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Adam Wainwright: MLB Players Will '100 Percent' Go on Strike

Discussion in 'Houston Astros' started by CinematicFusion, Feb 17, 2019.

  1. astros123

    astros123 Member

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    youre suprised baseball contracts are getting bigger as revenues have skyrockets the past decade? Do you have any clue what youre talking about? The past three world series have almost matched those ratings of the nba finals.
     
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  2. Redfish81

    Redfish81 Member

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    Well.. ESPN is paying 700 million a year for its baseball rights through 2021. It's a little concerning how much they hype the NBA, NFL and even now UFC over baseball. It's also interesting because the contract ends at the same time as the CBA. It could make things very interesting. The reality is while I hate those kinds of shows they are pulling some of the best ratings on ESPN. I would like to see MLB players invited on the shows like they have NBA and NFL guests. I think guys like Bregman, Lindor, Baez, etc could help sell the product to the younger generation. Only place you really see them is on MLB network.
     
  3. TheRealist137

    TheRealist137 Member

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    The trends are there. Fact is that MLB used to be the #1 sport, have lost it to NFL, and depending who you ask, they've also fallen behind the NBA. Revenues are up mostly due to sponsorship deals and good TV negotiations, but if you don't see the trends then eventually TV deals will get smaller and sponsorship deals will be less. MLB teams themselves and wising up to this and it's the exact reason Harper can't get $300 million. Revenues are not going to continue to grow linearly over the longer term, matter of fact it might start to decline.
     
  4. cmlmel77

    cmlmel77 Up all Night Watching Houston Sports

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    Owners get paid even more handsomely for watching a game. Odd that your jealousy of athletes doesn’t extend to jealousy of dynastic families who ride daddy’s coattails (I know not all owners ... but enough of them).
     
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  5. Joe Joe

    Joe Joe Go Stros!
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    Players make between 53-57% of baseball revenue. Players aren't the only expense. Owners make most of their money when they cease being owners, but that doesn't apply to dynastic families that ride daddy's coat tails since the team isn't sold.

    The players cut will drop below the 53-57% if things don't change. That said, players seem to be whining more about free agent contracts than trying to get money to younger players.
     
  6. sealclubber1016

    Supporting Member

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    Hence why so many of us have little sympathy. They have always been concerned with getting the stupidly rich even richer.

    The thousands of players in the minors, and 60% of the guys in the majors are basically playing for their careers every season without any guarantees beyond that year. Those are the guys that really need the money and the union has never, ever cared about them. God forbid Bryce Harper has to settle for an 8 bedroom mansion instead of a 10 bedroom.

    Hell in years past when one of them dared to take a team friendly deal to give themselves some pivotal life security the union criticizes them.
     
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  7. cmlmel77

    cmlmel77 Up all Night Watching Houston Sports

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    I’m aware of the other expenses, and the capital appreciation benefits being the majority of the gain. But annually they are still making a lot of money between teams, stadiums, ancillary benefits, etc. I’m an SVP at a Fortune 50 company - I get the economics.

    But my point is broader. The argument that players “get paid to play a game” is absurd as an reason that the owners should make more. It’s based on jealousy that “they used to look like me and now they are rich”.
     
  8. Swiss Roll

    Swiss Roll Member

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    I generally always side with the players in these strikes, but the players union dug themselves into this hole with their last CBA. The Union, run by star 30-something players, screwed over the vast majority of players by agreeing to absurd Free Agency rules, where many players don't hit UFA until 30+. However, it benefited the union leaders (less FA competition) while saving the owners money by locking up young players through their primes.

    IMO, the MLBPA NEEDS to go on strike to lower the age a player hits Free Agency, and maybe introduce restricted free agency to replace arbitration. But that's not why they're going on strike, it's solely to protect the 30-something union bosses because they aren't getting their massive contracts after attempting to siphon all the player salary to themselves.
     
  9. jev5555

    jev5555 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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    They need a cap in place and monetary / draft pick forfeiture for violating the cap. Also need a salary minimum for teams that tank. With monetary / draft forfeiture for not meeting the minimum salary. Younger players need to be given better deals. It's a shame that Correa had to fight to get $5 mil. Need a better system that allows the best young talent to force their way onto their parent club sooner and not at the clubs discretion. The 10yr / 300 mil days should be over. They should make contracts max out at 6 years. If they're gonna do 10 years it should be in options. But that's just a pipe dream. We know the MLBPA is run by the old guys and they're not going to give up that much cheddar.
     
