I had hoped against hope that I would not have to be in the position of canceling games. We worked hard to avoid an outcome that is bad for our fans, bad for our players and bad for our clubs.
I want to assure our fans that our failure to reach an agreement was not due to a lack of effort on the part of either party. The Players came here for nine days, worked hard and tried to make a deal. I appreciate their effort.
Our committee of Club representatives committed to the process, offered compromise after compromise, and hung in past the deadline to exhaust all efforts to reach an agreement.
So far, we have failed to achieve our mutual goal of a fair deal. The unfortunate thing is that the agreement we have offered has huge benefits for fans and players.
We have listened to the Players Association throughout this process. A primary goal of the Players Association has been to increase pay for younger players. As I have said previously, we agree and share that goal. We offered to raise the minimum salary to $700,000, an increase of $130,000 from 2021. We offered to create an annual bonus pool of $30 million for the very best young players. In total, we are offering a 33% raise to nearly two-thirds of Major League players and adding more than $100 million annually in additional compensation for younger players.
The proposal also addressed player and fan concerns about issues like service time and competitive issues. Baseball would for the first time have a draft lottery -- the most aggressive in professional sports. Also, for the first time ever, we agreed to an incentive system to encourage clubs to promote top prospects to their Opening Day rosters. We also proposed that the first andsecond-place finishers in the Rookie of the Year voting in each league would receive a full year of service.
The MLBPA asked to make free agency more robust. For the first time ever, we agreed to eliminate direct draft pick compensation, a change the MLBPA has sought for decades. On the Competitive Balance Tax, we offered a significantly larger first-year increase than in the last two agreements, bearing in mind that the Competitive Balance Tax is the only mechanism in the agreement that protects some semblance of a level playing field among clubs.
The International Draft would have more fairly allocated talent among the clubs and reduced abuses in some international markets.
We also listened to our fans. The expanded playoffs would bring the excitement of meaningful September baseball and postseason baseball to fans in more of our markets. While we preferred a 14-team format, when the format became a significant obstacle, we listened to the players’ concerns, and offered to compromise by accepting their 12-team format.
Finally, we offered a procedural agreement that would allow for the timely implementation of sorely needed rules like the pitch timer and elimination of shifts to improve the entertainment value of the game on the field. And we agreed to the universal DH.
So, what is next? The calendar dictates that we are not going to be able to play the first two series of regular season games and those games are officially canceled. We are prepared to continue negotiations. We have been informed that the MLBPA is headed back to New York meaning that no agreement is possible until at least Thursday. Currently, camps could not meaningfully operate until at least March 8th, leaving only 23 days before scheduled Opening Day.
We played without an agreement in 1994 and the players went on strike in August, forcing the cancellation of the World Series. It was a painful chapter in our game’s history. We cannot risk such an outcome again for our fans and our sport.
The Clubs and our owners fully understand just how important it is to our millions of fans that we get the game on the field as soon as possible. To that end, we want to bargain and we want a deal with the Players Association as quickly as possible.
Hard to buy any of that when the “last chance” offer was more of a “let’s open negotiations” offer.
If I hear “I’d play for the league minimum” or “getting paid millions to play a game” a few dozen more times from somebody that couldn’t get off the bench in little league I’m going to clothesline somebody.
To be honest, they could miss the first 40 games of the year and the season would still be about 20 games too long.
While I do agree the season is too long, this lockout under the guise of the owners having trouble making a profit is laughable.
But a 162 game season means you don't need to put half the league in the playoffs like the other sports do. That's part of what used to make baseball unique.
Maybe if some owners (coughcough Cubs' Tom Ricketts cough) weren't so god damn busy donating millions & millions to Trump's campaign and various farcical election fraud organizations, and instead actually invested in the fucking baseball team, they wouldn't be having so much "financial trouble."
I had hoped against hope that I would not have to be in the position of canceling games. We worked hard to avoid an outcome that is bad for our fans, bad for our players and bad for our clubs.
