Never one to hold back his thoughts on the economic state of the game, agent Scott Boras recently penned an email to his clients urging them not to concede to further pay cuts — a concession he likens to a “bailout” for owners. Ronald Blum of the Associated Press has the bulk of the email.
“The owners’ current problem is a result of the money they borrowed when they purchased their franchises, renovated their stadiums or developed land around their ballparks,” Boras writes. “…Owners now want players to take additional pay cuts to help them pay these loans. They want a bailout.”
Boras notes that even amid record revenue increases, the average salary of players hasn’t risen in quite some time. Indeed, Blum reported earlier this month that the Opening Day average salary has remained constant at about $4.4MM since 2016 despite steady growth among league revenue and franchise valuations. Similarly, the value of the qualifying offer — determined based on the average of baseball’s 125 highest-paid players — slightly declined in 2019 for the first time since its inception (from $17.9MM to $17.8MM). It had previously risen every year, jumping from $13.2MM in 2012-13 to $17.9MM in the 2018-19 offseason.
To this point, the players’ general stance appears to align with that of Boras. Players are reportedly preparing a counter-proposal for the league that ostensibly ignores the sliding scale mechanism proposed by ownership and instead calls for the previously agreed upon prorated salaries but in a larger slate of games. Max Scherzer, one of eight players on the MLBPA’s executive subcommittee, sounded off against the league’s proposal last night. Notably, Scherzer is one of three Boras clients on that eight-man committee (joined by Elvis Andrus and James Paxton).
While the players are broadly unified in their stance against the sliding scale proposal, they’re not all thrilled with the idea of Boras inserting himself into union matter. Reds right-hander Trevor Bauer, every bit as outspoken as Boras himself (if not more so), blasted the agent on Twitter last night, writing:
Hearing a LOT of rumors about a certain player agent meddling in MLBPA affairs. If true — and at this point, these are only rumors — I have one thing to say… Scott Boras, rep your clients however you want to, but keep your damn personal agenda out of union business.
On the surface, one would imagine that the goals of a prominent agent and a prominent player — particularly a free-agent-to-be such as Bauer — would be largely aligned as the union pushes back against further salary concessions. Bauer himself has made clear several times on Twitter that he, like other players, feels ownership has gone back on its end of the March agreement which stipulated prorated salaries in 2020. Ownership, of course, has contested that the agreement was contingent on fans being in attendance.
He’s right
So improving the fan experience is a bad thing? The owners still have to pay those bills even if there are no fans.
There needs to be an equitable solution. If the owners can’t pay want the players want, then the owners shouldn’t be forced to pay more and the players shouldn’t be forced to play.
It appears this season the owners are not making enough to pay the players what they want. It is what it is. There are no bad guys.
What’s equitable? The owners refuse to open the books, but want to plead poverty. All of this is over a set of guarantted contracts that the players are under no-obligation to move off of.. Could you imagine if when each team signed a new TV rights deal, the players came back and said “I cant play anymore until I got more of that TV money you just got.” They’d be vilified for “not sticking to their contract.”
Th
You can be skeptical all you want, but it’s ridiculous to say the owners have to open their books.
There is a lot of their businesses that don’t have anything do with baseball.
Interesting I don’t see anyone vilifying Cano,Jacoby,Cespedes,Braun,Arod etc who all stole money under false pretenses. Perhaps if a player is injured they only get a 1/3 of what they should get like the fans do. Blake Snell told fans to drop dead that he and his fellow Major Leaguers are more important. Did the union kick him out? Nope because every Major Leaguer agrees with the message. It’s the same reason none of the players came out and said we are not playing until Altuve,Bregman,Correra,Springer,Verlander etc are banned for life. If karma exists both the owners and the players will go bankrupt for how they treated the fans
Which means they have the money to honor all contracts. Including prorated contracts.
Very few of those other business that do not have to open their books (agreed, no reason for them to do so) enjoy monopolies, antitrust exemptions, and large degrees of public largesse in the form of bond issues to fund their stadiums and public transportation to their parks..
You mean their other businesses they use to hide their baseball revenue?
I think it’s more than fair of the players union to ask the owners to open up their books to prove they are actually losing money like they claim. I do find it interesting that a small market team like the Brewers hasn’t laid off a single front office employee and is paying the $400 stipend to all its minor leaguers for the entire 2020 season yet possess the worst TV contract in the league and supposedlylost money last season when it had a record payroll. These owners aren’t hurting financially and considering all MLB franchises a valued over $500 million losing money for one year isn’t going to make or break them. Large companies loss money during recessions all the time and somehow find ways to survive without going out of business. I would wager everything I own that besides the Wilpons who are struggling from the Madoff scandal there isn’t a single owner who would be forced to sell if they were forced to pay the full salaries (not prorated) for ever employee regardless of the number of games played this season.
Umm…unions aren’t allowed to kick out members who are still employed. I know several union stewards who frequently dislike having to represent and defend in some instances bad employees but it’s done for the betterment of the union as a whole. Also a team being forced to pay a player who is caught for cheating via PEDs, sign stealing or any other reason is different since the player losses all wages during his suspension for said incident and in the case of the Astros players the owners agreed to give them immunity for their cooperation. So basically they were more concerned about discovering the truth than having to pay players who cheated. Which is all you need to know about the mindset of team owners. There’s a reason guys like Aldon Smith, ARod, Cano and plenty of other players continue playing after scandals because the owners care more about being competitive and making money than moral fiber.
Well said John. The inflated payrolls are a direct reflection of increased revenue. That being said I’d never had an issue with teams being rich the risk is on them. But take away that risk and yes it’s an issue
It’s not like the owners have ever behaved unethically to screw over the players.
Oh wait, there was Collusion I, II, and III.
Exact screw the owners. The players have never had their own collusion. It’s not like they knew teammates using steroids or using technology to inflate their stats so they could get paid more. It’s not like they told fans they are more valueable than Medical workers,Officers,Firefighters,warehouse workers and supermarket employees like Blake Snell who was smart not to say something that stupid.
The players did collude. It’s called the MLBPA, their union.
He’s right. The players don’t care about us fans in the MLB. Look at the NBA. They already agreed to pay cuts for their top dogs (because they want to play). Snell I’m so many words said forget the fans who make us millions I’m not taking a pay cut.
ImAdude you are stalking me. You clearly don’t support the owners and clearly don’t support the players but consistently comment me…….
Johnny, stalking you? I’m just calling you what you are. A LW sounding lunatic. I’m not an owner. I’m not a player. Why should I care what these selfish egomaniacs do? They are only hurting themselves, not me.
If you don’t think owners were aware players were using steroids before their was testing then you’re delusional. Heck, Mack McGuire actually kept his bottle of andro on the top shelf of his locker in plain sight for all to see. AlsoJim Crane playing dumb is laughable. There’s no way someone get to own a sports franchise without knowing something this involved is going on within his organization.
Bdpecore, then you must also believe DeWitt and Mozeliak knew Chris Correa was hacking into the Astros computers.
The MLB players agreed to a huge pay cut. instead of getting paid 100% of their contracts regardless or the number of games played as they legally could have insisted on because MLB salaries are 100% guaranteed, they said they would agree to be paid only for the games played. A 50% pay cut if the teams play 82 games as MLB has proposed.
