Around Baseball 2019

[Ehjays]

Rosenthal: “Palpable” Threat Of MLB Work Stoppage

By Jeff Todd | January 29, 2019 at 3:08pm CDT

Veteran reporter Ken Rosenthal has sounded the alarm for the possibility of a MLB work stoppage in a piece today at The Athletic (subscription link). He opens the article with the eyebrow-raising observation that “the threat of the sport’s first work stoppage since 1994-95 is palpable.”

Importantly, Rosenthal does not cite sources for the proposition that a strike or lockout are specifically being contemplated now or in the immediate future. But the fact that such a well-placed reporter characterizes the state of affairs in that manner is noteworthy in and of itself. And the piece does document a few nuggets of information that hint that the possibility is in the back of the minds of some. For instance, per the report, the players “have taken the unusual step of authorizing the union to withhold their entire [licensing fees] checks” to keep a reserve fund in place.

It’s hardly novel at this point to see the concept of a labor war floated. Certainly, the increasingly antagonistic relationship between Major League Baseball (and its member teams) and the Major League Baseball Players Association (along with the players that make up its membership) has long been observed. Market changes have been evident since the current CBA went into effect, with last winter’s laborious free-agent market bringing things into sharp focus.

This time last year, it was already clear that change was afoot. But it was generally emphasized, here and elsewhere, that the next winter’s market — that is, the one we’re in at present — would offer a better test due to the presence of uniquely youthful and accomplished superstars Bryce Harper and Manny Machado (along with some other high-end talents). As it turns out, it’s now clear at the winter-long staring contest is not just a one-year phenomenon. Though some significant contracts have been handed out, it’s obvious that teams now have ample resolve when it comes to negotiating major deals.

The question remaining now is how much more cash remains to be distributed — an end game that is upon us with Spring Training closing in. No doubt the union side is still waiting to see precisely how things will shake out, though the above-linked article does not paint a particularly optimistic picture of expectations.

It seems the rub of the issue is just when and how the league and union will head back to the bargaining table on some key elements of the labor accord. Agent Sam Levinson, who warns of a scenario where the sides end up “locking arms and walking off the cliff together,” notes to Rosenthal that “the CBA has been opened in the past to address compelling issues.” Unsurprisingly, MLB chief legal officer Dan Halem has a different perspective, saying he’s “not sure why we are talking about ’walking off the cliff together’ when we are three years away from the expiration of our collective bargaining agreement and there has been no effort by the MLBPA to engage in discussions on these issues.”

As Rosenthal rightly points out, the league surely cannot force teams to spend more money. At the same time, there’s little question that it negotiated the CBA with a healthy dose of foresight regarding the trends in front office valuations, cost-efficient roster-building approaches, and the rising tide of young, affordable talent. While teams likewise cannot be faulted for seeking and seizing advantage, both in collective bargaining talks and in their actions under the bargained-for rules regime, there does seem at minimum to be a legitimate need to, as Rosenthal puts it, “work around the edges of the CBA to create incentives for teams to compete to the fullest.”

Just what that might look like, and how it might come together, isn’t at all clear — hence, the sense of tension. But it’s interesting to wonder whether a solution might not be found in an area that ought to be of concern to all involved. There’s a major competitive imbalance in the American League, in particular, that likely has not only strongly contributed to depressions in the free-agent market, but has likewise impacted the league’s increasing attendance problem. While that concern has been dismissed by some (including myself) in the past, it seems more and more to be a root issue.

Is there a means of inducing more teams to seek near-term wins, such that the overall MLB product (and its revenue-producing capacity) is improved and such that teams have good reason to spend more on players? Might there be a positive, collaborative path to pursue, which may at least offer a partial solution to the labor rumblings while also helping to reduce misgivings? We will have to see how things proceed, but it would surely behoove all involved to begin looking for ways to engage in a constructive manner.

[Bobthe4th]

 

I didn't know that his lifetime ban had been lifted.

[Spanky__99]

 

I didn't know that his lifetime ban had been lifted.

 

Yeah, last season. But Pete Rose... Shoeless Joe Jackson... *sighs*

[Terminator]

Quick thought- The FA market the past couple of years has made the Happ for Drury trade even worse IMO. Guys like Drury are signing for peanuts. Asdrubal Cabrera signed for almost nothing and theres a very strong chance he out WARs him by a lot next year.

 

Should probably aim for high risk high reward prospects next time, knowing that low floor types can be had for cheap via FA.

[glory]

Quick thought- The FA market the past couple of years has made the Happ for Drury trade even worse IMO. Guys like Drury are signing for peanuts. Asdrubal Cabrera signed for almost nothing and theres a very strong chance he out WARs him by a lot next year.

 

Should probably aim for high risk high reward prospects next time, knowing that low floor types can be had for cheap via FA.

