For a quick moment on Monday, there appeared to be some progress towards making the 2020 Major League Baseball season a reality.
That is, until the players’ union had its say in the matter.
Initially, MLB owners agreed on a proposal that would be sent to the union for review on Tuesday. The plan saw players returning to spring training sometime in mid-June, with an eye on starting the regular season on July 4. In addition, included in the proposal was a plan to incorporate a designated hitter into the National League rules. The biggest part of the deal, though, was a prospective revenue sharing plan between the owners and the players.
Consequently, there was a backlash that came from the union even before it reviewed the official proposition.
The early feel from the union was that the revenue sharing plan resembled a salary cap a little too much, something the MLBPA has long fought against.
A seven-month players strike back in 1994-95 was spearheaded by a similar type of plan.
MLBPA President Tony Clark accused the league of “trying to take advantage of a global health crisis to get what they’ve failed to achieve in the past.”
Seemingly, much attention over the past few months has been put on the structure of a season rather than the safety of the players. Owners agreed to the idea that games would be played without fans in the stands to begin the season, but no other concrete plans for safety of the players have been revealed.
Last week, we noted how baseball has resumed in other parts of the world, specifically in China and South Korea. The Chinese Professional Baseball League remains a clear success story, with no indication that play has interfered with efforts to protect the health and welfare of participants or the broader public.
In the CPBL, fans are already filing into the league’s stadiums to cheer on their favorite teams.
CPBL management has complied with recommendations by the Center for Disease Control with regards to fan attendance. Those recommendations include all ticket holders needing to provide their real name, fans practicing social distancing at games, fans being required to wear masks at games, and the league having temperature screening devices at the gates of the stadiums.
As mentioned previously, Taiwan and South Korea’s success surrounding the recommencement of their respective leagues has come after nearly “stomping out” the coronavirus completely. Indeed, there’s still a long way to go to seeing such progress in the States.
Nevertheless, while the matters with regards to health and safety in the MLB might be resolved with relative ease, the biggest obstacle right now remains the fact that the players appear unwilling to accept a salary cut based on recalculated 2020 team revenues.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
One of these days the players are going to have to accept a salary cap. Simple economics. They are making massive amounts of money, and sooner or later the cash cow that is the fans of the game are going to be priced out of seeing the games. Right now, not many are in a financial position where they can afford going to an event where they are going to end up spending hundreds of dollars for one night of family entertainment. Older folks on a pension sure cannot afford such a luxury. It makes sense for the survival of the game. After all, just how much money do the multimillionaires of baseball need? The minors leagues are underpaid, we all know that. But once you are established in the majors, you have a comfortable income, and with wise investing, most can be set for life. Most fans are not that fortunate.
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More than a comfortable living bear. A lot of these guys make more in one year than we do in a lifetime! Amazing how much money the entertainment industry makes
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Well I was being a little facetious. There were movie stars who made 20 million a movie believe it or not. Julia Roberts was one of those, and for a short time, Jim Carrey was the same. He got too full of himself, and has not had a hit movie in years. Bob Hope was probably the smartest as far as investing his money over the years. He was very rich, as was Gene Autry, who at one time owned quite a few radio and TV stations, and the Angels to boot. He also at one time was the owner of the old Flying A gas stations. But the big stars can make so much more than just their salary’s. Look how much Jordan made in his endorsements, Magic Johnson too. A few of the Dodger players cash in on that. Major stars now still command huge salary’s, but big names to not guarantee big hit movies. Harrison Ford found that out when his Call of the Wild crashed and burned.
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Speaking of crash and burn, when are they going to take Harrison Ford’s flying license away from him. He had another “incident” recently.
Looks like we’ll have an NL DH this season (if there is a season). Owners want it, players have to vote on it, but they’ll certainly be OK with it. Question is will it be a one-year thing or permanent. My feeling is once you let the horse out of the barn………………………………………………or the cat out of the bag……………………..Geez, where is Scoop when I need him.
For those of you who subscribe to The Athletic, there’s a great article today on Koufax’s influence on Dave Stewart when he came up.
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When they negotiate the next CBA you can bet that the majority of the ownerships are going to want it. Extend the careers of hitters in both leagues who can’t do the job in the field anymore. And it puts the leagues on an even level. There was a while ago a great photo of the Millennium Falcon crashed in a sand dune on a golf course. Classic. Ford is getting up there in age now.
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Good morning my friends. Arizona opening up for events starting this weekend. Florida Gov says the same for FLA. Maybe things are loosening up a little. Some players, like Snell of the Rays, think playing for reduced pay not worth it. How would he like to try and get by on what some retired people get? These guys are so lucky, and yet they still bitch. One reason I no longer have favorite players, just the game and the team.
