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On this date, June 13, 1994, exactly 26 years ago to the day, Ryne Sandberg (one of my all time favorite players) announced his retirement.
He did come back to play in 1996 however.
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What Josh Reddick tweeted after the Astros found out that the Yankees may have been cheating also
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Ryno was so smooth and awesome!Comment -
Looks like Baseball will happen.
:17PM: The new broadcast contract covers the 2022-2028 seasons, with Turner Sports paying roughly $470MM per season, as per John Ourand and Eric Prisbell of Sports Business Daily. In addition to the one LCS, Turner will also have the rights to two Division Series and one wild card game per year. This is notable given that expanded playoffs have been a prominent part of negotiations between players and owners for the 2020 and possibly the 2021 season as well. “The expectation is that this deal does not include rights to any additional playoff games, which would have to be negotiated separately,” Ourand and Prisbell write. 4:23PM: MLB has reached an agreement on a billion-dollar deal with Turner Sports that will allow the network to continue broadcasting a postseason package that includes one League Championship Series, reports Andrew Marchand of the New York Post. Though the length and precise terms of the deal remain unknown, it’s expected to be a considerable increase over the $350MM Turner had been paying annually under their current agreement.
The two sides have agreed to a deal in principle, but it is not finalized and has not yet been voted on for approval by the owners.
The network’s current deal expires following the 2021 season, so it will remain in place for this season with the new deal’s term beginning a few years from now.
While the deal itself is no doubt notable for the sport, its announcement comes at an awkward time for the league, given the state of negotiations between the owners and the players. And although the consummation of a new contract won’t have any real ramifications on this season in particular (it won’t kick in until 2022), the sheer value of the TV revenue on tap may cast doubt on MLB’s stance that it would be unable to shoulder revenue losses with no fans in the stands this year—especially in light of Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt’s claims that baseball “isn’t very profitable.”
In negotiations between the players’ association and MLB, owners have been insistent on offering players less than their full prorated salaries, a concession that the players have thus far been unwilling to accept. Needless to say, this development doesn’t strengthen the league’s posture. We’ll keep our fingers crossed that the parties can come to an agreement that puts 2020 baseball back on the menu.Comment -
Yankees will be investigated for cheating now. LolComment -
So there will be a season now???Comment -
The players heavily dispute the "prorated salaries only if fans are allowed to attend" portion of the March agreement, however, which is the root of this entire argument.
The "baseball is a business" stance overlooks the fact that the players are businessmen as well. They have already lost well over half of their 2020 salaries, and naturally aren't keen on giving up any more based on the owners' rather dubious claims. Plus, as many have pointed out, the stance that the owners "have to make money" is kind of dubious, considering that they've made a fortune in every other year and are better positioned than any player to continue to benefit in future years Stuff of legends If the season is only 50 games do players get a full years service time? Prorated based on last year? How does this work?
Mark P
Based on the March agreement, players are guaranteed a full year of service time in a shortened season.
Braves in 2020
With the season being a third the normal length (at best) can we assume no in season trade deadline?
Mark P
You still need some kind of deadline, because obviously you couldn't have two teams swinging a trade a week before the playoffs began, or something.
But how trades will be handled is still an open question. Now, transactions will involve players going from one quarantined "bubble" to another.Comment -
If you ain’t cheatin, you ain’t tryin.Comment -
A New York district court judge has ordered MLB and the Yankees to unseal a 2017 letter sent by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred to Yankees GM Brian Cashman regarding rules violations that occurred in 2015-16, as first reported by Evan Drellich of the Athletic. As Drellich suggested, the Yankees are likely to appeal the ruling, hear Greg Joyce and Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. The suit, brought by a collection of daily fantasy players against MLB, the Astros, and the Red Sox, was dismissed in April and is pending appeal to the Second Circuit. The Yankees are not a party in the action.
Given the Astros’ and Red Sox’s high-profile sign stealing scandals that arguably called into question the legitimacy of their respective 2017 and 2018 World Series titles, many will immediately raise their eyebrows at hearing the sport’s most prominent organization tied to similar allegations. However, it is important to note that the court’s decision to unseal the letter appears to be standard litigation procedure, not any sort of indictment of the letter’s contents.
