Andre Ethier sat today's game out with an inflamed elbow, so his hitting streak still sits at 29 games. Here's the latest from around the league, including some notes on Ethier's Dodgers…
- Best wishes to Paul Bargas, a left-handed pitcher in the Twins system, who is undergoing treatment for brain cancer, according to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
- Yahoo's Jeff Passan hears that MLB and the MLB Players Association will negotiate a DUI policy into the upcoming collective bargaining agreement. The current CBA expires after the season.
- Dodgers trustee Tom Schieffer is meeting in the commissioner's office in Milwaukee today and tomorrow, according to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times (on Twitter).
- "Any financial problems faced by the Los Angeles Dodgers are the result of decisions made by Mr. McCourt and his management team over a period of years," MLB executive vice president Rob Manfred said, according to Shaikin. The Dodgers may not have enough money to meet payroll at the end of this month, according to Shaikin.
Dear Frank,
We can float you a loan. Btw, what do you want for Kershaw?
Thanks,
B. Cashman
Dear Cashman,
I’m broke, not stupid.
Thanks,
Frank
Hey Frank,
Myself and the rest of the world disagree.
B.
“The Dodgers may not have enough money to meet payroll at the end of this month, according to Shaikin.”
That’s a shame, especially for those poor sops getting paid minimum. I know how hard it is to feed a family on only $70,000 a month.
Indeed. The players union should do something about that.
They do. I’m sure some stat reader on here could tell you the league minimum inflation in the past 40 years.
“Yahoo’s Jeff Passan hears that MLB and the MLB Players Association will negotiate a DUI policy into the upcoming collective bargaining agreement.”
Good, no real excuse for it to happen, especially after the Adenhart incident hit so close to home for the MLB. I know that some people simply have a problem, but I know if I saw Miguel Cabrera stumbling through the street, I’d be more than pleased to help him home (Tell me that, as a baseball fan, you wouldn’t want to say “Dude, I was an MVP candidate’s ride home last night!”). You can’t tell me that finding a designated driver or hailing a cab is all that hard for these guys.
MLBPA should just start a car service. Seriously, because some of these bone heads can’t be trusted with their own decisions…
Homer ” wait a second, I can’t drive I’m drunk”
Homer ” wait a second, I’m drunk I shouldn’t listen to myself”
Heck, just set up a fan rideshare. Seriously! Set up bidding to drive home your favorite drunk MLB player. People would probably actually pay for the privelage! Revenue stream!
lol thats not the worst idea I’ve ever heard..
however for obvious reasons, I don’t think female bidders should be allowed to win… That would set up an entirely new issue for the MLBPA to deal with
I’d honestly be more worried about the die-hard guys. I can see the headlines now:
“Bautista late scratch for World Series game 1 due to impromptu road trip”
(Since it was so unlikely a situation in general, I decided to go the whole nine and pick a player who will never see a WS game anyway, you’re welcome)
as a jays fan I resent that and disagree!
Why’s that? I was very obviously referring to…
Crap, you know I anticipated having an out assuming there’d be at least one other Bautista in the MLB, but there isn’t anymore and there isn’t a single one in the minors according to B-R either, curse you Miguel Batista for spelling your name differently.
Seriously, there’s like forty Molinas and I can’t find a single other Bautista?!
hahaha good show sir!
What about Denny?
B-R only listed him through 2011. Now that I look into further detail, I see he’s floating around in the Mariners’ system, but I don’t see him coming up to the majors anytime soon.
This comment thread is cracking me up.
when was Bautista traded to the Red Sox or Phillies??? From what I have read this yr those two teams are going to the world series!
It’s not drinking and driving if you drive between sips
-Homer Simpson
I don’t disagree with you. DUI is a terrible thing with the potential for tragic consequences, and avoiding it is pretty simple even for us average Joes; it’s going to be even easier for athletes with millions of dollars in the bank who wouldn’t blink at a cab fare or other potential expenses.
But that’s not the issue at hand. Society has laws and punishments in place (even if they seem to be… shall we say, unequally enforced with regards to famous people). These people have been charged with a crime and the system we have developed for this purpose will handle them.