I want to assure our fans that our failure to reach an agreement was not due to a lack of effort on the part of either party. The Players came here for nine days, worked hard and tried to make a deal. I appreciate their effort.
Our committee of Club representatives committed to the process, offered compromise after compromise, and hung in past the deadline to exhaust all efforts to reach an agreement.
So far, we have failed to achieve our mutual goal of a fair deal. The unfortunate thing is that the agreement we have offered has huge benefits for fans and players.
We have listened to the Players Association throughout this process. A primary goal of the Players Association has been to increase pay for younger players. As I have said previously, we agree and share that goal. We offered to raise the minimum salary to $700,000, an increase of $130,000 from 2021. We offered to create an annual bonus pool of $30 million for the very best young players. In total, we are offering a 33% raise to nearly two-thirds of Major League players and adding more than $100 million annually in additional compensation for younger players.
The proposal also addressed player and fan concerns about issues like service time and competitive issues. Baseball would for the first time have a draft lottery -- the most aggressive in professional sports. Also, for the first time ever, we agreed to an incentive system to encourage clubs to promote top prospects to their Opening Day rosters. We also proposed that the first andsecond-place finishers in the Rookie of the Year voting in each league would receive a full year of service.
The MLBPA asked to make free agency more robust. For the first time ever, we agreed to eliminate direct draft pick compensation, a change the MLBPA has sought for decades. On the Competitive Balance Tax, we offered a significantly larger first-year increase than in the last two agreements, bearing in mind that the Competitive Balance Tax is the only mechanism in the agreement that protects some semblance of a level playing field among clubs.
The International Draft would have more fairly allocated talent among the clubs and reduced abuses in some international markets.
We also listened to our fans. The expanded playoffs would bring the excitement of meaningful September baseball and postseason baseball to fans in more of our markets. While we preferred a 14-team format, when the format became a significant obstacle, we listened to the players’ concerns, and offered to compromise by accepting their 12-team format.
Finally, we offered a procedural agreement that would allow for the timely implementation of sorely needed rules like the pitch timer and elimination of shifts to improve the entertainment value of the game on the field. And we agreed to the universal DH.
So, what is next? The calendar dictates that we are not going to be able to play the first two series of regular season games and those games are officially canceled. We are prepared to continue negotiations. We have been informed that the MLBPA is headed back to New York meaning that no agreement is possible until at least Thursday. Currently, camps could not meaningfully operate until at least March 8th, leaving only 23 days before scheduled Opening Day.
We played without an agreement in 1994 and the players went on strike in August, forcing the cancellation of the World Series. It was a painful chapter in our game’s history. We cannot risk such an outcome again for our fans and our sport.
The Clubs and our owners fully understand just how important it is to our millions of fans that we get the game on the field as soon as possible. To that end, we want to bargain and we want a deal with the Players Association as quickly as possible.
Hard to buy any of that when the “last chance” offer was more of a “let’s open negotiations” offer.
If I hear “I’d play for the league minimum” or “getting paid millions to play a game” a few dozen more times from somebody that couldn’t get off the bench in little league I’m going to clothesline somebody.
I'll be your tag partner. And don't forget "millionaires vs. billionaires" while we're clotheslining folks!
Don't ban shifts Pitch clock, but there is a rule on time between pitches in the Official rule book already? (If so, enforce the rule) No bigger bases either
Safety I’m guessing, but they’ll still have the neighborhood play.
I like the no shift idea. Hard enough to hit a baseball and I bet about every team has a guy who’s career was wrecked by emphasizing the long ball. Chicks dig the long ball but opening up more small ball makes for more entertaining games.
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
If you guessed Arizona, Cincinnati, Detroit and the Angels as four teams to reject increasing the CBT to 220 million collect your prize and there's this from the Athletic:
"One of the league’s efforts that irked the players was a proposal to incorporate meal money and the stipends players receive into the luxury-tax calculations. MLB, in other words, wanted to count the amount of money players receive for food against the amount of money teams can spend before they are taxed."