In 2017, the Yankees were fined by MLB for wrongfully using their dugout phone. The league also investigated claims by the Red Sox that the New York club had used YES Network cameras to steal opposing teams’ signs. MLB could not substantiate those allegations. It seems the plaintiffs’ hope is to find evidence MLB permitted rampant sign stealing leaguewide, arguing the letter shows the commissioner was aware that the Yankees “engaged in a more serious, sign-stealing scheme” than MLB publicly let on, writes the court. Beyond the plaintiffs’ allegations, there is no evidence of such a scheme.
Indeed, the court writes that “much of the letter’s contents have already been revealed in the 2017 Press Release” that announced the Yankees’ punishment for dugout phone misuse, relays Drellich. An attorney for the Yankees reiterates that position, arguing that “the press release is accurate and states MLB’s conclusions.”
As part of a robust discovery process, correspondence between the league and teams potentially relevant to the proceedings would typically be turned over. However, MLB and the Yankees maintained this letter should remain sealed, arguing that unsealing it could result in “significant reputational injury” to both the league and club. Exactly what injury they fear is unclear, but the court noted that any reputational harm suffered would be “modest at best,” Drellich says.
Surely, some fans will take interest in the result of the Yankees’ forthcoming appeal and the letter’s contents. However, there’s very little beyond the allegations of an interested litigant that the Yankees participated in a sign stealing scheme at all, much less one that rivals the Astros’ (and to a lesser extent, Red Sox’s) violations.
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I watch the ESPN 30/30 of Sosa & McGuire. Loved it.Comment -
Told ya
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Slammin Sammy for the HOF!!!Comment -
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Dr. Matt Swartz is a Labor Economist who has researched and published on MLB labor markets for over a decade at websites including The Hardball Times, FanGraphs, and Baseball Prospectus, as well as at MLB Trade Rumors. Matt created the arbitration salary projection model for MLB Trade Rumors, and co-created the SIERA pitching statistic available at FanGraphs. He has consulted for a Major League team since 2013, in addition to working in his day job as an economist in the cable industry. This article reflects his own opinion and not that of any of his employers or clients.
The MLB Owners and MLB Players Association have been unable to reach an agreement for the financial terms of the 2020 season, and at this point they may not reach one at all. Both sides have focused publicly on the morality of their case, each believing they have the ethical upper hand. Neither has made proposals that reflect their actual negotiating position. That the arguments have primarily focused on morality is perhaps not surprising, but it doesn’t create fertile ground for an actual substantive negotiation. I studied bargaining theory, and I don’t remember anything about how to win a moral argument. The ethics are what they are, and any reasonable person could make either side’s case if they really tried. The union seems to be winning the PR war thus far, as fans seem to mostly blame owners, but supportive tweets from fans are not convertible into currency.
At its core, what we have is the following set up: The presumptive default position, if no agreement is reached, is that commissioner Rob Manfred will order a roughly 50-game season with full prorated salaries. If the sides do reach an agreement, they may play as many as 80 games, and be able to split the associated revenue. They also may be able to add revenue through other avenues like expanded playoffs, and they could split that revenue too. Those are the gains from a negotiated agreement. They can be split in a way to make both parties better off.
Both sides have accused the other of not bargaining in good faith, but neither side has offered the other side anything they would plausibly accept. Instead we have seen the owners repeatedly try to offer players only slightly more than the same salary total as they would with a 50-game season, effectively asking for all the gains that would accrue from a negotiated agreement while leaving the players to absorb greater output and greater risk (both from the usual risk of playing baseball and the additional risk attendant to the global pandemic). The players similarly have failed to offer the owners anything that would lead to more profit than they would accrue in the event of a 50-game season with unexpanded playoffs. It is not surprising negotiations have gone nowhere.
At this point, an agreement for a better, longer season in 2020 is doubtful. But 2021 is right around the corner, and there is no vaccine for COVID-19 yet. We may not see fans in the seats in 2021, or at least we may not see stadiums filled to capacity. So we may see a replay of this argument in 2021 as well. It’s imperative that both sides recognize their position and negotiate accordingly. This acknowledgement could easily flip the script and lead to an expedited deal for 2020 already.
Let’s start with what should be obvious and unarguable.
Unarguable Point A:
Any agreement should see the players earn substantially more than they would have in a 50-game season.
Unarguable Point B:
Any agreement should see owners make more profit than they would in a 50-game season.
Nothing floated publicly has even come close to meeting these simple criteria.
