Poll: Lockout and potential viewing habit changes

[Sousy]

The 1994 strike was a disaster at that particular time - in a year like this one where baseball game viewing / attendance was already down from the shortened 2020 season missing games would be even worse.

There are a lot of negotiating stances in public that will have to be dropped pretty quickly.  I know the players have talked about changes in revenue sharing, but in a league going through recovery mode and facing the potential to lose revenue from the old cable television RSN model, bringing in a topic that will pit owners against one another is not a path to quick resolution of anything.

There's good reason for players to be angry, for owners to be recalcitrant, but this year doesn't seem like the time to dig the trenches.

[chpettit19]

17 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

That is the question, indeed. I think owners are pretty disconnected from what happened in 1994 and they've been used to bulldozing players in recent CBAs. The players? Many weren't even born yet in 1994 haha. Even a short strike would be catastrophic as the public will sour on out of touch crybaby millionaires and billionaires who wouldn't play nice to split up their vast wealth between each other. 

Even the loss of spring training will turn a lot of fans against both players and owners.

I have no reason to feel this way, but it feels to me like we're in for a long winter and the collective greed of the out of touch cry baby millionaires and billionaires is going to put another nail in baseball's coffin. And there aren't many nails left before that coffin is locked up tight.

Scherzer signing that deal the same day he comes out and says he won't sign any deal that doesn't get younger players paid more and sooner just doesn't feel like an executive committee member who has reasonable expectations. The owners not being willing to give up 1 year of team control doesn't feel like an ownership group with reasonable expectations. I know they're all still posturing and putting out their public statements to discredit the other side and pump up theirs, but they feel really far apart. I have no real reason to believe that, just feels that way.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

I align pretty closely with Squirrel, I cut the cord and probably won't re-connect it, at least not this year. Living in Twins Territory, I may get a streaming option (if available) or most likely listen in for 2022. Depending on the outcomes... 2023 and beyond may be at risk for me too.

[TheLeviathan]

This is baseball's last chance to save itself from the brink in my opinion. Personally, if the league can't make some fundamental changes to how its balanced then I'm not really interested in continuing to invest my time

[bean5302]

15 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

Probably depends on the results of the lock out more than the timing. If the players somehow loose ground, I'll not be happy. If the small market teams acquiesce to the large market teams again, I'll be even more unhappy.

This flat out lie from Manfred has me most worried:

 “came to the bargaining table with a strategy of confrontation over compromise” and “never wavered from collectively the most extreme set of proposals in their history, including significant cuts to the revenue-sharing system, a weakening of the competitive balance tax, and shortening the period of time that players play for their teams. All of these changes would make our game less competitive, not more.”

There is no way those things were specifically asked for by the players except for the length of time players are controlled. Manfred is already setting the table for all the concessions to the players to be to the detriment of the non-large market clubs. He didn't mention the players wanting to increase the luxury cap tax, nor a salary floor. 

So what you're saying is that you don't know, but you're absolutely sure you know.

It wouldn't surprise me if players asked to raise the ceiling on the competitive balance tax and reduce the penalities associated with exceeding the limit along with shorter team control. The commissioner may have chosen his words to be inflammatory, but they would still be accurate in that case.

When auto workers strike for better pay and benefits at Ford, they're not doing it to build better, more reliable and cheaper cars. The same goes for MLB players. MLB players and the MLBPA are not saints fighting for the fans or MLBs best interest. They're not your friend or your hero. They're trying to maximize their compensation package through collective bargaining because they want to be compensated at the maximum amount they can to do their job.

That's why I feel like it's ridiculous for people to tie themselves to this dispute so personally. 

[DJL44]

22 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

MLBPA leaders Max Scherzer and Corey Seager both got massive contracts

It also conveniently prevented marquee names from bolting for a job in Japan.

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

It also conveniently prevented marquee names from bolting for a job in Japan.

This was never a legitimate possibility. The highest paid player in Japan, Tomoyuki Sugano, makes less than $6MM per year. The highest team payroll in Japan is under $60MM for a 70 player roster.

https://nbakki.hatenablog.com/entry/Top_100_Salaries_of_NPB_Players_in_2019

 

[Monkeypaws]

I feel bad for the Saints. Independent leagues are the shining beacon of baseball when MLB labor disputes pop up, and the Saints lost that.