MLB CBA/Labor Dispute Thread

[Legend_Of_Joey]

3 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Would you consider Josh Hart average in regards to education?

That’s a question for Buck.

[Tony-OH]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

What are the elements of an agreement that you think wouid hurt the interests of the fans?   I’m sure there are some (potentially) but I’m not sure what they are.   Playoff format?

I don't think they care about balancing the fairness. Why do we have unbalanced schedules yet the AL East has big money spenders in Boston, New York and even Toronto. How is it fair that the Orioles have to compete 19 times against AL East team while the almost always weaker Al Central and West compete mostly against them but best record is what gets you into the Wild card if you don't win your Division.

I don't they care that one team has a $250 million payroll while others have $50 million. I don't think they care that a star can earn $30 million dollars but a rookie makes under 600K and doesn't have real financial free agency usually until their late 20s or early 30s.

I don't think they care that most fans don't even have meaningful baseball to watch from their teams after the All-star break, many long before.

 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

3 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

I don't think they care about balancing the fairness. Why do we have unbalanced schedules yet the AL East has big money spenders in Boston, New York and even Toronto. How is it fair that the Orioles have to compete 19 times against AL East team while the almost always weaker Al Central and West compete mostly against them but best record is what gets you into the Wild card if you don't win your Division.

I don't they care that one team has a $250 million payroll while others have $50 million. I don't think they care that a star can earn $30 million dollars but a rookie makes under 600K and doesn't have real financial free agency usually until their late 20s or early 30s.

I don't think they care that most fans don't even have meaningful baseball to watch from their teams after the All-star break, many long before.

 

Agree 100%. You have to be lucky and hope you're a fan of a team (the Rays) that figures out how to compete with the big boys. Since we're Orioles fans, so you know the rest...

Even if the disparity in payrolls isn't addressed in any meaningful way, the least MLB could do is throw a bone and return back to the balanced schedule. 

[osfan83]

19 hours ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

Agree 100%. You have to be lucky and hope you're a fan of a team (the Rays) that figures out how to compete with the big boys. Since we're Orioles fans, so you know the rest...

Even if the disparity in payrolls isn't addressed in any meaningful way, the least MLB could do is throw a bone and return back to the balanced schedule. 

Could you imagine if the Premier League split into divisions, put Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City, Man United and Norwich in a division, then played a unbalanced schedule? Why would Norwich ever have any fans? They would beg for relegation just so they could watch some meaningful footy. 

[Can_of_corn]

7 minutes ago, osfan83 said:

Could you imagine if the Premier League split into divisions, put Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City, Man United and Norwich in a division, then played a unbalanced schedule? Why would Norwich ever have any fans? They would beg for relegation just so they could watch some meaningful footy. 

The thing is the Orioles like the unbalanced schedule and the tough division.  They sell more tickets when the Yankees and Red Sox are in town.

[Frobby]

33 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

The thing is the Orioles like the unbalanced schedule and the tough division.  They sell more tickets when the Yankees and Red Sox are in town.

The tough division and unbalanced schedule make life a little more difficult for the Orioles, but it’s very rare that they’ve had a winning record outside the AL East when they’ve had a losing record overall.   There really is no season you can point to in the last 25 years and say, “they would have made the playoffs if they hadn’t been in the AL East.”   So I tend not to worry about it much.   

[osfan83]

56 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

The thing is the Orioles like the unbalanced schedule and the tough division.  They sell more tickets when the Yankees and Red Sox are in town.

True, but the fans don't like it.

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

The thing is the Orioles like the unbalanced schedule and the tough division.  They sell more tickets when the Yankees and Red Sox are in town.

Yeah, they pack in 12,000 instead of 7,000 during the week.

[osfan83]

22 minutes ago, Frobby said:

The tough division and unbalanced schedule make life a little more difficult for the Orioles, but it’s very rare that they’ve had a winning record outside the AL East when they’ve had a losing record overall.   There really is no season you can point to in the last 25 years and say, “they would have made the playoffs if they hadn’t been in the AL East.”   So I tend not to worry about it much.   

Well, there is no way to prove it, but I think the cumulative affect of playing big payroll teams may wear down the O's over 162, so they perform worse against teams outside of the division.

And as stated here before, FA pitchers really don't want to play in Baltimore and face those line ups all the time.

And third, it just doesn't make sense for teams to compete for the same playoff slot, but play vastly different levels of competition. 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Tony-OH said:

Yeah, they pack in 12,000 instead of 7,000 during the week.

And they can charge extra, for those "Premium" games!

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, osfan83 said:

Well, there is no way to prove it, but I think the cumulative affect of playing big payroll teams may wear down the O's over 162, so they perform worse against teams outside of the division.

And as stated here before, FA pitchers really don't want to play in Baltimore and face those line ups all the time.

And third, it just doesn't make sense for teams to compete for the same playoff slot, but play vastly different levels of competition. 

I think this isn't one of the major reasons the O's don't sign premium free agent pitchers.  I think it is almost entirely their reluctance to over the money or years other teams offer.

 

[Tony-OH]

4 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I think this isn't one of the major reasons the O's don't sign premium free agent pitchers.  I think it is almost entirely their reluctance to over the money or years other teams offer.

 

Name one starting free agent pitcher that came here when they had an equal or close offer and then performed well and parlayed that into a bigger contract either here or else where! 

I'll wait.

While I do think previous administrations, probably limited by the owner in the past, have been reluctant to sign high priced starting pitching, I don't think you can ignore the Division concerns, especially when dealing with an unbalanced schedule and hitter friendly stadiums in the AL East. 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Tony-OH said:

Name one starting free agent pitcher that came here when they had an equal or close offer and then performed well and parlayed that into a bigger contract either here or else where! 

I'll wait.

While I do think previous administrations, probably limited by the owner in the past, have been reluctant to sign high priced starting pitching, I don't think you can ignore the Division concerns, especially when dealing with an unbalanced schedule and hitter friendly stadiums in the AL East. 

I don't think we know with any certainty if the offers from the Orioles were equal to those of other teams.  Mostly I think the Orioles don't attempt to woo impact free agent pitchers.

[Tony-OH]

2 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I don't think we know with any certainty if the offers from the Orioles were equal to those of other teams.  Mostly I think the Orioles don't attempt to woo impact free agent pitchers.

Well this is off the subject of this thread anyways.

On the subject, I think unbalanced schedules are distinct disadvantage and I don't know of too many fans that enjoy it. However, I think teams enjoy price gouging fans for games against big market teams with fans not too far to travel so in this case, I don't see the owners giving this up and I don't see the players caring one way o the other.

It's the fans that get left out in the cold.

[BohKnowsBmore]

On 10/26/2021 at 11:54 AM, Can_of_corn said:

I don't disagree with any of this.  I hate using nebulous terms like fair but frankly I couldn't come up with anything better.

I think ownership is more concerned about "winning" than they are averting a work stoppage.

 

On 10/26/2021 at 11:58 AM, Frobby said:

As they were in 1995.

I think one of the complicating factors is that owners are probably better-positioned to recover from any sustained, but temporary downturn than the players are. League revenues dipping for a five-year period, for example, provides a material drag on lifetime earnings of the majority of current players (basically everyone who doesn't already have a long-term mega deal). Owners are generally thinking about things closer to a ten-year time horizon, so if they think for whatever reason that any negative impact would be temporary even lasting several years, they have less reason to fear such an outcome than the players side.

Doesn't mean I'm happy about it, but it's at least somewhat rational.