Bleeding Yankee Blue: PUMP THE BRAKES ON THE 2020 SEASON

Thursday, May 14, 2020

PUMP THE BRAKES ON THE 2020 SEASON - THE PLAYERS AREN'T HAPPY!

I may have Twitter induced whiplash. I jump from feed to feed and see one argument only to be sucked into a new direction and I see another argument. We all got excited when MLB owners approved a plan that could bring baseball back in July. That's a big first step....but there is still another big hurdle to jump, namely the Players Association.

Here comes the drama.

It's a business....so it's all about the money and the owners want to hold onto as much money as possible. Back in March, the MLBPA agreed to prorated pay, essentially a reduced salary. Owners now recognize that if and when the season resumes, games will likely be played without fans in the stands which takes away some of their revenue. So now the pressure is shifted to the players. The owners have okayed a plan to start playing, but to get some money back they want the players to take less also by agreeing to a 50/50 revenue share, read more HERE. Revenue sharing is common in other sports like the NFL, NHL and the NBA - but not baseball. MLB players are not happy with the proposal, it's like a salary cap....and we know that isn't in baseball either.

So here we are, waiting to see who will fold first. The owners are optimistic that players will negotiate. Randy Levine tried to appeal to the Yankees by trying to appeal to the sense of civic duty. "I think our players are patriots. They want to do it. We are all trying to get there," Levine said. Talk about pressure, I'm sure the Yankees don't WANT to take a pay cut and MLBPA executive director Tony Clark has already said that the union WILL NOT agree to it. Some players are already saying that they won't support it.
Here's Adam Jones:

And Trevor Bauer:

And what about former Yankee Phil Hughes?

I understand the sentiment, regardless of if I agree with it or not. These owners are very wealthy, and that didn't happen by accident. Are they feeling the pinch financially right now? Sure, like most of us are. They aren't getting the cash flow that they normally get right now. It's a month into the season and they haven't made money. That doesn't mean they are struggling though. They made a commitment to players when they signed them....and the players are expecting them to live up to that commitment with some minor concessions, which they have already made a few. I get it.

I also understand when Phil Hughes is coming from. The next CBNA is coming up soon. The Players union have had a long hard fight to get to this point. Years ago they didn't have the same favorable terms so to agree to owners requests would be taking a big step backwards in their point of view.

Would we feel differently if it was you or me? Maybe we have a similar situation. I know several people right now who have agreed to a temporary pay cut during this pandemic in order to keep their jobs. A little less income is better than none, right? What if we agreed to a pay cut due to the circumstances with the expectation that we would get our original full pay later when the crisis has past? What if....we never got back to our original salary? If this is what the MLBPA is concerned with, I understand the concern.

Not all current or former players feel the same way, there's usually someone with a different opinion right? Well, we have a different opinion with Mark Teixeira.

I will say this much....in my history here with BYB I have been the biggest supporter of Tex out of anyone on staff. I defended him all the time. I don't think I can here. It's easy to say you would rather make "pennies on the dollar" after you have already cashed in a large contract, retired and have nothing to lose. I just don't buy the symbol of hope he is trying to sell all of us....but that's just me.

So where do we go from here? The owners and MLBPA need to sit down and hash this out. Is one side being too greedy? If they reach an impasse and can't make this work it's a bad look for baseball. We need our baseball back!