MLB players, when you consider the risks and hardships they are asked to endure, have much to lose to play baseball in 2020, so why bother?
MLB players hold the 2020 season in their hands. Major league games are dependent on them to take the stage in the same way that The Godfather would be just another movie if not for the scorching performance by Al Pacino.
That’s not to say MLB players relish the moment and the life decisions that are being thrust upon them.
These are athletes who happen to possess a talent to throw a 97mph fastball by a batter who will end any season hitting .340 while slugging 45 home runs. The rest of us can only dream.
They are freaks in the entertainment circus world in which the show doesn’t go on without them. Yet, they are driven to compete, and their employers know it. Take a DJ LeMahieu out of his realm, and you have a player lost in an unknown world– no baseball!
MLB Players Ask A Question
How is it in my and my family’s best interest to agree with the terms put forth by MLB?
While many people in America have lost jobs or had their hours and pay reduced because of coronavirus, a minor league player whos contract is between $46,000 to $91,799 will receive $275 per day during the shutdown, according to the Associated Press.
In 30 days, that equals $8,250 for one month—not bad for those on the lowest pay scale. Some Major League Baseball (MLB) veterans will make $4,775 per day, or roughly $143,000 per month while in shutdown mode.
These are negotiated terms agreed upon by the MLB and the MLBPA before where we stand today. A deal is a deal, and the MLB players should stick to it.
Blowback from fans, the public, and the MLB ad agencies hired by owners that’s sure to come – stay calm and above all else, do not respond to anything MLB owners spew forth.
Instead, let others who already smell a rat, do it for you.
Sometimes, You Just Have To Choose A Side
Which side, MLB players or team owners have more to lose (or gain) as the days dwindle down to the proposed reopening of “Spring Training” before the 2020 regular season begins on the Fourth of July?
Does anyone know? We read the newspapers, and we hear of the volleys sent across the bow by each side – but do we really know?
Historically, in the days of Curt Flood and Andy Messersmith, it was a no-brainer. Owners held players as indentured servants tied to the team that “owned” them forever. That was corrected, and a new era was entered.
An era in which a starting pitcher is able to earn a $324 million contract to pitch for the New York Yankees (Gerrit Cole) while his teammates at the bottom of the scale earn a not so shabby $600,000 this year…
This, while the American median household income hovers around $61,000 per year.
MLB players And Free Agency – The Impact Of No Season
The top free agents in the Class of 2021 include:
- Mookie Betts, OF, LAD, age 28. …
- J.T. Realmuto, C, PHI, age 30. …
- Marcus Semien, SS, OAK, age 30. …
- George Springer, OF, HOU, age 31. …
- DJ LeMahieu, INF, NYY, age 32. …
- Jake Odorizzi, RHP, MIN, age 31. …
- Andrelton Simmons, SS, LAA, age 31. …
- Joc Pederson, OF, LAA, age 28.
They’re all in the prime age category of seasoned but not old, and they all have credentials they can sell based on production in previous years.
A season not played is a coin flip. Players who take a while to get revved up will not like the shortened season, while those who typically come out of the gate hot see an advantage.
But none of these players will be scrounging for a free meal once the signing season begins.
For MLB Players – All Things Considered – Stay Home
If the 2020 baseball season emerges in its proposed dwarf format, its legitimacy is seriously marred. There will be no exciting chases to break existing records. Time will not allow it. Should Jacob deGrom win a remarkable third consecutive NL Cy Young, there will always be that – ah, but he did it in a short season.
The Universal DH, while a good idea and a long time coming, means another aberration on the record books, unless it is adopted permanently, which is not likely to happen.
And when you pile on the health risks attached to the calisthenics required to put on a major league game, and you consider that team owners take none of the same risks – it’s sensible to suggest we thought the days of gladiators fighting in the Roman arenas were past us.
All things considered, MLB players would be wise to run out the clock until the short season becomes even shorter before dwindling to nothing.
We all want our baseball – that is, the real game that hopefully can be played full-scale in 2021 – not the reprint of a Michaelangelo, the owners are trying to sell.
Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.
