was the MLB owner's labor negotiator, is only interested in doing the bidding of the owners - the mouthpiece of the owners. He is not a neutral party, he is an advocate for the owners, and should be represented as such. APGiantsfan
ReplyDeleteHis statement explaining the shutdown would definitely tend to confirm that notion.
DeleteAre you suggesting there should be a 3rd voice who represents the Owners like Tony Clark represents the Players?
DeleteThe Commissioner, who is charged with the "best interest of baseball," could moderate, reminding the advocates for the players and for the owners that the best interest of baseball requires a semblance of competitive balance.
Other professional sports have "caps" on teams' total salaries that are low enough that every city can compete. They don't require years of investment in players most of whom don't ever "make it" as in baseball. Baseball owners have to provide playing structures at different levels to get their eventual players to major league levels.
The players association has a simple charge: more money and shorter servitude, and the viability of franchises is not their concern.
The Rangers shelling out $350 M to Corey Seager, a very good player but not even the best in this year's FA class, tends to confirm my belief that any team in MLB can afford any player(s) they want at any time. Some choose not to for whatever reason but it's not for lack of money.
DeleteTwo things I believe will happen:
ReplyDelete1) Talks will not start until sometime in January.
2) Spring training will start on time.
Too much to lose by both sides. Owners are in the driver seat, but will be smart enough to come up with enough concessions to have the players sign a deal. The pandemic was a loss of revenue and I don't think the owners will want to lose more money. Many people think spring training is too long, but without spring training you are going to see a lot more injuries (as per Mike Krukow).
If the owners lost so much in the pandemic why as their such a bidding war for free agents in the week leading up to the lockout? I believe you can tell from the way players are used on spring training it could safely be shorted by at least one week and probably two. It sounds like the two sides are far enough apart we could see the start of the season pushed back by up to 1 month.
DeleteA bit of a discrepancy from what Forbes magazine says and what Scott Boras says. Forbes writer says owners lost a collective $1 billion. Scott Boras says they did not lose a dollar. I don't know enough about accounting to get into it. Time will tell, but I think despite huge gap between players and owners, that spring training and the season will start on time.
ReplyDeleteUnless the owners opened their books for the Forbes writer, which they have never done for anyone else, who knows? Based on the amount of money owners committed to in the week leading up to the lockout, I would tend to believe Boras.
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