Coronavirus and the 2020 Season (Season Postponed, pg3)

[heyzeus]

Q: Is MLB dumb enough to whiff on this season?
A: You'd really hope not, but then, most of us remember 1994.

[Jocephus]

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that MLB owners have approved to a proposal to give to players which includes a "sliding scale of compensation."

What won't be included is the 50-50 revenue split which was agreed to by owners two weeks ago but never formally introduced to the union. Under this new proposal, the players making the most money will take the biggest paycuts while those earning the least will receive most of their guaranteed salaries. The specifics involved aren't yet clear, but players already agreed in March to be paid on a pro-rated basis, essentially forgoing half of their salaries. This new plan was supposed to be sent to the MLBPA in the afternoon as the two sides try to come to an agreement on a possible start date for the season following the coronavirus shutdown. The goal has been a mid-June spring training 2.0 and an early-July Opening Day.
Source: USA Today
May 26, 2020, 11:14 AM ET

[mikechamp]

A 2-week spring training seems awfully short, and may lead to more arm injuries. I would hope somebody recognizes that they could be making the tradeoff between sliding scale salaries and TJ surgeries.

[Jocephus]

[mikechamp]

This passage sounds even more ominous than what Jocephus posted above:

The MLBPA’s “very disappointed” with MLB’s proposal, Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic report (on Twitter). While the league offered to share more playoff revenue, the players still don’t feel as if they’d do well in this situation. They believe they’d still have to make “massive” additional cuts, Drellich tweets. Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link) adds that the two sides are also far apart on health and safety issues. The union higher-ups will hold further discussions with the players before deciding whether to continue with negotiations, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter).

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/05/ ... mlbpa.html

[heyzeus]

LOL see ya'll in 2021.

[BottenFieldofDreams]

LOL see ya'll in 2021.

Seems to me that margins in the short term don't need to be and shouldn't be a critical concern, and the players already gave up some slack. Forbes had the Yankees valued at $5 billion last month. I bet they could get all $5 billion tomorrow if they sold--even with no gate for who knows how long, but that valuation may not age especially well if they don't get on the field. Cole is making silly money, but he already agreed to half of it (right?). Pay him and play baseball. The owners can sell a share or two, or the whole goddam thing, if they're so worried.

[Socnorb11]

I'm sick of billionaires bickering about money with multi-millionaires, to the point that I don't really care if they play or not.

[Jocephus]

[Jocephus]

The A's told their minor leaguers Tuesday that they will not continue to pay them their current salary of $400 per week beyond May 31.

One would expect no more from A's owners John Fisherf. A's minor leaguers will remain employees of the team, making them unable to file for unemployment, yet they'll be entirely unpaid until said time that they're suddenly expected to report to camp in tip-top shape, ready to play baseball once again. That just doesn't seem entirely fair for some reason.
Source: Jeff Passan on Twitter
May 26, 2020, 8:04 PM ET