 

Agreed. I liked what Shatkins did at the deadline for the most part but that deal was bad.

 

I think Drury has some potential with the bat, so maybe they think they bought low on him. I hope they are right.

[G-Snarls]

Yeah, last season. But Pete Rose... Shoeless Joe Jackson... *sighs*

 

I didn't know that you could apply for re in statement after two years

 

In any case Rex Sox deal with him is a minor league one

[G-Snarls]

Rockies and Arenado avoid arb

 

26M

 

So another team overpaying during an arb year for a superstar player

[Spanky__99]

Rockies and Arenado avoid arb

 

26M

 

So another team overpaying during an arb year for a superstar player

 

Keeping good-will, he's amazing and worth every penny.

[glory]

Arbitration is more lucrative than free agency at this point.

[Spanky__99]

Arbitration is more lucrative than free agency at this point.

 

Donaldson just got 23 million?

[Terminator]

ESPN has canceled Baseball Tonight.

[Spanky__99]

ESPN has canceled Baseball Tonight.

 

lol

[Laika]

Arbitration is more lucrative than free agency at this point.

 

I was thinking this is well recently. For some players, in the current climate, the highest AAV of their career might be arb 3.

[glory]

ESPN has canceled Baseball Tonight.

 

ESPN only cares about LeBron James, the NFL, and the NBA.

 

MLB needs to find a new network. Getting money from a network that doesn't promote them is not going to expand their reach.

[Carlos Danger]

ESPN only cares about LeBron James, the NFL, and the NBA.

 

MLB needs to find a new network. Getting money from a network that doesn't promote them is not going to expand their reach.

 

MLB TV - On my regular cable/satelite packet in the US and much better. Haven't watched ESPN for anything else other then NCAA football and Basketball for years.

 

They also decided to get all political, so f*** em.

[Terminator]

Quick thought- The FA market the past couple of years has made the Happ for Drury trade even worse IMO. Guys like Drury are signing for peanuts. Asdrubal Cabrera signed for almost nothing and theres a very strong chance he out WARs him by a lot next year.

 

Should probably aim for high risk high reward prospects next time, knowing that low floor types can be had for cheap via FA.

 

Was thinking about this a little bit more and while the Drury trade looks worse in light of the FA market, the Diaz trade looks a lot better.

 

Diaz's replacement is Galvis and I don't think Galvis is much worse, he's simply just a glove first player. Galvis probably even compliments the team better anyway because he provides a different set of skills than what Gurriel provides. Gurriel and Diaz are pretty similar players.

 

So we traded 4 years of Diaz for 6 years of an interesting big league ready pitcher. And we replaced Diaz for cheap with an equally talented guy who is a better fit. I hated it at the time but it was actually a nice trade!

[Terminator]

ESPN only cares about LeBron James, the NFL, and the NBA.

 

MLB needs to find a new network. Getting money from a network that doesn't promote them is not going to expand their reach.

 

ESPN sucks but I don't know that I totally blame them. Baseball is a weird sport to cover right now. It's really geographical in that fans care mostly about their own teams and that's it. Most NBA fans will tune in to a big Lebron game but I don't know that MLB fans care to tune into an Angels game just to watch Mike Trout unless he's playing their favorite team.

 

Then you have a huge split in the fanbase where statheads find it painful to watch dinosaurs talk about BA on a nightly basis and vice versa. It's hard to make a show the caters to all the fans right now. Maybe they should split the show in two and do half the show for casual fans and the other half for sabremetric favvy fans?

[P2F]

Uh...k.

[Dr. Dinger]

I would love to see the Reds start him on opening day and unnecessarily lose a year of control on him, and then not even make the playoffs.

[Laika]

Uh...k.

 

what the f***ing f***

[glory]

ESPN sucks but I don't know that I totally blame them. Baseball is a weird sport to cover right now. It's really geographical in that fans care mostly about their own teams and that's it. Most NBA fans will tune in to a big Lebron game but I don't know that MLB fans care to tune into an Angels game just to watch Mike Trout unless he's playing their favorite team.

 

Then you have a huge split in the fanbase where statheads find it painful to watch dinosaurs talk about BA on a nightly basis and vice versa. It's hard to make a show the caters to all the fans right now. Maybe they should split the show in two and do half the show for casual fans and the other half for sabremetric favvy fans?

 

I agree with that. MLB is a regional sport now. MLB does not cater to a mainstream audience due to lack of individual stars. With ESPN being basically a sports version of TMZ now (mixed with some SJW pandering), they care more about what is trending and what can get views, and baseball isn't it.

 

This was inevitable. The only time ESPN talks about baseball is if there is a PED or DV related suspension.

[Bobthe4th]

I agree with that. MLB is a regional sport now. MLB does not cater to a mainstream audience due to lack of individual stars. With ESPN being basically a sports version of TMZ now (mixed with some SJW pandering), they care more about what is trending and what can get views, and baseball isn't it.

