MLB Lockout Thread

[Tony-OH]

56 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

I've got a contrarian take on all of this...

It's normal. There's a time for business and there's a time for games. This is a time for business. It doesn't mean that they don't love the game. It doesn't mean that either side is greedier than the other. It doesn't mean they don't care about fans. It's just a scheduled time to divvy up billions of dollars.

Why not sooner? Because it's a negotiation, not a playground game. Negotiations are often deadline driven. It's why the trade deadline is often craziest in the hours before it passes. And this isn't a matter of public safety like some master labor negotiations. It's about a game. 

So what's happening isn't indicative of anything in my opinion other than two parties handling their business on a very predictable timeline. It's quite possible that one holds out and is willing to lose some games, but I'd say unlikely this go around. If it does happen, the delay will be short.

I hope you are right, but I think you underestimate the amount of greed on both sides. I also don't think either side cares about the fans in the least bit for no other reason than we are the ones that ultimately pay all of their fat pay checks.

That doesn't mean every player doesn't care, because I do think there are good guys out there that do (Mancini and Mullins immediately come to mind), but the more money they make the more they separate themselves from the common fan. You have guys like Scherzer that are so out of touch with the common man that he literally thinks his $40 million a year self should be talking in the press about the unfairness of baseball players making at minimum, ten times the average salary of what their fans make.

Now I'm not going to get into the economics of professional sports, nor do I care whether a Billionaire or Millionaire has more money in their pockets, but it's completely out of touch to be crying in the press when there are fans out there really struggling with all of the inflation going on in this country.

[Can_of_corn]

8 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

After what the MLBPA pulled in 2014, the owners can never allow a possibility of a mid-season strike again. As far apart as they are in their positions, a lockout made the most sense from their perspective.

While I've been critical of the MLBPA, and rightly so in my opinion, the owners have to realize that they need to get more money into the hands of the producing young players if they want a system that won't force them into signing mediocre middle aged players for insane amounts. 

 

Aside from the Os winning the AL East what out of the ordinary thing happened in 2014?

[glenn__davis]

Honestly I don't really think it's about money.  It's about winning.  Not at baseball, but at business.  Both sides are deeply determine to get one over on the other.

[LookinUp]

It's just the system. Where master and labor are organized, they make time limited deals. This is when they make the sausage.

It's not about winning or losing. It's about getting as much as you can for your side. They hire highly paid people to assist. 

Is it disassociated from the fans? Yes. Is it a free market? No. Is there a better way absent some Drungo-like relegation scheme? Probably not.

[Sports Guy]

19 minutes ago, glenn__davis said:

Honestly I don't really think it's about money.  It's about winning.  Not at baseball, but at business.  Both sides are deeply determine to get one over on the other.

Pride, ego, hatred for Manfred.

All of those are the main reasons this is still going.

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

Aside from the Os winning the AL East what out of the ordinary thing happened in 2014?

That was supposed to be 2004, which I think you knew.  

[Tony-OH]

59 minutes ago, glenn__davis said:

Honestly I don't really think it's about money.  It's about winning.  Not at baseball, but at business.  Both sides are deeply determine to get one over on the other.

While I do believe both sides have healthy sized egos and appearing to "win" is important to those ego's, let's be real now, this is all about money and greed.

As Barf once said, "It's not about the money, it's about a sh!tload of money!"

[Sports Guy]

5 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

While I do believe both sides have healthy sized egos and appearing to "win" is important to those ego's, let's be real now, this is all about money and greed.

As Barf once said, "It's not about the money, it's about a sh!tload of money!"

Any thread where you can quote John Candy, Spaceballs or John Candy in Spaceballs is a good thread.

[Frobby]

33 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

That was supposed to be 2004, which I think you knew.  

Actually, 1994.   

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Actually, 1994.   

I think Tony said 2004 as a joke, hence the wink.

I admit he also got me until I saw it.

[DrungoHazewood]

21 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

Of course they don't.

Is *anyone* surprised anymore that professional athletes and the owners that own the teams don't care about anything as much as they care about money?  It's not the 1950s anymore.

You think the guys from the 1950s weren't in it for money?  They were as much in it for cash then as now.  There was just less cash to go around, so some of the stakes were different.

The reason the Orioles aren't still in the NL is that in 1899 Ned Hanlon thought he could make more money in Brooklyn so he bought part of the Brooklyn team while he still owned most of the Orioles, and then transferred multiple Hall of Famers to Brooklyn and told Baltimore sucks to be you, I need to make a buck.

[LookinUp]

12 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

You think the guys from the 1950s weren't in it for money?  They were as much in it for cash then as now.  There was just less cash to go around, so some of the stakes were different.

The reason the Orioles aren't still in the NL is that in 1899 Ned Hanlon thought he could make more money in Brooklyn so he bought part of the Brooklyn team while he still owned most of the Orioles, and then transferred multiple Hall of Famers to Brooklyn and told Baltimore sucks to be you, I need to make a buck.

Yup. Manfra and Tony Clark are just the latest [INSERT NAME HERE] to have the job. They're no different than most.

[glenn__davis]

3 hours ago, LookinUp said:

It's just the system. Where master and labor are organized, they make time limited deals. This is when they make the sausage.

It's not about winning or losing. It's about getting as much as you can for your side. They hire highly paid people to assist. 

Is it disassociated from the fans? Yes. Is it a free market? No. Is there a better way absent some Drungo-like relegation scheme? Probably not.

No question, labor negotiations are a standard part of business.  But there's not always animosity as I believe there is in this case.  Read multiple national outlets - both sides don't just want to win but want to make sure the other side loses.

[Sports Guy]

Now urgency is being felt 

 

 

[btdart20]

15 minutes ago, glenn__davis said:

No question, labor negotiations are a standard part of business.  But there's not always animosity as I believe there is in this case.  Read multiple national outlets - both sides don't just want to win but want to make sure the other side loses.

Some of the animosity is a product of the day/age when things are discussed in public (i.e. see anything political and covered by outlets looking for clicks).  There's a feed-back loop that's hard to get out of.