Baseball Today …

I recently suggested that MLB and the MLBPA cannot agree on anything more controversial than Tuesdays following Mondays.  As if to demonstrate the salience of that assertion, the union turned down another proposal for the 2021 MLB season.  Previously, it rejected a proposal to give the union something it had asked for in the past (universal DH) in exchange for a delayed opening of spring Training and expanded playoffs in October.  Now it has rejected a proposal containing:

• Delayed Spring Training and Opening Day leading to a 154-game season with players getting full pay not pro-rated pay.
• Expanded post-season schedule.

Here is part of the statement from the union as to what is unacceptable in the latest proposal that they rejected:

“Although Player salaries would not be initially prorated to a 154-game regular season, MLB’s proposal offers no salary or service time protections in the event of further delays, interruptions, or cancellation of the season.”

Here is why the ongoing kabuki theater between MLB and the MLBPA is important.  The current CBA that enables an MBL season to occur in the first place expires on December 1^st, 2021.  There has been “labor peace” in MLB since the union walked out on the 1994 regular season in 1994 leading to the cancelation of the World Series that year.  If the folks involved in these negotiations cannot figure out how to handle a season altered in some way by the reality of COVID-19 – – something that could not have been envisioned when the current CBA was under negotiation – – how can they go back to square one and get a new deal done expeditiously?

The 2021 season could be in jeopardy purely for reasons related to COVID-19 and/or for reasons based on the inability of the two parties here to find a way to adapt to the potentially overwhelming effects of the ongoing pandemic.  That is bad enough, but the 2021 season could be in jeopardy also if these jamokes cannot figure out how to stop hating one another and start working toward a new deal.

Back in 1994 when baseball went through its last strike, MLB was a $3B enterprise; in 2019 when MLB had its last “normal regular season”, MLB was a $9B enterprise.  What that tells me is that the owners and the union are now looking at three times more revenue they need to share, and they cannot find a way to do that.  What comes to mind here are the dying words of Mercutio in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet:

“A plague o’ both your houses!”

The sport of baseball – – that thing that earns owners nice profits and rewards players with millions of dollars for playing a game – – took a serious hit in 1994.  The sport lost popularity and losing popularity is tied directly to revenue.  It took major baseball events such as the steroid-fueled home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in 1998 and the end of the Cal Ripken consecutive game streak at 2632 also in 1998 to rekindle growing fan interest.  Baseball attendance had gone down season over season between 2016 and 2019 but only slightly.  Baseball does not need to put itself in a bad light regarding the fanbase as we come out of the “COVID-19 Era” of sports in the US.

• Memo to MLB and the MLBPA:  Do not make the 2021 regular season into something no one recognizes as “baseball” unless the coronavirus makes you do so.
• You have gone for 25 years without pissing off your fanbase; try to figure out why that situation is a benefit to all of you and then how to maintain that status quo.
• If there must be ANY modification to the 2022 MLB season, it had better be due to COVID-19, World War III or the Zombie Apocalypse and not to your petty nonsense in negotiations.

There is another baseball item to chew on today.  Last week, the Colorado Rockies traded Nolan Arenado to the St. Louis Cardinals for Austin Gomber (104 innings pitched in MLB) and 4 minor league prospects.  Moreover, the Rockies agreed as part of the deal to pay $50M as part of Arenado’s guaranteed $194M through 2026; the Rockies paid to get rid of Nolan Arenado.  Let that wash over you for a moment…

I think Arenado is the best third baseman in MLB – – with all due respect to Anthony Rendon and Manny Machado who are both excellent at the position.  Arenado has been in the major leagues for eight seasons and has won a Gold Glove in all eight.  Trading Arenado in any deal that does not bring back at least a known MLB entity or another quality player who “needs to be moved” is tantamount to waving a white flag and telling the world that the Rockies are not going to be serious players for the next several years.

I read one “analysis” that said the reason for the trade was for the Rockies to save enough money to resign Trevor Story when he becomes a free agent at the end of 2021.  I have no interest in bashing Trevor Story; he is a quality MLB shortstop.  However, I have three points to make regarding that bit of “analysis”:

1. Trevor Story is very good – – but he ain’t Nolan Arenado.
2. Trevor Story PLUS Nolan Arenado makes for an outstanding left side of the infield for any MLB team.
3. Might Trevor Story look at the Arenado trade as “waving a white flag” and wonder why in Heaven’s name he would want to sign on with the Rockies as a free agent?

In the wake of any trade, there is always a statement from both sides regarding the exchange.  Normally, they are diplomatically worded and cordial.  This time, John Mozeliak – Cards’ President of Baseball Operations – simply said:

“Today, we got better!”

Finally, apropos of nothing, here is an entry from The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm:

“Hallmark:  A company that has made untold millions off the fact that it’s a bitch to come up with something nice to say about the people you love.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………