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You might have noticed that there are a huge amount of people that are out of touch with reality. Shame! Question: do you think that our current generation would even try to combat the evil axis powers of WWII? (just as an example) I just don’t see that kind of spirit, desire or drive any longer in this country. However I do see a lot of people that won’t step out of their own shadows to take on challenges, too many people focused solely on their own navels (or another hole located south).
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I totally agree. The last time we came together as a country for even a short period of time was after 9-11. Someone comes along and bombs something and a lot of American’s die, then maybe.
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I can only dream that I could be back working for reduced pay! Many of these athletes are totally out of touch with real life!
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If you are out of work Rich, my heart goes out to you. Being on SSA, at least I know my check will be there every month. Not as much as I would like, but I can get by for now. Marlins are going to start furloughing employees the first of June. About 40% of their front office staff will be affected.
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So if MLB was really convinced that this season is going to get underway in July, do the Marlins actually cut their office staff by 40% beginning June 1? Sure I could understand maybe some of the staff that had to do with travel or promotional events (since that stuff isn’t happening) might be cut since their jobs really don’t exist anymore, but 40%? So are we really seeing the writing on the wall (sorry Daniel for trivializing your vision) of what is really about to not take place?
Hey, it’s a very tough situation that the virus or the Chinese have thrust upon the world but life does have risks, just like getting into a car or a plane, but the pro players in all sports are going to have to make some decisions about risk and reward. If a player wants to stay home, fine, it’s the next man up. I think there are plenty of players, especially the young ones that haven’t made ungodly sums already, that will want to take the risk and lace up their shoes and get back on the field of play. The wealthy players might just want to sit out and rest on their piles of cash and hope they can still perform after a “break” in their playing careers. Ego and cash are two very strong motivators, so we shall see.
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I second what Bear said Rich. Hope things turn around for you soon.
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With regard to what you said about the Marlins Bear, the Mariners seem to be doing it differently. If I understood correctly, they’re asking all employees to take a 20% pay cut so that they don’t have to lay off anyone. To me, that seems like it might be the better way to go, although for those who barely get by on their salary now they have less of that and can’t collect unemployment either. No easy answers here. The next month will be very telling for everyone. If the states that are opening up with the least restrictions manage to do that without having huge spikes, that will probably lead to a great loosening of restrictions throughout the country. On the other hand, if the states like Georgia who seem to be the most aggressive find that they have major problems within the next 3-4 weeks, the entire country will probably go back into hibernation. We probably all have an opinion on which way it will go but it doesn’t really matter what any of us think. The answers will be in how the virus reacts.
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I think that some of what you say is true, however I don’t think the answers lie in how the virus reacts, the answer lies in how we react to the virus. The world has seen many viruses, many big time viruses have occurred since the early 1900s. People reacted and survived based on common sense and reason, it had nothing to do with doctors and scientists since they really didn’t know a whole lot of nothing in those days. You do the best you can, you make things happen instead of letting things happen.
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Thank you bear and Jeff D for your kind words.Hopefully in the next week I can get back to my practice.
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Sincerely hope that works out for you my friend. Being retired, I am not reliant on getting work. But sometimes I make an extra buck playing music. But that is not happening now.
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Your practice – Medical, dental, law?
Need to know what kind of advice I’m going to be coming to you for.
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I’m a dentist in Santa Barbara California. I was planning on selling my home and practice and retiring this year but the pandemic has shattered those plans. Now I’m just trying to hang on and survive with no idea how this all plays out!
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I hope it picks back up soon. Our dentists here have been open, but only one patient at a time, and no one in the waiting room..
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I have an appointment with my dentist at the end of the month and haven’t checked yet as to whether they’re even open. Seeing as it’s L.A. county I’m guessing the answer is “no”. I was just thinking this morning that dentistry has to be one of the most dangerous professions out there right now.
Really sorry that the pandemic has screwed up your retirement plans Rich. Were you planning to leave Santa Barbara? Who would want to leave Santa Barbara?
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No just downsizing to a smaller home. I’ve lived here since high school and can’t imagine leaving. Yes we’ve implemented a lot of new protocols to protect our patients and my staff. It’s been tough to track down all the necessary PPE especially the N95 masks. Air purifiers and UV technology with pre appointment screenings and pre appointment temperature taking and yes bear fewer patients. Good for me. I’m too old to work that hard now! Hopefully sometime in the next year I can join your ranks bear. Thanks guys for all your concern. Means a lot to me.
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I once had an estate attorney who had offices in West L.A. and Santa Barbara and spent half the week in each place. As he got closer to retirement he decided there was no reason to put himself through that and just kept his SB office. Since I didn’t need to see him very often, I was more than happy to go to Santa Barbara for my occasional appointments. At one point I realized that, depending on traffic, it wasn’t taking me that much longer to travel the 80 miles to SB than it was to go the 20 miles to WLA.
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Traffic is getting worse up here but nothing like LA. Because of the mountains and the ocean there’s not a lot off growth
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