That is over $2 billion total and an average of $2.2 million per player. I would say that is a HUGE pay cut.
The NBA players agreed to a 25% pay cut. Exactly 1/2 the percentage that MLB players have already agreed to .
MLB OWNERS are asking the players to take a 66-79% pay cut.
baseball owners aren’t the only ones that need to make payments! why should they treateted differently from other people? there are landlordes that demand to be paid in sex from female renters who cannot go to work and, in turn, cannot pay the rents. imagine that!
Are you suggesting that the players have sex with the owners?
That is insane…. and it just might work!
are you 3 years old or just fumb?
Except if theres no season, then theres less revenues to pay for those improved fan experiences. That’s all part of the risk/reward system of being owner. U buy the team, u foot the money, u assume the financial risks, and ur rewarded making millions if not billions. But owners are trying to negate their risk and responsibility in order for more rewards. That’s not how it supposed to work. If u want ur workers to assume part of ownerships responsibilities and risks then offer profit sharing.
But, how much less revenue will there be? The owners are notorious for hiding their income from both the players and each other. How much will they lose on tickets and concessions? How much more will they make if television ratings are up? They may have fixed payments from broadcasters or some kind of revenue sharing. We don’t know. And, many teams, or their owners, have stakes in the regional cable stations. We just don’t know what the owners will lose in revenue and neither do the players.
They will lose between 35-40% of their revenues by having no fans in the park. I can understand why owners are asking for further concessions from the players.
You say “if the owners cannot pay (what) the players want, then the owners shouldn’t be forced to” I say there is a several page document that each player signs called a contract that states otherwise.
Now if you can find me a contract that states that a players salary is stipulated by the amount of attendance or a teams profit margin I will change my tune but I’d be willing to bet that 0% of all contracts have that stipulation.
This is a situation where owners need to work with owners and the league for the good of the sport. Meaning that they need to work with each other to cover the expenses so smaller market teams do not fold.
Frankly, the owners and commissioners office were not proactive enough in any of these matters. Baseball should have immediately looked at marketing plans to offset some lost revenue. Commemorative jerseys for the 2020 season, selling more broadcasting rights etc.
It’s called a force majeure clause that is part of the contracts you speak of
Which does not include this type of stoppage. The force majeure clause in the UPC only covers only the situation where there are no games at all, not if there are games that are played without fans in the stands. It is very specific in that language.
Obviously there can be games with no fans in the stands because they owners already proposed a plan to do that very thing, so the force majeure clause is not applicable to this situation.
He only cares about his percentage of the players salary going down. He has no business in this
Exactly. If this entire thing was left to between the players and owners they could come up with an agreement. But add the blood sucking agents in there and it all goes to hell. It’s never truly been “the players association” and always more “the agents association.”
Lmao Scott Boras having his own interests in mind means he has his clients interest in mind. Don’t act like the players are idiots who will bend to the owners demands if they didn’t have agents. They are smart people.
The players are not lawyers. Agents are lawyers. Or if not directly a lawyer, the agencies certainly have them on staff. Contracts are a legal matter. What do you think the legal counsel team looks like for each owner?
It appears the MLBTR fan population is extremely stupid.
“tHe PlAyers and Owner could definitely negotiate without those dirty filthy agents!!!!!!”
What is your point, exactly? Instead of calling people here stupid, maybe think through your point with a little more depth.
i understand what he is saying. maybe, you don’t want to understand.
It was understood there was no point. And you still can’t write or formulate thought. Is Bets your burner account or is it JDs?
you must think other people are acting as low as you must do!
Ah the guy who calls people names doesn’t want people to call people names. The life of a troll is a simple life isn’t it. Nobody has burner accounts except for you, man. Nobody takes an anonymous website that personally.
You misunderstand how agent contracts work. Boras and every other agent was paid when the player signed his deal, not paycheck by paycheck.
You are wrong. Agents are paid annually over the life of the contract. So Boras will get 3-4% of Gerrit Cole’s contract each year, over 9 nine years. So his income is also affected with the salaries being reduced in 2020. I’m not defending Boras (I can’t stand him) but he and his agency are also affected by the lack of income this year.
Koamalu that is the dumbest statement I’ve ever heard uttered from someone’s mouth. You mean to tell me Gerrit Cole forked over 5% of 325 million dollars at signing????
You like to talk as if you know what the heck you’re talking about but that’s clearly not the case
Boras needs to find something else to do with his time.
There’s nothing wrong with anything he said. The owners went into debt to finance non baseball related revenues and want to recoup losses from players, who (I don’t believe) get any benefit from it…so why do it?
Can you imagine what Boras would say if team owners neglected their stadiums and players had to play in ‘dumps’? He’d be lambasting them for not investing in their facilities and making a safe and comfortable environment for his clients. He’s so transparent; this is all about him getting his money.
Boras is a right I wonder if any of these owners are getting nervous about their loans and individual bank loan covenants, as value of teams has had to suffer since this began.
He doesn’t see the money in it most likely, but he should unionize the minor leaguers, or at least, force the MLBPA to address bringing them in. All these guys come through the minors, you would think they would want to address the problems with the system, rather than adopt a “in my day we …” type attitude.
If the Minor Leagues and MLBPA were both on the side against attrition, the owners would look worse than they normally due.
Clamoring for open books is a red herring to distract from the issues. MLBPA knows owners wont throw everything open to them and that’s why they claim to need it.
BUT
Attendance records are available, as are ticket prices. They know what gate fees could approximate.
Overwhelming majority of merchandise sales result in MLBPA royalties. MLBPA knows what the intake is, and can extrapolate roughly what is coming in.
Tv rights deals are more or less all in the public record, you know what they’re getting.
What you don’t know is how many $4 hot dogs and $8 beets get sold. But, again, those concessions are contract based with third party vendors who, to my knowledge, are typically publicly traded so… again, you know how much revenue went to the aramarks or the world from the teams so….
END result, we know the teams/mlb turned over a volume of documentation that various MLBPA spokepersons/reps said would take them too long to audit and process. They COULD hire extra staff the way large law firms do in a big case.
Add whatever mlb gave, to the publicly available sources, you can see how much money is projected to lose. They just secretly suspect there’s a vast hidden treasure trove of income from…. well, maybe the MLBPA thinks there’s some leprechauns churning out gold in Yankee stadium….
Sure. But he’s also leaving out “The higher amount my players make, the more I make.”
Good for him, and his clients. Hopefully the arguments from each side doesn’t result in the downfall of the game, but at least they can play in the KBO.
hahaha – the KBO has about 10 % of the income base that MLB has. no way a regular MLB player not past their prime plays for them.
If Puig gets told theres no 2020, i could see him going there. They’d love him lol
So what if certain owners do run out of money? Cut the league down to 28 teams? I’m just curious. What if a team has a payroll of 100M and the owner only brings in 25M this season from his other investments. Should he just eat 75M? I’m not sure why everyone thinks the players should be paid their full salaries for playing possibly half a season. I wish that’s how the real world worked. Let me work 100 days but get paid for 200. Sound fair?
players want to get paid for days they participate in. you are stating exactly what they have been!
