Brownie19

Sorry - I could have used better words. You're right - nobody is trying to lose, but over the past few years I'd say we've had upwards of half the league that certainly isn't trying to win. It did seem a bit better last year, but 2018-2020 wasn't good.

The reality is there's a big difference between what you'd like to see and what the average fan would want - and there's a lot more average fans than guys like you. Teams that are trying to lose on purpose aren't good for any sport and baseball is full of them right now...

I was only 13 in '94, so it's all foggy to me, but I always thought some of the roid use was masked simply by an increased focus on workouts and training and athletes treating their sport (and I think this applies for all sports) as a profession and not a game. Gone were the days of players sitting on the couch all offseason, using spring training/training camp to 'get in shape' and that mentality shift (combined with using technology to improve our understanding of the sports and how to improve) is what created a s*** ton more depth within sports. The fact that players were working out and training year round seemed to somewhat support the increase in power/home runs - along with the increase in velocity. From my perspective, there's a been huge transformations across most sports and it feels like that started in the mid '90's to mid '00's. Hockey is now this incredibly fast paces sport built on skill, the depth of field in golf is grown immensely, basketball eliminated the traditional lumbering center, we stopped running the ball up the middle in football 30 times a game, etc. As the advantages that premium athletes became more apparent in all sports, the focus moved to fitness and training - which inherently lead to PED use in all sports. Not exactly sure where I was going with this - and I think the concerns are fair that baseball may struggle to recover from an extended lockout/strike. I think it already is simply because there are so many options these days. At the youth level I can tell you that lacrosse has stolen a ton of kids from the game of baseball and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

meh - I stand by my comment. I enjoy having you post on the baseball side of things myself.

Why doesn't the floor benefit the players? Because the PA is represented by the older rich players? BTW - you should post here more.

Thanks DP - makes sense. Love how much I learn from this board.

Someone posted that 60% of the PA's last year came from players with 1 to 3 years experience, who they only made 4% of the total salaries in baseball. I think that's a major issue and if I play off your example above, the Owners say this is how much we have in salaries - you guys figure out how to divvy it up. I think in this case, the older players want to improve that distribution, while maintaining the amount the top earners make. There's also the (likely legitimate) argument that the Owners simply keep too much of the pie anyway - I'm a bit shocked that a minimum cap (or CBT) wasn't proposed. If we only have 3-4 teams willing to spend up to the CBT right now - raising it won't add more $ to the players. Adding a minimum could drastically increase the slice of the pie the players get. Perhaps they knew that would be met with great resistance and simply wasn't worth proposing?

So MLB wants 14 playoff teams and the MLBPA only wants 12? I would have thought players wanted more chances to make the playoffs and to win the WS. Is this simply because they don't get paid more for playing playoff games? I just can't imagine they are truly looking at it from a what's best for the game perspective (ie, where they say 14 teams is too many).

why didn't he keep us updated? TL prioritized Reddit over us?

Groshan has really simplified his swing since he was drafted...wow.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that MLB and the MLBPA have agreed to expand the number of playoff teams to 12 and to have similar luxury tax penalties as there were in the previous CBA. Nightengale adds that the penalty tiers would be 20 percent, 32 percent (up from 30) and 62.5 percent (up from 50). It's not clear what the first threshold will be, but Andy Martino of SNY.tv reported previously that it's likely to be beyond $225-230 million. If the two sides have indeed come together on the CBT and expanded postseason, it would appear a new CBA is imminent. Stay tuned. ----------------------------------- It's Bob Nightengale, but whatever. I'm curious of the details on the 12 team playoffs - but I do think 12 is the right number (40%)

You're probably right, but I mean, who the f*** has this amount of time in their lives to make up fake accounts to troll Soto?

An international draft is bad for the Blue Jays, but probably good for baseball.

Not often we agree - but we're rowing in the same direction on this one.

When in the f*** was Josh Towers ever worth $100M? Have to assume this was after 2005. Man - what a mistake.

ah yes - poor skim reading on my part. I don't disagree with you at all. I think people are open to the idea because he's left handed and is f***ing amazing. I generally agree with you. Springer won't play CF much longer, plus we have Kirk, Moreno, etc. to eat up AB's at DH. I think CF is the one position we're going to need to address soon (as silly as that sounds following the Springer signing). I think we'll soon see Teo in LF, with Springer in RF...not sure what will happen with Gurriel - I think he gets lost in the mix myself. Ketal Marte continues to be the right fit for me personally.

What happened in Miami with Jeter?

Not if Vlad can play some 3rd base...

I mean - isn't the same argument there for why Amazon/Starbuck's employees want to unionize? So they can get paid more and not have to worry about being fired - even if they are below average workers? Does either company have trouble finding staff? I think (although I don't know) the answer is no. Is that a systemic issue that people don't have a choice? Perhaps it is.....but if low skill workers are going to get paid more, then the highly skill workers do to - and I'm not sure that's going to solve anything.

I tend to agree. I think 12 is a good number.

That's probably my biggest pet peeve. IMO, someone's age has very little to do with how valuable or good they can be. In my work, we stopped giving raised because you got older and started given them based on effort, productivity, innovation and client relations (including how much work you bring in). Obviously it's more difficult to ensure 'fairness' with several different factors - but IMO, it's a f*** of a lot more appropriate than paying someone more because their older than someone else.

And that's the issue. The unions protects good employees and really s***** ones too. It also doesn't seem to give anyone a reason to work hard. In my industry we hire people who came from unionized municipalities and there are plenty of stories about how they got told to stop working so hard and how they could just milk the system all day long. Easy to say "we know unions are good because Corporations are trying to stop them" - but there are some valid reasons for that. The same could be said for why people push to unionize...everyone wants to get paid too much to make puppies.

McNeil or Moose (in a deal where we get one of their starters on the cheap) would both be solid fits. Lefty bats who are short term solutions until Orelvis/Groshans (or even Moreno) take over 3rd long term. I firmly believe we're only looking for short term solutions at this point. Perhaps that could also be Vlad...

Interesting - I must admit I wasn't aware there was a decline in unions. What has caused this?