A brief synopsis of the insane greed of MLB

MCMLVTopps

https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2021/12/2/22814019/mlb-lockout-explained-in-5-minutes

There are tax implications involved that I simply don't understand, nor do I care to. Salary caps and all the intricacies of contractual mumbo jumbo. The owners are mega millionaires, if not billionaires. I'd say the majority of players are millionaires many times over.

So, the billionaires appear to want to screw the millionaires, when in fact the bottom line is that, like always, the fans, concessionaires and local businesses are really the victims here. The base pay for a rookie MLB player is $570.5K +/- Rookies are in their early 20s, some even younger, making $95 grand a month, or $23.7k per week for doing what? Do you realize that compared to Joe blue-collar worker who puts in 40 hours a week, that hourly wage in comparison who be $592.50 PER HOUR.

Now that Manfred has cancelled several games...not to mention openers with the Yankees, that will never be made up. A sacrilege to the Yankee and Fenway Faithful who live for these moments like rabid fans in a coliseum of Roman days. Oh, but you have the option to get a rain check...gee, I'd like to see the Orioles In August instead of opening with the Yankees. NOT!!

So, I say a pox on all their houses, my days of enjoying games is on life support and they are all nothing but incredibly greedy, fun stealing idiots who are slowly, but steadily killing the golden goose. Never again will I purchase the MLB package, my time and enjoyment of life will focus elsewhere.

perkdog

As I said before I wouldn’t care one bit if MLB went bankrupt and folded, same with the NBA.

Yes I know the NFL is the same greedy type landscape but it’s my favorite sport and I would be pissed if it wasn’t around.

NHL I don’t watch either but for some reason I don’t look at that with disdain like I do MLB and NBA

galaxy27

baseball is digging its own grave

my sincere hope is that the sport's popularity becomes tantamount to that of soccer over here

craig44

I know i am in the extreme minority, but none of this really bothers me. I love baseball (not nearly as much as football), but I fully understand this is a business. many big businesses have collectively bargained contracts under which they work. I mean, my wife does, and she is definitely not a pro athlete.

I honestly do not begrudge either side wanting the best deal for themselves. I hear the "its millionaires arguing with billionares" all the time. but honestly, no one wants to give up money or bargaining chips. regardless of how rich they are.

labor negotiations often get ugly. it happens. ultimately these guys are entertainers. they are very highly skilled and based on the revenue they bring in to their owners, they deserve to be paid handsomely. likewise, without the owners capital investment in league and infrastructure, there would be no MLB, or at least as we know it. it is a symbiotic relationship.

they will get it all figured out. they will cancel some games. I will continue to watch.

tommyrusty7

I understand your point of view but I will continue to watch all the games I can on MLB as I have nothing else to do at this point in my life. MLB is cheap compared to going to a live game!

Justacommeman

IMHO what an Average Joe makes doesn't factor into my bias against MLB. Sports is entertainment based and players have skill sets very few possess. Im ok with owners making as much as they can. Im ok with players getting theirs. What Im not ok with is the final product. Im no longer invested in baseball and Im no longer entertained.

mark

tommyrusty7

I feel the same way about the integrity of the game . It is not what it used to be for sure.

paulb71

baseball is back after a 99 day lock out, this means the same 10 or so teams will compete for the world series and 15 or so teams are already eliminated , you got to love the un balanced playing field.

coinkat

MLB is no longer entertaining because it is no longer a game... it is a business. It has been controlled by fear and greed for decades... Remember the '94 Strike and split season of 1981? What we see behind the curtain is more of a 21st Century modification of "The Jungle" without Upton Sinclair to write about it.

gemint

@paulb71 said:
baseball is back after a 99 day lock out, this means the same 10 or so teams will compete for the world series and 15 or so teams are already eliminated , you got to love the un balanced playing field.

^This. Scott Boros drove this negotiation. Most of the player reps in the negotiation are his clients. The only thing he cares about is pushing the top contract values that make up his clients through the roof. He doesn't even care about the average player. Baseball is dying and is completely oblivious to the fact. That's because the media is concentrated in the big cities with teams that benefit most from the current system. If they agreed to a cap/floor system like every other major sport, they could get player salaries up from 40% of total revenue to 50% like the other sports. That means more money overall for MLB players but smaller mega-contracts for Boros' clients.

craig44

@coinkat said:
MLB is no longer entertaining because it is no longer a game... it is a business. It has been controlled by fear and greed for decades... Remember the '94 Strike and split season of 1981? What we see behind the curtain is more of a 21st Century modification of "The Jungle" without Upton Sinclair to write about it.

it has been a business since at least 1869 when the red stockings started paying salaries to the players.

if you want to watch a pure game, go watch little league. if you want to watch the best in the world, its still MLB