The projected revenue that their contracts are based on is not there.
Let them take their ball and go home. America is fed up with them.
I guess they’ll have to reach into the last decades rainy day fund. Any American with intelligence should be upset about Businesses wanting to subsidize their risk. You cant blame the owners for trying to get it. But if you’re sick of just about anything; I’d aim my guns that way. I’m not going to tell you a group of largely multi millionaire players is a group to sympathize with. But the central idea remains.
MLB teams should have no issues accessing liquidity in capital markets. If one or two of them do; there’s always a buyer!
Lol how dramatic.
The players have already agreed to play for a prorated amount based on how many games are played. The owners are proposing an 82 game season. That means the players would be paid basically 50% of their salary. They would be getting paid only for the work they did in games.
The owners want them to take a 66-79% pay cut but work 50% of their regular schedule. How is that fair?
“The owners’ current problem is a result of the money they borrowed when they purchased their franchises, renovated their stadiums or developed land around their ballparks,” Boras writes. “…Owners now want players to take additional pay cuts to help them pay these loans. They want a bailout.”
He wasn’t complaining when those same conditions where allowing his own clients to sign the contracts insane contracts. This is the last person who should be weighing in.
*were
Boras may have shed some light on the owner’s financial issues without realizing it. Many have been posting on this site that the billionaire owners should fork up. But by informing us that owners (not all or course) face significant financial strains this may provide some light on why the owners made the offer they did.
If the owners bail on the season, then it seems even more likely that they would lose money. The only other reason I can see the owners bailing, and this is a big if, is if they want to be in a stronger position going into the next CBA. I doubt this is the case for the win-now teams since winning it all is worth way more than putting a padlock on the front door.
““The Rickets family current problem is a result of the money they borrowed when they purchased their franchises, renovated their stadiums or developed land around their ballparks,” Boras writes. “…The Rickets Family now want players to take additional pay cuts to help them pay these loans. They want a bailout.””
There I Corrected this statement, totally know who Boras is pointing to with that comment.
When no, or liess money is coming in, then just how would the Ricketts (your example benefit?
Boras has long been known to shun during the offseason of FA lower tiered players and always focus on getting huge contracts for “his” top players. That’s why he’s mouthing off more than usual for him right now and doesn’t want (example again), year 1 of his Cole mega deal cut to ribbons, year 2 of his Harper deal done likewise.
How people can see good in the guy is beyond me. Mercenary would be way to kind words, as would the term leech.
The Braves have a new stadium and have developed the surrounding land. He really isn’t speaking just to the Rickets.
Those conditions had nothing to do with the player contracts. The insane revenue that MLB is getting is what led to those contracts.
He is absolutely right on this issue.
Cool. Players don’t get paid this year. Season is cancelled. Any revenue they do make goes towards those bills instead. See you in 2021.
Players are not getting prorated salaries.
Also, how awesome is Trevor Bauer. Dude is a sound byte waiting to happen.
Being in Ohio, Ive witnessed Bauer at his finest soundbyte worthy moments. He may be a head case but he doesnt back down from speaking his mind. I was VERY pleased to see someone check Boras at the door on this one!!
I love Trevor Bauer even more now!
He’s one pitch away from never standing on a mound again. Boras is his best friend. He’s just too ignorant to notice.
You can say any pitcher is “one pitch away from never standing on a mound again”. Heck of an argument there I must admit.
Players get paid in some fashion regardless of whether not a single game takes place. They already agreed to 4% of their salary of the season is cancelled entirely.
So Trout and Cole takes home about 1.4 million this year. As the highest paid players taking home around 36 mill I cannot think every other player taking home only 6 figures are fine with that, especially players in FA years who are going to see their overall earning power take a serious hit in 2021. Even more so in the event they don’t play this year.
So the players are getting paid to do nothing if the season is cancelled? Boy don’t you wish that’s how the real world outside of sports worked?
And Boras would get 10% (or whatever his percentage of the contract would be) of 4% instead of 10% of 40% or higher. Seems like he would be better off if he were pushing for a resolution instead of a stalemate.
Cool. Owners don’t get paid this year, but still have to pay their leases on stadiums and all the other expenses they have. See you in 2021. But with a few teams in bankruptcy because they owners got no revenue instead of $8 billion for playing in empty stadiums.
The jerk speaks again
That “jerk” as you put it, is worth roughly 100 million dollars and the players he represents receive the finest representation any athlete has ever received.
You can be good at your job and still be an a hole. They’re not mutually exclusive.
I was going to post much the same. I have a relative that is a very good lawyer, makes tons of money, and is one of the biggest fargin icehole that you would ever meet. Too bad someone does not deport Boras and my relative to Sweden, even though they are not from there.
all owners are also!
The owners may well be but they at least don’t put it on public display.
what they have been doung is exactly the same. it is sad that people just don’t want to realize how dirty they have been acting ‘in public’!
LOL
A moronic statement from Boras, and the comments here are worse.
Owners took out loans to buy their teams and to refurbish their parks and areas around them?
WOW!
Gee, I thought people paid cash for billion dollar properties, and as well as for any upgrading.
The blind leading the blind.
I don’t know what’s more comical – how MLB and it’s owners, players, agents, and the Commissioner conduct themselves; or how fans argue over pure nonsense as the take sides.
Even if MLB plays this season it’s a joke. Maybe they can hold the WS in Arizona just before the Super Bowl. LOL MLB will NOT recover from this. People have lost their jobs and happily will pitch in, take paycuts, and run their salaries back up over the next few years.
Pretty ridiculous for you to assume teams can’t access capital markets. The private equity funds that have been buying into baseball teams might not be happy with their ROI this year but that’s a real shame. For the few owners who are too leveraged or have no interest in making that happen; they’ll be a buyer. No doubt about that.
The players, even the ones he doesn’t represent, love Boras. Absolutely love him.
The only ones that don;t are idiots like Bauer who don’t realize that a rising tide floats all boats and Boras is part of creating that rising tide for players.
If it is significantly more expensive to have a season than not, then there isn’t going to be a season.
Owners didn’t make their money by throwing it away. Fans expect the owners to bankroll a losing proposition. Reasonable people don’t.
I don’t think the owners are trying to make money this year, I think they are trying to limit their losses.
Right. I’m not sure why so many people seem to be more in favor of there being no season at all than to see their favorite millionaires lose a portion of their millions due to no fan attendance. Without some (more) give and take we just won’t have a baseball season. Which is not a good conclusion.
I’d like to see some sort of deferred compensation plan. Something along the lines of: you play 80 games you’ll get your 50% salary, but separated over this season and the next (or whenever there are fans in seats again). If the owners are projecting 30% revenue, players get 30% of payroll now, then their regular salary + that other 20% when fans are in seats again. (Or 10 + 10 over two seasons if that’s how it needs to get done).
But acting like MLB isn’t a business, and the owners should just fork over all the money now is… naive… at best. If the owners don’t have the money, nobody has the money
If this were a regular business and the players didn’t have contracts, they’d all be laid off with no guarantee of a future job.
Who would rehire Chris Davis, Pujlos, or Miggy at their current salary?
It is contractual labor under a collective bargaining agreement. If it was a regular business with a CBA they would have paid those union members 100% of their contract. Not one penny less.
