poppysox

Serious Question. I get why raising the minimum wage is a big deal...we have 10 guys on the WS who get very nice raises. I can understand why Mike Trout would want a higher CBT so the Yanks and Dodgers can fight to pay him even more money. I don't understand what is in it for the average guy making 4 or 5 million. For the average guy to miss paychecks in order to raise the CBT is a mystery to me.

It certainly should be. "Pigs get fat...hogs go to slaughter."

Total agreement on this point.

These NO votes on both sides need to sober up. Compromise is going to happen eventually...why not now?

Like everything else in this negotiation...it put the subject on the table. If the owners/players would have excepted the $220 CBT with a $60M minimum that would surely be a win for everyone.

I don't remember the MLB offering a $100 million floor. Why didn't the players take it?

Exactly right. I would be totally in favor of having a minimum payroll requirement. That would actually have a chance of making weak teams compete a bit. I thought parity was everyone's big need.

"What we have here is a failure to communicate."

I refuse to believe that either side is dumb enough to kill off the game that makes their millions and billions possible.

Yeah...it's kind of like a babysitter for some of us. Some nap time can frequently happen.

I am hopeful that both sides are ready to get this over with.

I agree with you but we are in the minority. Vaughn, Sheets, and Engel are on the team and need to get play. Everyone can't be the DH. Unless a big trade involving Vaughn happens the mix and match is my guess as well. We will spend some money but my guess is SP and 2nd base. Also, two of our top farmhands are right fielders and don't need someone blocking them for 4 years.

I liked Hawk's stories over the inane banter we so frequently get. It seems you love him or hate him dad-gum it.

Welcome.

Vaughn has enough versatility to be useful until the first base position opens up.

Jose in another year will be blocking Vaughn. Saying goodbye to Abreu would be the easy way to clear out payroll. JR would hate it but Tampa Bay wouldn't think twice.

This is how it is supposed to work. Each side has found out what the other side will and won't be amenable to doing. Now each side gets a biggy that they wanted all along. Owners get 14 playoff teams...players get appreciably higher CBT & maybe some additional minimum salary...everybody is happy and it's report to camp time.

I think the WS like him enough but not at the QO level. Not that he will be available for it but I think the FO would be interested in $16M for 2 years. Our familiarity with his health should make us the most aware of what we would be buying.

Yes...really quite unbelievable. Everyone here knows the game. Both sides want the most they can get while not losing their business profits or player salaries. I felt strongly that a deal would happen on Feb.28/Mar1st. Both sides have some stubborn folks on their respective sides. I certainly think it will be settled in a month or two. Common sense will tell us that neither side can actually afford a strike/lockout to go beyond that April 30 date.

You are correct about the K. I am not implying that owners have nothing to lose and didn't say that. I gave the reason why the owners prefer now vs later in the Summer. Every day of these delays costs players, owners, fans, vendors, and hundreds of people who live off the game money that won't be re-earned anytime soon. To be clear...I don't care what the final settlement is because I won't get a nickel from either side. I want to have baseball as soon as I can get it.

Please re-read what I wrote. I very much think the owners are willing to lose a month or two as I stated. What do you mean "that states otherwise"? No one is saying anyone is the bad guy. I am explaining from the owner's perspective that a lockout now is in the owner's best interest. A strike in late Summer would be advantageous to the players. Both sides will lose a ton of money every day that this continues. This can't be handled like kids on the playground saying they can stay out all year if they need to. Neither side will have a game to come back to...at least not a game that has this size pie to divide.

I don't think either side wants to cancel the season. That will certainly be killing the "Goldern Goose" no matter which side you favor. Given the choice, it would be my belief that owners feel they have much more control of the situation now than in the July/August timeframe. I think most people would think this will be worked out in at least 2 or 3 months if not sooner. So from the owner's perspective losing the first two months of the season is much better than losing the last two months.

No...you were told the players have a harder time holding all the players together when this game goes into extra innings. More than 50% of players are not going to gain because they already are not affected by raising the minimum and the CBT max is more a factor for the top guys. You can only miss so many paychecks before it wears thin. I will say the players have held surprisingly strong in the face of a reasonably strong offer. That $700M offered for minimum wage affects a lot of players.

I agree that players would have agreed to play under the old contract until mid to late season. The threat of strike carries much more weight at that time of year.

Same!