Reading 2004
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016 Fenway 2, 2018 MSG 2022 St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023 MSG 2024, MSG 2024 Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
Safety I’m guessing, but they’ll still have the neighborhood play.
I like the no shift idea. Hard enough to hit a baseball and I bet about every team has a guy who’s career was wrecked by emphasizing the long ball. Chicks dig the long ball but opening up more small ball makes for more entertaining games.
In co-ed softball we have a line painted where the outfield is not allowed to cross until the ball is hit. Banning the shift gives the hitter the same help as the people in co-ed softball.
Apples and oranges maybe but it came into my mind.
Leave the shift, learn to pull or swing later. Bunt maybe? Figure out a new strategy.
If you guessed Arizona, Cincinnati, Detroit and the Angels as four teams to reject increasing the CBT to 220 million collect your prize and there's this from the Athletic:
"One of the league’s efforts that irked the players was a proposal to incorporate meal money and the stipends players receive into the luxury-tax calculations. MLB, in other words, wanted to count the amount of money players receive for food against the amount of money teams can spend before they are taxed."
Why a player making that much money has a stipend/per diem is ridiculous to me.
Safety I’m guessing, but they’ll still have the neighborhood play.
I like the no shift idea. Hard enough to hit a baseball and I bet about every team has a guy who’s career was wrecked by emphasizing the long ball. Chicks dig the long ball but opening up more small ball makes for more entertaining games.
Leave the shift, learn to pull or swing later. Bunt maybe? Figure out a new strategy.
Hitters have stated (and rightfully so) that with the advantages pitchers have these days it's just not that feasible to just hit the ball the other way. Now if you take every little aid away from pitchers, no rosin no spider tack (which I know they outlawed but we all know still gets used), etc., then fine, leave the shift in place. Otherwise, I say even with the 2nd base bag should be as far as an infielder can shift towards the other side.
If you guessed Arizona, Cincinnati, Detroit and the Angels as four teams to reject increasing the CBT to 220 million collect your prize and there's this from the Athletic:
"One of the league’s efforts that irked the players was a proposal to incorporate meal money and the stipends players receive into the luxury-tax calculations. MLB, in other words, wanted to count the amount of money players receive for food against the amount of money teams can spend before they are taxed."
Why a player making that much money has a stipend/per diem is ridiculous to me.
who knows, but food stipends don't seem like they're tied a team's payroll, at least they shouldn't be.
Reading 2004
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016 Fenway 2, 2018 MSG 2022 St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023 MSG 2024, MSG 2024 Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
If you guessed Arizona, Cincinnati, Detroit and the Angels as four teams to reject increasing the CBT to 220 million collect your prize and there's this from the Athletic:
"One of the league’s efforts that irked the players was a proposal to incorporate meal money and the stipends players receive into the luxury-tax calculations. MLB, in other words, wanted to count the amount of money players receive for food against the amount of money teams can spend before they are taxed."
Why a player making that much money has a stipend/per diem is ridiculous to me.
who knows, but food stipends don't seem like they're tied a team's payroll, at least they shouldn't be.
It should. That is part of operating and running the team. It's an expense that most likely gets written in their contracts so it should be billable towards that.
Safety I’m guessing, but they’ll still have the neighborhood play.
I like the no shift idea. Hard enough to hit a baseball and I bet about every team has a guy who’s career was wrecked by emphasizing the long ball. Chicks dig the long ball but opening up more small ball makes for more entertaining games.
Leave the shift, learn to pull or swing later. Bunt maybe? Figure out a new strategy.
Hitters have stated (and rightfully so) that with the advantages pitchers have these days it's just not that feasible to just hit the ball the other way. Now if you take every little aid away from pitchers, no rosin no spider tack (which I know they outlawed but we all know still gets used), etc., then fine, leave the shift in place. Otherwise, I say even with the 2nd base bag should be as far as an infielder can shift towards the other side.