Not the prorated amount the players already agreed to. And certainly not the 66-79% reduction the owners are asking for now.
The owners have the money. They own baseball teams for god sakes.
I’m totally on board with deferred salaries or the “play 110 games but only get 50% of your pay” idea that was floating around. But if I was the players I would be prepared to die on this hill.
Player salaries are guaranteed. Owners profits are not.
Right they own the team. So if they shell out all of the usual money and bring in pennies on the dollar of revenue then the owners lose out on everything, won’t have the money NEXT year “for gods sake”. Nobody is saying their profits are guaranteed. Really strong chance that, no matter what, they’re gonna lose money this year. It’s just a matter of figuring a manageable loss vs not being able to continue operations
Business run at short term losses all the time for the long run success of their businesses. Sports Franchise owner assholes who are used pillaging players, fans and communities on the regular maybe the exception though.
Don’t think they play without fans showing up
They need cash flow to pay off leveraged assets and they also need to attempt to maintain the equity value.
No season, more debt or default. Playing brings in liquidity and helps to prop up popularity of sport which affects equity valuations.
It doesn’t bring in money if it’s more expensive to play a season than not.
Bringing in cash and a balance sheet are two different issues
I’d like to see how much the owners and teams actually make. They all talk about this in the press. They all cry poverty. I’d like to see some evidence to support their claims.
That said, how much an owner may be able to sell his franchise should not be part of the topic. I’d love to see just a simplified profit and loss statement.
I do know this, Disney lost nine figures on the Angels.
Franchise valuations should 100% be a topic of discussion because franchise valuations are as much an incentive to own a ball club as the operating income…..and, owners finance their leveraged positions with cash flow, cash flow that comes from events played in tax payer funded and subsidized stadiums. The two maneuvers go hand in hand, you cannot separate the two.
A similar position might be to say Max Scherzer should not take a pay cut at all this year because the $96MM he’s already cleared after taxes is tied up in investments and he’s only liquid $250k and needs his full salary to pay his mortgage (or whatever). It makes no sense. No, Max Scherzer’s net worth and what he’s worth is fluid, just like the owners.
At this point I wouldn’t mind a cancelled season so none of them get anything. I don’t want to watch games without fans anyway. Maybe a year off would bring a fresh perspective to them and me.
Players already agreed to 4% of their salary if the season is cancelled, so they don’t get nothing.
And players get a year of service time off their contracts.
I can’t stress how important this is. If you’re a player who is at the tail end of their career and seriously overpaid (Pujols or Chirs Davis come to mind), you’re never going to make that back. By sitting out the entire season they are losing millions instead of suiting up for 80 games at, say, $8 million. That’s not exactly chump change, even if you’re on a $100 million contract. You have this money allocated with the expectation you’re going to get x dollars. Those guys want that cash. Even if you’re a 25-year old utility player you want $500k instead of zero.
Regarding service time, that isn’t good for players either. Who wants to go into free agency with no 2020 season? It could conceivably cost Betts $100 million dollars. If he plays 80 games and takes the Dodgers to the playoffs he could be fine. For teams that are rebuilding and have crap contracts, they are ‘saving’ money by not paying some of these guys and watching a season of Pujols or Cabrera wash away.
MLB owners also have a stake- if they work it out and play they will be the belle of the ball. Think about all these people with little to do, no movies to see, no new content on TV, staying home because travel is so sketchy right now, and MLB games on every day. If they don’t play I think it might hurt the game significantly for a few years. From a business standpoint it would be better for them to lose a few bucks in 2020 to not lose even more in 2021-2022.
Boras Urges Clients To “Tell Him To Shut Up”
Bauer sent that tweet with Boras’ blessing.
And I don’t think Boras is “urging” in the way he wants to.
No baseball this year means less interest in the game going forward. If not for the ped era the game wouldn’t have rebounded as quickly as it did from the strike.
Billionaires and millionaires arguing to the point of a no season means both likely give up far more in future.
If nba nhl nfl and foreign baseball leagues can go it is going to let ok very bad for mlb if they can’t make it happen.
Agree they should not go back on what was already agreed to in March. Also agree with Bauer telling Boras to mind hisbown business. Boras is part of the problem with insane salaries he gets for clients. If players don’t want to play as agreed to in March then that’s on MLB. Also getting turned off of from baseball cause of salaries. No one needs to make 30 million+ to play a game. Just my thoughts. It comes across really bad as multi millionares and billionaire owners are squabbling.
So, 2 things: Players do want to play as to what was agreed to in March. Which was, if they play 50% of the games, they get paid 50% of their salaries. The current owners’ offer is asking for reductions in addition to those related to the prorated games figure.
A question back for you, why are players’ large salaries a problem?
especially when many owners offered those salaries to begin with!
But wasn’t that offer made back when they thought the half season would also have fans in attendance? If so it’s a new game and the players need to recognize it. Bottom line is if it costs the owners too much to have the half season because the players still want 50% of their salary there will be no season. Pretty simple decision from a business standpoint.
The owners knew on March 26th that there would be no games played in front of fans. They had already floated several ideas of how games with no fans could be played starting on March 12th when they cancelled spring training including all games in Arizona or two new leagues with one in Arizona and one in Florida.
When the owners signed the agreement for the players getting paid only for games played they didn’t include anything about the players getting paid less if no fan even though they knew already that there would be no fans when play resumed.
The owners are CLAIMING it will cost them money, but are unwilling to open their books and prove that they will be losing money.
Some revenue is better than no revenue and no season means the owners get no revenue.
So what do you recommend the MLB owners do with their profits since you don’t want the players to benefit from them?
Politics: Owners can return a cut of the profits to all season ticket holders at a percent based on the type of holder and how much they pay into supporting the team. Call it being a shareholder, and the shareholders (fans supporting the team) is rewarded.
dream on! even packers, owned by fans, hardly ever return profits to the ‘shareholders’!
Your idea is….um….yeah, thought so.
The player’s salaries are public. The organization’s books are not and the organizations are not subject to antitrust law. Teams have been able to say quite literally whatever they want and fans like you lop it up and regurgitate the nonsense. None of us really knows squat about what the owner’s financial situations are, but they’ve either been lying for the last 30 years about revenue, they were lying in March or they’re lying now. The entire grievance, while focused on 7-9 figure salaries, has more to do with the fact that the owners have consistently lied to the players and now they’ve backed themselves into a corner.
Players taking reductions in salary or deferrals are allowing clubs to stay leveraged, and are “bailing them out”. You take out lines of credit to build arcades and restaurants around your publicly funded ballparks, then the cash flow dries up you immediately look to where your cash is going. Namely the players, who in turn are on guaranteed contracts, to solve the cash flow problem. That’s bailing them out so they can maintain their leveraged assets, and increase or maintain the values of their franchises.
This aspect of what owners actually are doing is lost in the discussions of revenue and salaries.
Hear, hear!
Respect for Trevor Bauer!
I agree with Bauer’s comment that Boras should stay out of the dynamic between the owners and MLBPA. However, I also think that what Boras said is true. The owners’ businesses are losing money right now. Why should the players bail them out?