The question, then, is whether MLB should be able to enforce a penalty above and beyond what the legal system chooses to enact and that isn’t as clear-cut to me. I think I would support a team’s ability to terminate a contract for DUI, though most would not take advantage. If MLB wanted to throw somebody out of the sport for it, while I would consider it too heavy handed to support I could at least understand that. But a fine or suspension (basically a fine that also hurts the team) just doesn’t sit right for me.
Although it is not analogous, I suppose I try to bring it back to more familiar settings. If you worked in an office and got charged with a DUI, I could see your boss deciding you’re not the kind of person he wants to employ and firing you. (I wonder if one could argue it is a violation of the ADA, but that is neither here nor there.) He can refuse to give you that raise next year. He can’t tell you “I’m fining you” or “I’m going to pay you $X less.”
DUIs are terrible and they should be punished — but by the institutions our society has set up for that purpose. I don’t know that somebody’s workplace should even find out, much less involve themselves. I’m honestly torn on it.
I can understand that, but my basic thought on the matter of additional enforcement by the union/teams falls under two rationales:
1. As you yourself point out, the system has proven woefully inadequate when applied to celebrities. A mere slap on the wrist and it’s done with.
2. The MLB’s steroid and drug policies are redundant in terms of the fact both are illegal, but a big part of the apparent rationale for it is the potential influence on children. You don’t want kids taking steroids because that stuff can destroy your body so much quicker if you’re using it before you’re fully developed.
The second part is of big importance to me. Athletes have always been, and will always be, a substantial source of role models for children. They need to be held to a higher standard as a result. Bluntly speaking, if I go and get drunk and get busted for DUI, yes I’m putting people at risk and yes I’m being a terrible influence on my daughter, but that’s where it ends.
When Miguel Cabrera gets busted for DUI, there are millions of kids seeing it happen. Well, this guy’s living the American dream and making millions of dollars at a game and is still doing it, despite his indiscretion, so it can’t be all that big of a deal, right? All I can think about when stuff like this comes up is the carnival scene in the Sandlot because, really, that’s how it starts (Though it rarely ends with throwing up on a ride and then calling it quits forever): a kid sees someone they respect doing something stupid and think it’s totally a good idea.
There are so many other industries where something like this will get you in trouble at work. In a day and age where a raunchy Facebook post can get you sanctioned at work, I think it’s perfectly acceptable for sports to start cracking down on this stuff.
ETA: Basically, I think athletes should be held to similar public conduct standards to teachers.
When you are paying someone 100 million dollars over 6 years to be the face of your business, you are going to need to know things like this.. its about protected your asset as much as it is protecting the lives of others who could be injured by a players stupidity.
Obsession brought up a great point in the Adenhart incident.. After losing a young star in the league to drunk driving, what kind of message are the players sending out by drinking and driving? Its bad for business, bad for the players and bad for society.
No body wins. The players SHOULD be smart enough to make better decisions, but they have shown incapable, so further steps by the mlbpa need to be taken.
GeezGuys.. Get serious here. I don’t drink, but think.. Ruth, Mantle.. Drunks and that is but 2. They PLAYED the game hung over and who knows? Maybe drunk as well. People now treating like a drink is nearly as bad as injecting, or pushing pills.
Amazing what a few trial lawyers can do to the world and twist things up the last 40 years.
Rationalization a defense mechanism. They did it so it’s ok for me to do it.
do people seem annoyed that the players are consuming alcohol? i mean are you drunk right now or something? the issue is that they get drunk and then drive
You must not have read what I said, or are some kind of trial lawyer liberal your self there. I DO NOT DRINK. Just do not think putting drinking of booze near the plateau of criminal penalty near drugs by any means. Driving or NOT as players did PAST and PRESENT.
Then maybe it is a good thing older generations won’t have to worry about what is coming about anyway.. Good luck with what is becoming with “hope and change” anyway.
i was giving you the benefit of the doubt with the drunk comment. hard to believe you’re saying these things sober
the post and the discussion in the comments are about driving drunk. not being drunk. not drinking. there’s a proposed DUI (this is an acronym!) policy, not pre-game breathalyzers
i can tell you’re super eager for someone to argue with you about politics or basically anything that’ll give you an opportunity to let loose your inner boring. but i refuse to an enabler!
i was giving you the benefit of the doubt with the drunk comment. hard to believe you’re saying these things sober
nothing to add, just making sure everyone reads that twice