The starting point here is actually fairly simple. Forget about inching towards a middle ground when neither side is willing to budge. Instead, begin by figuring out just how much extra revenue is associated with 30 extra games and an expanded postseason. Then, split it in half. The players’ salary total is equal to that half plus their prorated salaries for 50 games. Both sides may try to argue for a bigger piece of the pie, but either side would be crazy to say no to half of this revenue—which is much more than the zero extra revenue they would see otherwise. The players don’t need the owners to open their books on any more than is necessary to estimate this amount. The owners don’t need to ask the players to sign any waivers or anything else that isn’t already negotiated. Anything on top of this baseline can be negotiated after setting the above in writing and shaking hands (but not actually).
Offers could get more complicated and cover more territory. This is especially true with the risk of no fans or fewer fans in 2021, and with the CBA expiring after 2021. But the essential 2020 issue can be resolved in a fairly simple manner that makes each side better off in the short term while limiting the long-term damage to the sport. In subsequent pieces, I’ll discuss the fundamentals of baseball’s free agent market and how players might want to approach the inequities that have arguably developed over the last couple years. But for now, let’s just agree that owners, players, and fans can all be made much better off very quickly. Get it done before dinnertime.Comment -
Trout, Betts, Yelich, Bellinger.Comment -
Six MLB owners don't want to play 2020 season, per report
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association have come to a stalemate in negotiations about a potential 2020 season. Over the weekend, the union informed commissioner Rob Manfred that players were ready for him to impose a season, a right he gained in a March agreement between the two sides. Manfred has yet to exercise that option, with rumor having it that the owners are concerned that after doing so the union would file a potentially costly grievance.
As it turns out, some owners appear perfectly content to let the clock run out on a season. According to SNY's Andy Martino, there are at least six owners who don't want a 2020 campaign. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich, for their part, quoted a player agent who said "there are definitely more than eight owners who don't want to play." Whether that's the case or simply speculation is unclear. None of the suspected hardlining owners are named either way.
The exact number is more significant than it seems. If there are six or seven owners who are taking an anti-season approach, that's one thing; if there are eight or more, then the dynamic changes. Eight hardliners could, in theory, sink the ship. That's because Manfred needs clearance from 75 percent of the league's owners in order to impose a schedule.
It should be noted that the idea of a group of owners ready to risk it all is nothing new. The possibility seems to arise whenever there are labor talks, presumably as a half truth, half scare tactic to remind the players that there are even more extreme paths that can be taken. Our Dayn Perry explained why there's still likely to be a season on Monday.
MLB was supposed to begin its season on March 26. The spread of the novel coronavirus caused the league to hit pause on those plans on March 12.
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Yeah, Bonds should be in there as well.Comment -
As if the already convoluted 2020 season bargaining situation needed further complication, another potential curveball was spun this evening. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, tells Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times that playing baseball in the month of October may pose unwarranted risks.
Here’s the specific phrasing attributed to Fauci, who is one of the most visible authorities on the coronavirus: “If the question is time, I would try to keep it in the core summer months and end it not with the way we play the World Series, until the end of October when it’s cold. I would avoid that.”
Fauci emphasized that he wasn’t able to offer any certainties, saying that “this virus is one that keeps fooling us.” There’s obviously still quite a lot of science to be done on COVID-19.
But he made clear that he believes it likely the pandemic will worsen as the weather gets chillier. “Under most circumstances — but we don’t know for sure here — viruses do better when the weather starts to get colder and people start spending more time inside, as opposed to outside,” Fauci explains. “The community has a greater chance of getting infected.” There’d be added concern, he said, because of the potential “overlap between influenza and the possibility of a fall second [coronavirus] wave.”
This makes for an especially intriguing development given the ongoing grappling between the league and union over how long the 2020 season ought to extend. MLB has cited the very same concerns as Fauci now highlights in arguing against attempting play deep into the fall. But even its proposals have been premised on a typical October postseason. The player side hasn’t insisted on playing into November and beyond, telling the league of late that it’s ready to play “when and where” commissioner Rob Manfred orders. But the MLBPA position has generally been to offer up as much play as MLB wants to arrange (with full pro rata salary).
While Fauci’s viewpoints don’t represent specific constraints on the staging of ballgames, they’re sure to factor into the fraught public relations battle between ownership and labor. He has generally been supportive of resuming play, at least without fans in attendance, and has made clear he’s a big baseball fan who would love to see a 2020 campaign. It’s notable, too, that several key baseball states — Arizona, Texas, Florida, California — have already begun to exhibit worrying rises in COVID cases even at the outset of summer.Comment