The players bailing out the owners – is a short term investment for there own futures. If the owners end up hurting financially…. how many more of these 30 million dollar contracts will there be.
I imagine that if any of the ownership groups go under, there will be plenty of other billionaires lined up to buy those teams at reduced pricing. The 30MM contracts aren’t going anywhere. I agree with Boras, and, at the end of the day, I doubt most of his clients really care whose signature is on their paycheck.
ALL of them. The contracts are guaranteed.by MLB even if the individual team files for bankruptcy
Things that have brought baseball to a slow death. 6 pitching changes a game. The 4 inning starter. The one dimensional player. Sabermetrics. GMs with advanced math degrees. Scott Boras.
People don’t digest baseball the same way they use to. When is the last time you sat down and watch an entire game on your TV Set? First Pitch to last pitch without any distractions?
In the 70s, you could do that all the time. I once went to a game that was an hour and 30 minutes. Pinson hit a HR. Messerschmidt and Linblad pitched complete games.
Today, you watch five games at a time on MLB extra innings and it takes 4+ hours. Or you watched a condensed version of the game. It’s a different animal.
I don’t ever watch 5 games at a time. I can barely stand 1 game. The product is horrible, but then again, the younger crowd watching it has the attention span of a 5 year old and the brain function of a 12 year old.
Bringing baseball to a slow death is sad but true
This will probably be the tipping point for baseball. It has been slowly dying. It isn’t even top two in most popular sport in the nation anymore and behind the NBA and NFL. If they are the only sport that can’t work anything else it is going to make the post 94 strike season look like a banner year.
I remember my jr high school teacher saying baseball was a dead sport and would die sooner rather than later. That was 1971.
They made 10 billion in a non covid year but sure bAseBaLl iS dyiNg
Afk711 you went fULl rEtaRD.
No, you just did.
@ Goose–I agree, at least or the short term. If the season is canceled simply because millionaires and billionaires could not agree on money for a one time Covid-19 year messed up season, lots of fans will stay away. Under normal circumstances fans will grumble during a work stoppage but still go out to games when the games start up again because they were not impacted by economics at the time. Now, with 25% of Americans on unemployment and many more making way less due to their pay being cut way back because of lost business, there will be plenty of fans being bitter and not wanting to support those owners and players bickering over money with all would still be filthy rich in their eyes. Perception is reality.
When Boras speaks; I think of Charlie Brown’s teacher.
Miss Othmar says “Wha whsa whaa wha” Translation “thanks for remembering me!”
Overpaid crybabies. Just forget the season
Go stick it where the sun don’t shine Scott. Owners and players are both to blame. Billionaires and Millionaires complaining about losing money. Give me a break.
No fans no games, see you next year. Many people suffering more than MLB and MLBA. It’s a game we can live without for one season.
No games = no money = no league = no jobs for players.
Ppl laugh and that will never happen but if these things occur then the owners will have to file bankruptcy and the league could fold or be cut by a significant number a teams which leads to less opportunities and perhaps less money for players in the long run.
That is not out of the realm of possibility. Look at the minor league issue, and certain teams like the Orioles who are screwed over MASN and the Davis Contract. Maybe bankruptcy and contraction is the only way that Boras and the players will understand the gravy train does not last forever
The Orioles are screwed big time with MASN and those horrible Davis and Cobb contracts. If there is no season then the Orioles will get a temporary reprieve and thankfully save a lot of money.
This money issue is so obviously the owners creation. They would never open their books and since they pay no tax for baseball earnings never will let anyone see the real numbers. Are the players suppose to trust the owners now?Not! Baseball (General info that can be assertained) earned over 10 Billion last year and has climbed 3 years in a row….whil;e players salaries have stagnated.
They would be under federal and state indictment if they didn’t pay taxes.
Baseball has “Special American Pastime” Tax assessment. They (Owners) basically pay no Tax! Players pay tax on their salaries.
That is untrue. Lets start with the $75m the Yankees pay every year on Yankee Stadium, then move on to the State, Federal and City tax they pay.
The teams pay taxes:
Senators Angus King and Tom Coburn have pushed to strip the N.F.L. and other professional sports organizations of their tax-exempt status. Like others, they have complained that the 501(c)(6) status for some of these groups is a massive scam against taxpayers. But the reality is different
The tax exemption does not apply to the individual teams, which must pay taxes on their profits (although there are other advantageous aspects in the tax code for the teams). The tax exemption applies to the central league offices, which coordinate and manage the affairs of the entire operation. The leagues are not profit centers. They are pass-through entities that pay salaries for their personnel; cover other expenses such as office rent, legal and consulting fees, travel and entertainment; and then distribute any surplus to the teams.
nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/09/03/should-pro-sp…
I really am sick of this open the books bs. Once baseball does it, then unions, interest groups and worst of all Government will want to do it to every large and even medium sized business in America. This was what Elizabeth Warren was preaching throughout her campaign. There is a reason why arbitrators who are historically sympathetic to the players ( even finding the owners guilty of collusion), would not make them open their books. Why? Because they know what comes next: More Government control over business.
I would think that unless you’re cheating on your taxes, that your books are already open to the government.
I was on the players side until Boras opened his mouth.Now I see that Clark is nothing but a puppet for Boras. That man does not give a damn about the future of the game (let alone the 100,000 plus who died during this virus).. Which is one of the reasons why baseball is heading for fifth place behind hockey and soccer ( as well as football and basketball)
Boras is slick. Not saying I agree with his method here but he’s slick. I think he’s trying to use the players holding firm today to push owners into investing more in the players in the future. Boras is playing the long game.
The long game which with the way the sides are acting will result in lower viewership and less ticket sales going forward because who wants to support either side going forward which will result in lower contracts.
Possibly. That was said in 1994-95. Then contracts skyrocketed. Boras is banking on that happening again.
Why does the media kiss up to Boras and print whatever he says?
Trevor Bauer sounds about as lost as he usually does.
Thank you. -James Hetfield
P*** off, Bore Ass! You are not Lord of the Universe except in your mind
Geeze, this is turning into a job performed by three men….Moe, Larry, & Curley
I do not expect baseball back this season or even 2021. Maybe losing two years is what is needed for both sides ( and Puppet Master Scott Boras) to realize there is a severe problem with the direction of the game.
did boras pushed cole to the yanks owners? no! owners wanted pay to him so much . in this instance, yanks wanted beat the angels offer and gave stupid money to the player! and they did because they know they make more money off of those contracts! did arte moreno wanted pujols solely for his baseball skills? angels owner made much more money than he paid!
I think they’re forgetting who is actually footing the bill, and the game is in danger of imploding on itself. I say we all take a stand and let it be known to them that they need to get back to business and do whatever it takes. It’s a very sad situation for us fans. I’m seriously thinking of doing a boycott and shutting down all of my fantasy and Strat-I-Maria leagues. I’m pretty fed up with both sides.
Ugh….Strat-O-Matic. Spell checker sux.
Deferred payments… the players don’t have to settle for way less than their prorated salaries, and owners can pay them later so they don’t lose money this season at all. Simple, and is a win-win. Not calling owners or players right… just suggesting a compromise that might have some appeal to both sides, and that does not instigate the idiots that like to attack people no matter how reasonable their posts are.