Pitchers to me do not have an advantage over a batter. I can get into that later.
I get the batter has a routine and does what he does in order to hit the ball. Batters make adjustments all the time. If you have a one way sally and only pulls the ball then load up the field on that side. Can't hit the other way? Tough.
Learn how to bunt so it confuses the fielders then is my answer. The metrics probably don't measure out that way but a runner is a runner...
If you guessed Arizona, Cincinnati, Detroit and the Angels as four teams to reject increasing the CBT to 220 million collect your prize and there's this from the Athletic:
"One of the league’s efforts that irked the players was a proposal to incorporate meal money and the stipends players receive into the luxury-tax calculations. MLB, in other words, wanted to count the amount of money players receive for food against the amount of money teams can spend before they are taxed."
Why a player making that much money has a stipend/per diem is ridiculous to me.
who knows, but food stipends don't seem like they're tied a team's payroll, at least they shouldn't be.
Food stipends for major leaguers (at least those with full service time in) are stupid. A guy making 8 figures needs the team to pay for his KFC and Chipotle? Asinine.
If you guessed Arizona, Cincinnati, Detroit and the Angels as four teams to reject increasing the CBT to 220 million collect your prize and there's this from the Athletic:
"One of the league’s efforts that irked the players was a proposal to incorporate meal money and the stipends players receive into the luxury-tax calculations. MLB, in other words, wanted to count the amount of money players receive for food against the amount of money teams can spend before they are taxed."
Why a player making that much money has a stipend/per diem is ridiculous to me.
who knows, but food stipends don't seem like they're tied a team's payroll, at least they shouldn't be.
Food stipends for major leaguers (at least those with full service time in) are stupid. A guy making 8 figures needs the team to pay for his KFC and Chipotle? Asinine.
guess I never thought of it one way or the other.
Reading 2004
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016 Fenway 2, 2018 MSG 2022 St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023 MSG 2024, MSG 2024 Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
speaking of commies...what a terrible name for the WFT.
If I had known then what I know now...
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
Comments
While I do agree the season is too long, this lockout under the guise of the owners having trouble making a profit is laughable.
If I hear “I’d play for the league minimum” or “getting paid millions to play a game” a few dozen more times from somebody that couldn’t get off the bench in little league I’m going to clothesline somebody.
Pearl Jam bootlegs:
http://wegotshit.blogspot.com
Pitch clock, but there is a rule on time between pitches in the Official rule book already? (If so, enforce the rule)
No bigger bases either
I like the no shift idea. Hard enough to hit a baseball and I bet about every team has a guy who’s career was wrecked by emphasizing the long ball. Chicks dig the long ball but opening up more small ball makes for more entertaining games.
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
"One of the league’s efforts that irked the players was a proposal to incorporate meal money and the stipends players receive into the luxury-tax calculations. MLB, in other words, wanted to count the amount of money players receive for food against the amount of money teams can spend before they are taxed."
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016
Fenway 2, 2018
MSG 2022
St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023
MSG 2024, MSG 2024
Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
and universal dh obviously
But fuck the DH from here to eternity.
Apples and oranges maybe but it came into my mind.
Leave the shift, learn to pull or swing later. Bunt maybe? Figure out a new strategy.
Just hit the other way, fatso
Now if you take every little aid away from pitchers, no rosin no spider tack (which I know they outlawed but we all know still gets used), etc., then fine, leave the shift in place. Otherwise, I say even with the 2nd base bag should be as far as an infielder can shift towards the other side.
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016
Fenway 2, 2018
MSG 2022
St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023
MSG 2024, MSG 2024
Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
I get the batter has a routine and does what he does in order to hit the ball. Batters make adjustments all the time. If you have a one way sally and only pulls the ball then load up the field on that side. Can't hit the other way? Tough.
Learn how to bunt so it confuses the fielders then is my answer. The metrics probably don't measure out that way but a runner is a runner...
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016
Fenway 2, 2018
MSG 2022
St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023
MSG 2024, MSG 2024
Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14