 

This was inevitable. The only time ESPN talks about baseball is if there is a PED or DV related suspension.

 

It’s not just the lack of marketing of the stars, there are far too many games to maintain mainstream viewer interest. When every team plays nearly every day there’s no such thing as a “game of the week” to hype up.

[jaysblue]

ESPN sucks but I don't know that I totally blame them. Baseball is a weird sport to cover right now. It's really geographical in that fans care mostly about their own teams and that's it. Most NBA fans will tune in to a big Lebron game but I don't know that MLB fans care to tune into an Angels game just to watch Mike Trout unless he's playing their favorite team.

 

Then you have a huge split in the fanbase where statheads find it painful to watch dinosaurs talk about BA on a nightly basis and vice versa. It's hard to make a show the caters to all the fans right now. Maybe they should split the show in two and do half the show for casual fans and the other half for sabremetric favvy fans?

 

I'm probably one of the very few who love watching late night west coast baseball games. So relaxing!

 

I'll usually watch a game if one of my favourite pitchers is on the mound or if its a good pitching matchup. I was a huge Tim Lincecum and Dan Haren fan, so I would always make sure to try and catch all of their starts. But not every fan is like that lol.

[L54]

I'm probably one of the very few who love watching late night west coast baseball games. So relaxing!

 

I'll usually watch a game if one of my favourite pitchers is on the mound or if its a good pitching matchup. I was a huge Tim Lincecum and Dan Haren fan, so I would always make sure to try and catch all of their starts. But not every fan is like that lol.

 

It’s the best. I love being able to catch a Dodgers or Angels game late at night with no emotional ties to the game.

[P2F]

[h=1]Inside 37-year-old pitcher Luke Hagerty's improbable comeback story[/h]

This.

 

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/25893836/inside-37-year-old-pitcher-luke-hagerty-improbable-comeback-story

[Terminator]

I'm probably one of the very few who love watching late night west coast baseball games. So relaxing!

 

I'll usually watch a game if one of my favourite pitchers is on the mound or if its a good pitching matchup. I was a huge Tim Lincecum and Dan Haren fan, so I would always make sure to try and catch all of their starts. But not every fan is like that lol.

 

Same here I love those late West Coast games.

[glory]

It’s not just the lack of marketing of the stars, there are far too many games to maintain mainstream viewer interest. When every team plays nearly every day there’s no such thing as a “game of the week” to hype up.

 

Yeah, and no novelty games anymore. The Yankees/Red Sox might be an exception but 03-04 was the peak of that rivalry (in the last 25 years at least) and it hasn’t come close since.

 

It’s amazing how mainstream baseball was 20 years ago and how irrelevant it is now. The game hasn’t changed. The games were still long back then, but the stars were a lot more popular. Baseball hasn’t been able to adapt to the social media age.

[John_Havok]

Yeah, and no novelty games anymore. The Yankees/Red Sox might be an exception but 03-04 was the peak of that rivalry (in the last 25 years at least) and it hasn’t come close since.

 

It’s amazing how mainstream baseball was 20 years ago and how irrelevant it is now. The game hasn’t changed. The games were still long back then, but the stars were a lot more popular. Baseball hasn’t been able to adapt to the social media age.

 

It's kind of weird, because MLB has the blueprint for sports streaming (MLBAM) that some other leagues and networks use as their streaming backbone.

 

There's a lot of reasons why MLB is falling by the wayside though. And one thing you mentioned is highly relevant; the game hasn't changed.

[Boxcar]

It's kind of weird, because MLB has the blueprint for sports streaming (MLBAM) that some other leagues and networks use as their streaming backbone.

 

There's a lot of reasons why MLB is falling by the wayside though. And one thing you mentioned is highly relevant; the game hasn't changed.

 

Basketball hasn't changed. NFL hasn't changed much, if anything in a direction the viewers don't like. Hockey is the only sport to go through significant changes and it's hard to say that they were for the better.

 

Baseball is what it is. It doesn't need to retain super high relevance for fans to enjoy it. I think trying to twist the game into something else in order to land new viewers won't really work and they risk turning off the fans they already have.

 

The only issue is that if baseball really falls off hard, players better be ready for pay cuts.

[Bobthe4th]

Yeah, and no novelty games anymore. The Yankees/Red Sox might be an exception but 03-04 was the peak of that rivalry (in the last 25 years at least) and it hasn’t come close since.

 

It’s amazing how mainstream baseball was 20 years ago and how irrelevant it is now. The game hasn’t changed. The games were still long back then, but the stars were a lot more popular. Baseball hasn’t been able to adapt to the social media age.

 

Yeah with every game online now even if you wanted to watch a Yankees vs Red Sox game, it’d probably mean skipping your own team’s game that day.