Interestingly the governor of Texas said sports arenas allowed this summer at 25 pct capacity. I don’t want to open up debate about COVID, but that does seem reasonable, esp in outdoor stadiums if people are spaced away from each other a bit. I think people are fed up with the restrictions and would go to ballparks this summer… can’t keep everything shut down and cancel the next couple of years of everything.
Baseball’s potus needs his cut dang it.
I’m not sure why people are sticking up for millionaires vs the billionaires (or vice versa). I did not realize there were so many millionaires commenting on MLBtradeRumors.com about the evil billionaires and all of their money. I think people need to stop crying about how hard the players have it, or owners for that matter. They do not need your approval or help, They are both doing just fine and neither really care about you either.
@nrd1138
There is a great movie called “A Bronx Tale”, with Robert Deniro and Chazz Palminteri. There is a scene in the movie where Palminteri’s character tells a kid who is a big fan of Mickey Mantle that Mickey Mantle doesn’t care about him and isn’t going to help his dad pay the rent. One of best movies I’ve ever seen, the last line of your post made me think of it, and that line.
If anyone has not seen it, worth checking out… a lot of baseball references. I have never recommended to anyone who watched and was disappointed. True story actually… about Chaz Palminteri’s life as a kid. He was the kid in the story, Deniro his dad, and Palminteri plays the neighborhood mob boss.
I didn’t know that was about his life! One of my favorite movies!
Right on nrd1138
I am still wanting to find out why I was able to attend a game in 1959 at Yankee Stadium, sit in box seats behind home plate for 5 dollars. I was making 1 dollar per hour. That meant I had to work 5 hours to earn enough to buy the ticket. Yet In 2009 when the new Stadium opened, they were charging 2500 dollars for the same seat. At that time a person would be paid a minimum salary of 7 dollars per hour. They would have to work over 350 hours to pay for that ticket.
Question: what changed? Game the same, players the same, fans the same.
In fact back then TV was just starting to become important. Today you might think that fans don’t have to go to games to see all the action. Thus tending to make it harder to justify in park attendance prices.
I think we should recognize that both sides have played the emotions of fans. You might think because of the unusual times we are facing, it might be a time for both sides to take a step back and stand up for the people who have made it possible for them to become rich beyond reason.
So, if you are making $20/hour, an equivalent would be a $100/seat. Don’t know but as a Cubs fan, a $100 would get me a pretty sweet ticket at Wrigley.
Boras is a disingenuous, self serving scumbag.
But this time, he’s absolutely right.
There is no business in the world where labor should subsidize ownership, at any time, under any circumstances. Should the players take a pay cut? Sure, but based on the amount of work they do, not the amount of money the owners aren’t taking in. Whatever losses the owners take is absolutely not the fault of the players, and the inability of the owners to absorb them is even less the fault of the players. Are the players entitled millionaires? Absolutely. Just like the owners are entitled billionaires. And the thing is that the owners desire to be entitled billionaires is what made the players entitled millionaires. The owners want the players to take a significant part of the loss, and I suppose the argument is they should do it for the good of the teams and the cities and the league and the sport. But here’s the thing, if the situation were reversed, the owners wouldn’t sacrifice a dime, for the good of anyone or anything. And anyone who says otherwise is either an idiot or a liar.
The bottom line is these owners are billionaires. Any billionaire should be able to absorb this kind of loss, perhaps not easily, or painlessly, but they should absolutely be willing to take on the difficulty and the pain.
krek nice expression of opinion. I know people for the most part bashing the players but I agree with a lot of what you said. Several people suggesting deferred payments… seem like an easy way out for both parties. Players get paid their full worth according to contract so no sense of disrespect, and owners can avoid any losses this year.
We’ll see… I’ve said both sides have too much to lose not to get a deal done but that doesn’t look like it may hold true.
Kerk is forgetting that in the “real” world owners can simply layoff workers if a business operates at a loss. In MLB, the owners are stuck with player contracts and it seems likely that these are difficult to meet if government shuts down your business.
Now, if a team stinks and few fans show up then ownership takes a loss (while attempting to trade away contracts to retool). But in this case owners are not even sure any fans will be allowed to (depending on location). Imagine playing the World Series with no fans?
Finally, you keep harping about billionaires ponying up on every thread but you fail to realize most of them don’t have the amount of cash you are talking about. Even worse, though they can probably raise such capital when they sell assets, no one is buying anything large in this environment. Just because someone is a billionaire doesn’t mean they have that much. Heck, on paper I’m a millionaire (property values) but I have no where near that amount of cash. I still have to get a loan to buy a car.
Here’s the thing about how “cash poor” the owners may be… I DO NOT CARE. I don’t care if they have to liquidate every asset they own at a 90% loss, I don’t care if they have to file for bankruptcy, I don’t care if they end up dead broke, I don’t care if they end up destitute and living on the streets.
I. Don’t. Care.
Sports is the one industry I can think of where ownership isn’t accountable for failure, where there is literally zero responsibility if you’re bad at your job. A restaurant owner needs to provide quality food, a plumber needs to provide quality service, a factory owners needs to make quality products, and if they fail they will certainly lose money and probably lose their businesses and deserve to.
But owners of sports teams pay no price whatsoever for losing. They treat players, managers, coaches, scouts, and front office people like cattle to be herded form place to place, but the owners face no consequences at all for owning a team that finds itself dead last for five or ten or fifteen straight years. They still bring in obscene profits from TV deals, they still get the benefit of revenue sharing, they still see their franchise’s value appreciate at exponential rates year after year. They lose nothing except face, and really, do you think any of them care about what the fans think, or care about the fans at all.
No, sorry, the owners give take as much credit as they can get when they win, take exactly no responsibility when they lose, and so, in this case, they should take every last bit of the hit, and if that means they lose their teams and everything else in the process, I don’t see why anyone should care in the least
This is a completely unreasonable view. Lenin would be proud.
Certainly owners face consequences for poor performing teams: they lose money. Moreover, where owners get TV deals those deals, I believe can suffer, if no one watches. Also, if teams were cash cows and always increase in value, why would they ever sell? From your depiction owning a team is akin to a licence to print money and commit murder.
Do you know when investments pay off?
When they are sold.
The loss of money is only a consequence if it’s a big enough loss that it causes ownership to change their behavior and try harder. That’s never the case. About a quarter of the owners consider an 85 win team that lucks into the wild card a success. About another quarter only compete if they catch lightning in a bottle with some draft success. At best about half the teams are really out there working for sustained success. And organizations like Pittsburgh and Kansas City and Colorado that field decent teams maybe three season in every generation face no consequence for their losing other than the loss of a few dollars, which doesn’t seem to bother them much, or maybe they’d put some effort into it.
@ nihilus.
“Kerk is forgetting that in the “real” world owners can simply layoff workers if a business operates at a loss. In MLB, the owners are stuck with player contracts and it seems likely that these are difficult to meet if government shuts down your business.”
In the “real” world, many large businesses that have unions to contend with CAN’T simply layoff labor when they are operating at a loss. So what kreck is saying is very much the real world. What the owners are doing would be similar to a grocery store asking it’s staff to assist in financing the store.