  10. Snake Diggit

    Snake Diggit Member

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    I fail to see how a salary cap is good for anybody except the owners. Bad for the fans. Bad for the players. I do see the benefit to a minimum payroll. I also agree that service time calculations are bad for the game.

    Ideally players would reach free agency earlier. But in the absence of that the league minimum salary should be higher. Bottom line in collective bargaining is that the players should receive a negotiated total % of league revenues. If they’re receiving that “fair” total % then it’s not on the owners if it’s not fairly distributed among the players.
     
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  11. lnchan

    lnchan Sugar Land Leonard

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    Maybe throw in a max contract provision? Also... the length of these contracts are ridiculous... a max years would be something to protect teams from themselves...
     
  12. mkahanek

    mkahanek Member

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    Wah f’ing wah. If Bryce needs a job he needs to accept what is offered. I would like to make $500k a year but there are others who will do it for less. So if I want a job I have to accept the companies offer. Welcome to the real world.
     
  13. Air Langhi

    Air Langhi Contributing Member

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    Except you aren't at the top .000001% of your profession. If you are star trader, or developer, or doctor you are making crazy money.
     
  14. mkahanek

    mkahanek Member

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    Doesn't matter. If the stakeholders no longer believe that position is worth 10/300 then it isn't and he and the rest of the players will have to get over it.
     
  15. TheRealAllpro

    TheRealAllpro Morey only fan

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    MLB players hit free agency at least 4 years too late. That is your major problem right there.

    I’m definitely on the players side.
     
    #35 TheRealAllpro, Feb 18, 2019
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2019
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  16. juicystream

    juicystream Contributing Member

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    I'm with the players if they look out for all players, which they've never done. Bryce Harper & Manny Machado are definitely not the problem. It's the vast majority of players who never get the opportunity to be in their position. Stars get paid eventually.

    The guys that have to wait until their 30s before hitting Free Agency is the real problem. If you weren't given a big bonus upon signing, you are often screwed for years. Pay minor leaguers a livable salary. Put forth a system that encourages teams to call up players rather than keep them down (currently a team can control a player for up to 15ish years (5 years before Rule 5/Minor League FA, 3 Option Years, & 6 full years + 1 partial year of MLB Service Time).

    Players need to be guaranteed a chance at FA while still in their athletic prime.
     
  17. The Beard

    The Beard Contributing Member

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    Now that we are at a point where this won't affect Correa, Springer, Bregman and won't cause us to lose them sooner

    I agree lol
     
  18. Nick

    Nick Contributing Member

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    If anything, the current system works highly in the Astros favor (especially with Springer) in terms of locking him into an extension.

    They already were able to buy out 2 of the 3 arbitration years at a friendly enough rate... and now they have one more year available to potentially bundle into an extension that would also buy out some free agent years. Altuve's bargain deal certainly had him chomping at the bit once the Astros offered him a going rate contract.

    Keuchel likely missed out by not accepting a similar offer after 2015 (although the Astros probably don't get as much value out of that, if everything holds true regarding his injury rate the last three years).

    Correa is young enough to where he can likely afford to wait, but if he has another injury riddled season, there will be some serious concerns for any team deciding to offer him a long-term deal. Bregman is a tad older and may consider an Altuve-like extension if the Astros feel he's worth it.
     
  19. Major

    Major Member

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    If there is, for example, a cap of $180MM payroll, there's more incentive for teams to get there because they don't have to worry about BOS/NY/LA just going up to $250MM if they need to. Basically, if the people you are chasing are capped, there is more incentive for middle market teams to chase them instead of giving up and rebuilding all the time. A cap below the top teams' spending levels likely raises spending overall. It also means more teams have a chance to build long-term connections with their fans and not always be losing all their players to free agency because the top teams can't just go get all the free agents.
     
  20. Joe Joe

    Joe Joe Go Stros!
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    That would drop payrolls by $170 million (not counting Philly who likely add to that number) for people that would be over that cap even though that number isn't too far from the CBT. I don't think spending from mid-market bubble teams would make that up.
     
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