Interesting. I didn't know there was a sliding scale aspect to this. Shifts my perspective a little.
Really ishty for those A's minor Leaguers. Gerritt Cole makes $400 a pitch. It doesn't seem right that the Shin Soo Choo's of the world should pay them and not the org.
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.
It's hard to know what's gamesmanship vs just blowing off steam or giving a writer you like a nugget to print, but this all really does play pretty bad--most especially given the times. When, for example, minor leaguers are losing their $400 a week (amid far more dire outcomes in a global pandemic).
Do minor league players have their own union? How can they just get screwed like that?
I just find it funny/ironic/sad that the NHL is going to play while their players union is represented by Donald Fehr and the MLB players union represented by a former player in Tony Clark isn't likely to do so.
Minor leaguers are not represented by a union (unless they are on a team's 40-man roster), and in fact one of the most controversial aspects of the CBA is that MLB and the MLBPA collectively bargain rights and conditions for minor league players even though neither of those entities actually represents minor leaguers. They continually get screwed over in part because they have no union representation, but also because courts and legislators have historically not been very labor-friendly toward athletes, so they lack a lot of labor protections they should have. For example, when a group of minor leaguers found out their pay amounted to less than minimum wage and sued over it, Congress responded by passing a bill that explicitly removed baseball players from the protections in the Fair Labor Standards Act (the federal minimum wage/overtime/etc law).
In terms of why they don't have a union, to a large extent it is because they are afraid of retaliation from owners. It's also tougher to organize than for MLB players because they have far fewer resources, are spread out over several different leagues with no central organization, and are moved around between teams far more often. There's also the fact that none of them are aiming for a permanent career in the minors: there is less impetus for minor leaguers to unionize when their goal is to leave the minors as quickly as possible, and anyone who tries to start a union could be long gone by the time it actually does anything.
Minor leaguers are not represented by a union (unless they are on a team's 40-man roster), and in fact one of the most controversial aspects of the CBA is that MLB and the MLBPA collectively bargain rights and conditions for minor league players even though neither of those entities actually represents minor leaguers. They continually get screwed over in part because they have no union representation, but also because courts and legislators have historically not been very labor-friendly toward athletes, so they lack a lot of labor protections they should have. For example, when a group of minor leaguers found out their pay amounted to less than minimum wage and sued over it, Congress responded by passing a bill that explicitly removed baseball players from the protections in the Fair Labor Standards Act (the federal minimum wage/overtime/etc law).
In terms of why they don't have a union, to a large extent it is because they are afraid of retaliation from owners. It's also tougher to organize than for MLB players because they have far fewer resources, are spread out over several different leagues with no central organization, and are moved around between teams far more often. There's also the fact that none of them are aiming for a permanent career in the minors: there is less impetus for minor leaguers to unionize when their goal is to leave the minors as quickly as possible, and anyone who tries to start a union could be long gone by the time it actually does anything.
As always, you provide the knowledge and insight that help me understand this sport. Thanks Kincaid.
Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports that some within the MLBPA feel that MLB's economic proposal "doesn’t even warrant (a) counter proposal."
Players held a call Wednesday and were “pretty galvanized” in their disdain for MLB's proposal, with the reactions ranging from “disappointing” to “disrespectful,” per Heyman. Heyman does add that some feel this is all “part of (the) process,” so perhaps the two sides eventually will be able to find common ground. However, there's no doubting that MLB's initial proposal -- which called for massive player salary cuts on a "sliding scale" basis -- was ill-received.
Source: Jon Heyman on Twitter
May 27, 2020, 9:44 PM ET
I become more and more wary that this is 'part of the process'. It's damn near June. There's the issue of safety and there's the issue of money. And, by all accounts, they're miles apart on the money issue.
Having not paid all that much attention, perhaps I'm misinformed, but it seems like the players were pretty upset about having to renegotiate after already agreeing to a reduction in salaries. And, if the owners are coming back asking for another reduction, they know it won't be well received and will, at a minimum, add a few weeks if not longer before games are played. Which makes me think the owners are completely comfortable punting the season unless they can get their way financially and this offer reflects it as they are, well, presenting this offer....which they knew wouldn't go over well.
And, that doesn't even touch on the safety issue.
These guys are seemingly miles apart with the ability to travel only at a snails pace. Spring Training needs to start in, what, 2-3 weeks in order to have even half a season. Yeah, color me not impressed with where they are.
I think the no fans in the crowd which is costing teams more they expected it to cost them, When they made this deal back in late March at the time there was no indication when they re-started there would be no fans when live when they did re-start. Now the teams no longer get not only ticket sales, but also concessions, parking and merchandise sales.
There won't be a season. The owners know there is high risk that any nascent season gets cancelled once players start testing positive anyway, so why risk having to pay a red penny to the players.
The real profits for the owners are not in operations, they're in franchise appreciation. Buying a team at $500 mil and selling it at 2 billion just 10 years later. Don't get me wrong, they're making money every year with rare (if any) exceptions thanks to the many revenue streams. But the owners figure why operate at neutral or a loss at all for one year if it won't affect the real profits that will come when they sell their team in however many years.
The offer they made was never going to be accepted, and they know it.