@kreck. Good writing. You actually helped me with something too. I really don’t care about this situation. Let the wealthy fight there own battles. Do I have an opinion of this? Yes. Just like you, it’s not because I have an emotional investment in this but rather a principle that “There is no business in the world where labor should subsidize ownership, at any time, under any circumstances.”
Your comment wasn’t worth reading after you repeatedly stressed you didn’t care. Clearly can’t be thought out in the slightest if you are going over the top that way.
Well said. The owners corrupted the Sport, politicians and the states they reside in with their Army of lawyers for every dime they can get. The Players only have their union and all these players last only some 10 years, whereas The owners proceed to squeeze the next crop of elite ballplayers. The owners remain basically the same characters that continue to pillage.
@krekert, stop watching then. Fans are just as guilty if they are watching the team play as that generates revenue for the ‘greedy’ owners. The owners, while not innocent, still pay all the salaries for the workers in the stadium, attendants in the locker room (that help pamper the players by the way),the health staff that help players through rehab and general conditioning, the concessions, all the travel security for the players, much of the minor league costs.as well, I’m sure. They have to have a work force all year around, scouts, staff, etc. I’m sure it would be mighty interesting to see the revenue for many of these teams indeed. Even if they have sweetheart TV deals.
Heck many owners are now also still paying their staff at the stadiums despite no baseball being played. Players, meanwhile, are busying whining they are not getting enough (despite making more money in one year than most will see in 3 lifetimes to play a GAME even if they had to take a pay cut to 25% mind you). Lets put it this way, if you were paying someone to stay home, would you like that as a business owner? If so you probably would not be in business long. …And Bora$ is JUST as greedy as an owner, so people need to stop whining about the ‘evil’ owners and realize ALL of these guys are greedy. Whether it is by millions or billions!
Take Chicago as a great example: People (including many Cubs fans) complain about the White Sox not getting fans in the stands, but laud the Cubs fans as being ‘loyal’ despite years where they stink, then same fans whine about how the Cubs management is doing a poor job and are greedy. At least Sox fans (and other teams where the stadium is half empty) know how the ‘game’ works: if they stink, do not watch. then owners then get the idea.At least they’ll have a better understanding than if the stadium sells out every day despite the team being in 4th place.
The owners of baseball are so corrupt and pampered it’s pathetic. They made record profits the last 3 years and only a handful of teams paid for free agents or made a serious effort to win. The only players that i don’t feel sorry for are the elites (Cole,Trout,Machado”s) All the other players are sadly underpaid and the minors are slave wages. These owners are special tax exempt on earnings, have been paid some losses through Covid Gov’t programs, and a 50% cut of salary from the players on 2020. They still cry with 10 loves of bread under their arms!
Matt-While I agree that the owners should relent and let the games begin,when I see posts saying that all players are sadly underpaid I really question what planet you are talking about.These other players can often retire at 35 and be set for life.I think that very very few of the true working people in this country no matter how they are employed would say that these players are sadly underpaid.
Dear Mendoza line 45, There are about 15k talented baseball players that acquire contracts to play baseball of us 350 million citizens. At of that 15k make generally 400 a week in the low minors to see if they have the talent to make it to the majors…Tremendous sacrifice while the owners squeeze the minors and partner with cities and towns to pay for most minors expenses and stadiums through bribes. Of the 15k left 4700 of them will make about 100k to play upper minors while some 250 make it to the majors with a salary of 500k for the first 4 years. Players compensation (why we watch the games is for the players) is poverty wages until you get to the real money and the payscale is clearly unbalanced (owners fault). All MLB teams made roughly about 300 mill in 2019 (allowable documents owners provide) with special Gov’t tax incentives, mostly Free stadiums (donated them after 15 years lease). Even the cheapest TV cable contract is worth 80 million a year and up to a Billion per. These contracts alone more than pay all expenses annually for the owners. This is why there is a line of billionaires or Corporations lining out the door to purchase teams! I’m no fan of 1% of the players basically getting almost all the money since it takes nine good players to win most days. However most MLB teams cheaply put together to bring fans with no owner incentive to compete as well! (Owners fault) It’s all about money with owners at all costs and dam baseball history or us fans.
I hardly think that $5,000,000 a year is poverty wages.
None of these players could earn a fraction as much if it was not for sports.
You clearly have your priorities wrong.
Are these players really needed in the real world?
You may be a nice guy but you are either Scott Boras or about twelve years old.
I’m 60 and run 3 businesses. I’m sure i know much more than you of how business owners think and act. Like I said very few are offered to play baseball for big money, Many fail and suffer their whole lives. As for owners they are usually willed their money or are large conglomerates who know all to well the Baseball business makes MONEY! I’m no Boros or Elite player fan, but 500-1mill pay for maybe 5 years for the best of the best players is lite to me. What the owners are doing to the minors is a travesty as well! I say call the owners bluff, they’ll pay since the TV contracts will still allow profits for this year for them.
I’m 67 and had 160 people working for me when I retired and knew enough to get my facts straight in arguement.
So no,you do not have your facts straight here,and maybe you are not as sure as you think that you are.
If you are telling me that the average major league salary was only slightly more than the base salary then of course I would agree with you.
The average salary has to be at least $3-4 M per year.The average time in MLB has to be 4-5 years.While the young players who do not last may make your criterion of less than $1M,the average major leaguer makes much more.And you discriminate against the highest paid,but they have played the longest and worked the hardest and bring people into the park.
If any player made less than $1M total in his career then he is very young when he gets out and has to work like you and me have done.for a lifetime.We started low and what makes them better than us.They take the chance that they are just not good enough or get injuries to stymie their career.I doubt that many would not take the chance because of the untold millions that can await them.And I doubt that many would cry the blues like you are doing for them.
Those baseball players do not have any more rights than doctors,lawyers,engineers,or any other professionals who have to work for years to get high salaries.
Not sure about you reading comprehension but I do not believe in the argument of the owners in this case that the prorated salaries should be lowered.
But please do not cry me a river for baseball players.The only ones getting screwed in this episode are the fans.
“There is no business in the world where labor should subsidize ownership, at any time, under any circumstances”
So, medical care workers taking pay cuts despite working in ICUs and ERs with COVID patients should just walk off the job? Some owners are public institutions – University of Washington, some are private – Mayo Clinic, some are private equity owned – Team Health (ER docs).
The world is full of workers taking one for their bosses during this crisis supposedly so the organization will survive.. This is not to say baseball players must also.. Life will go on, perhaps baseball will be even more desired next year without a season this year. On the other hand, COVID may be worse if a next wave occurs and there will be little interest or little disposable income around to buy tickets.
Of course not. Why this sport is getting harder and harder to follow. Did anybody that Boras represents work in an emergency room or in a seniors home? We really don’t need professional sports, really.
Perhaps the players should take the deal they agreed to “give” amateurs? Top 12% of players get paid, but only $100k for this season, rest deferred over two years. Remaining players get $20k for season. For the good of the game, right?
Hello, my name is SELLOUT
F U Borass!
Owners need to set the rules, open camps and invite all their 40 man roster and 20 some minor league players. Play the best 26 that report
Mr Boras works on a commision. 5% I believe. All he is really saying to the players he represents is do not cave; I need the commissions. It has nothing to do with the betterment of the sport. Sadly his sheep will follow.
He’s probably got some loans for some property he’s gotta pay off! Needs those commissions.
Yeah, he is just as greedy as an owner, but people seem to forget this. No one in this game is here out of altruism. They want their money.
If they play 65% of a season this year, then the players should get 65% of their pay. If they play a 162 game season, then 100%. 50% season? 50% pay. Pretty fair.
that is what players are saying they agreed to in march.
So?
Sounds fair if there was the projected revenue coming in from fans in the stands.
But how many paying fans will there be (if they open games to fans) when they have to sit 6 feet apart?
You know, workers around this country are making huge compromises to assure their employers stay in business so they can stay employed over the next few years. But NOT MLB payers. Dey vants dare maaannnneeeeeyyyyyy! Day’re oppressed people. Chattel. Modern day slaves! Yikes!!!!!
Trough is empty. Golden Goose on life support. Fans can watch the NBA and College and Pro Football training camps.
–
I think the Owners understand the real financial situation. The players and their agents believe their own BS.
if the owners expected to have fans in the stands this season they must be the biggest fools!
When this first broke, COViD-19 that is, most thought this would be quick. In fact, many players stayed in their spring training facilities thinking the season would be delayed only a few weeks.
doctors warned it was huge problems. a few politicians didn’t believe them. many people decided to trust politicians which is understandable. people generally believe we are stronger and wiser than we actually are. that is a great trait to have in times of nation building or in times of wars. but virus is a totally different animal!
Sorry, Boras. You don’t get a vote. F the owners. F the player. F Boras. Buncha rich people fighting over dollars and cents while fans get scr*ewed.
boras is an union certified agent like all agents are. they have no votes in union matters but they sure can advise their own players. that’s exactly what boras did here.he sent an email to his clients that became public. did boras send copies to the public? heck no!
Oh yeah, I’m sure Boras had no intention of this getting out to the public
were you in his head like a bug?
That letter coupled with the fact 3 Boras clients are on the Executive Committee, really helps the owners in the public relations battle. Why? Tony Clark looks like a puppet and Boras is calling the shots. You can even go back to Boras’s original idea of 120 games ( and no playoffs). Everything for the players and nothing for the owners. I have always felt the fairest approach was the original 82 game agreement ( with expanded playoffs and NO deferred salaries ( the deferral is something the union agreed to with draftees but I think is wrong for players)). Both sides get something and lose something. 120 games is designed to make Boras look like the “White Knight on his horse” saving baseball, ignoring issues like health ( physical( players like Blake Snell) and financial ( owners) and the upcoming NFL and College Football seasons).
I tend to generallly see the owner’s side rather than the players’.
I think that both are greedy and have generally not respected the fans and any rights that they may have.
But in this case I think that the players have the right to half their salary no matter how high it is.It was negotiated in good faith,
Any company is subject to serious deficiencies in its business outlook.It is part of being a business.Other companies have operated at a loss in a particular year.Look at the number that have been seriously affected this year.None of these baseball teams will go out of business,and most will still make money.
I hope that for the good of baseball that this comes to a quick and reasonable solution even without fans.
Boras is an even bigger joke than he was yesterday.
Fatass Scott doesn’t care about the players or the game , he profits off the players period , and he wants all his also , what a scum bag
….and there goes the baseball season
It’s one thing to be “pro business” but the number of people not just willing, but downright eager (practically giddy), to be foot stools for their bosses is pretty amazing.
“No, Boss, it’s my turn to wash your car. Please!”
I bash Boras more than anyone, but he’s 100% right here. The other sports are facing the prospect of playing without fans, but none of them are trying to get their players to do it for 20% of their original salary. In fact, I’ve heard zero talk of NFL, NBA or NHL salaries being cut at all.
Only the MLB owners have been craven enough to use a pandemic to try to crush their corresponding union.
The players should call every single one of their bluffs.
There is a bit of a difference in those situations for the leagues though. The NBA and NHL players have already received around 90% of their money. They’ve essentially been paid for their season. The NFL still has a bit of time to figure out what they’ll need to do as well.
But the MLB and its players have by far the worst relationship of the four, so this one could very easily be the ugliest outcome.
Totally agree, As Boros mentions, The owners invested their tremendous yearly profits to hide their earnings from the players so to give the illusion they are fairly sharing . You can’t trust the owners to give true figures on their profits! Fight them till they relent or never have baseball seasons. Remember only the best of thousands of players get lucrative contracts…all the rest starve. The owners are 100% at fault for this stalemate.
How bout owners open their concessions and stadiums up to the fans?? Sign a waiver if u must but let adults make adult decisions to go to games. Then there’s no crying over loss revenue. Sure numbers will be down some but many fans will show. And at the same time prove there is no new mystery virus that’s spreading like wildfires. According to science, and not the media, Viruses are today what they have always been. Never air born and can’t live on their own for days and days. If MLB stopped shutting down their game over radical conspiracies and went back to work then that will have a positive ripple effect across the nation.
Problem: Millions unemployment and cannot afford to go to games.
What makes no sense is why MLB teams have to have only union players and cant pickup non union. The union in effect is one voice speaking for many. If a block of players want to give up their own opinion then that’s their right. Any of them can reach a new agreement with owners individually. I remember when ARod fired Scott Boras. Warren Buffett advised ARod to take a huge contract NYY offered him that Boras turned down. I recall Ronald Reagan firing all of the Air Traffic Controllers. I’m not against unions I’m against union over reach and not getting results for their clients. This whole shoving match scenario is bad for the bast majority. What happens to the a average player or the developing player? Logic would tell you that revenues would likely be down due to empty stadiums. What if teams just bypassed the union and started players that they could reach agreements with? Why dont the unions and Boras just buy teams and pay their clients and then players whatever they think their worth? Wont happen right in either case? How is it that we have scenarios that obviously add to viewing prices for the average fan? Maybe we should have a fans union to represent fans and not allow any games to be played until the fans union has approved it.
Isn’t it ironic how D Jeter made a lot of money as a player, playing for the Steinbrenner owned and run Yankees. Yet now, as apart of an ownership group, is gutting the Marlins by ridding them of all high salaried contracts. Some on this cite seem to assume all owners are rich and should simply function without considering financial realities. With that premise should Jeter and associates be labeled as immoral for considering their financial status?
Maybe Scott Boras with all his money could buy the Marlins and show him how to be successful. After all, all other owners are making money why arn’t the Marlins?
The only reason why he’s saying that is because as a greedy slimy little man his cut would be smaller too
f ’em if they can’t take a joke..
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The NUMBER ONE REASON SCOTT BORAS DOESN’T WANT TO COMPROMISE: HIs pay will be reduced. His agent percentage of $ XX,000,000.00 will amount to less because it will be his agent percentage times 50% of $XX,000,000.00. Mr NUMBER ONE EGO among agents because he has the biggest clients. I NEVER HEAR any talk of a Scott Boras Charitable f
Foundation, only ones he sets up for his players.
This situation is just another indication of how both sides don’t care about The Game or The Fans. They better get it worked out for next year….but they won’t. More names to add to the 40 million unemployed.