poppysox

The Walmart clan consisting of Sam Waltons children are worth in excess of $200 billion and they are looked at kindly for creating jobs all across America. Poor JR is only worth 1.6 billion and isn't paying the millionaires that work for him enough in the opinion of some. Warren Buffet has a personal fortune of $160 billion and controls ownership of Berkshire Hathway with a value of 536 billion yet doesn't involve himself in employer, union negotiation. Baseball ownership has offered a $60K increase to the baseball starting wage of $570K and it is talked about like the owners made some kind of insulting offer. The sport and entertainment industries live on a different planet than those people trying to make a living in the real world.

The game exists because for a hundred years players and owners have built "America's Pastime." The current players and owners are both reaping the rewards of many other contributors to its popularity. I hope they don't manage to screw it up.

No surprise that this is going down to the 11th hour. The surprise to me will be if both sides are dumb enough to kill the golden goose.

No...mostly bonds.

Those working for such a company should be grateful that they have such a stable workplace with a reliable paycheck and good benefits. There are many people working for companies with little job security and the boss from hell. If you really have the skills that qualify you for a higher paycheck and are feeling underpaid and underappreciated...get another job. I realize baseball is an odd deal. You can't just pick up and leave because the owner owns your soul until you qualify for free agency. If you are an average payer you probably don't ever get to the point of the high-priced guys. If you are that average guy (Leury Garcia) you settle for a 3-year contract at $5.5M and pinch yourself to see if this is some kind of a dream.

I have a young friend of the family who was drafted in the 13th round by Oakland approximately 5 or 6 years ago. His career in baseball was the typical 4 years and had TJ surgery and was done. He wouldn't trade a minute of his professional baseball career. As a person, I would always choose to work in a job I liked rather than one that paid more as long as the bills could get paid. I am not at all in favor of the low minor league salaries as I've stated elsewhere. I've spoken in favor of raising the minimum starting salary as well. The low end of the baseball pay scale is not at all where my frustration lies.

I am "rooting" for this thing to get settled and don't care who is perceived to be the winner. If you would actually read my postings I have said repeatedly that I hope the minimum is increased substantially so I have no ax to grind with the newbie. I don't favor a fast track for free agency and I want my management to spend money prudently. By prudently I mean that money wasted today will not be available tomorrow. I have also expressed a preference for creating a team minimum payroll (my example was $70M) as I think it would improve parity as opposed to raising the current CBT which will IMO further disparity between teams. Lastly, I think higher pay for minor leaguers is very justified but is not part of this contract negotiation. It is just brought into the discussion to make the millionaire/billionaire argument seem more out of balance.

Curt is defined as rudely brief. Would you prefer 6 or 7 paragraphs of rude comments? It seems to me you had a clear understanding of my intent without my needing to spell it out.

What would be the point? Can you read?

This remark is so incredibly stupid I'll let it go and just consider the source.

That just might be because they are not as good.

Why would you think I am trying to emulate what you do?

Take a look.

Jose is exactly who I want to use as an example. He has been treated fairly throughout his major league career and has repeatedly said he will end his playing days with the WS. Some players use more than dollars as the barometer of being treated fairly.

Scroll through Bleacher Report. Plenty of articles that might interest you.

yep...on both sides.

It was reported on Page 95 that revenue of $568 produced an operating income of $20 million. It's been fun but I have a house full of friends coming over and I will be tied up for 3 or 4 hours. Have fun with your posse.

If you were as smart as you obviously think you are...the name-calling wouldn't be necessary.

I am sure you realize revenue is not profit. The "assbags" have agreed to raise the minimum by 60K the last time I looked.

I'm sure you are aware that both you and I have a bias as I stated. You are claiming to have knowledge of how many people I interact with in my regular life. You obviously have no idea of the size of my "group" and you have no idea if I have a basement. I guess you were engaging in hyperbole.

I suppose that is correct. In a way, anyone who picks a side acts as a shill for that side.

Good Luck with attaining whichever of those is your goal. I would have been happy to play baseball for a living for damn near any amount of pay the owner wanted to give me. That is why Jose is the popular player he is. He wants to play for the WS whatever the cost might be in dollars.

Pyrrhic Victory is a victory won at too high a cost to have been worthwhile. I think that might be the case when big money spars with big egos.

A scab is someone who crosses a picket line and works for the employer while a strike is in progress. Has some player decided to do that?

I disagree with your premise that the public favors the players. Most of us tend to hang around with people who think like ourselves. We tend to read the articles and watch/listen to media that supports our point of view. You hang with a crowd that thinks the players are being unfairly treated. The primary reasoning of your crowd is the owners are making tons and therefore should part with a bigger piece of the pie. I hang with a crowd that thinks the players are unbelievably greedy. My group thinks that when a player has shown himself to be really good the individual owners have rewarded their players with unimaginable salaries of 20 and 30 million dollars (hardly miserly). It is true that after serving an apprenticeship...the player is free to go to work for the highest bidder. I realize that I am just hitting on a couple of talking points for both sides and some will want to amplify their side's points of view. I would agree that the demographics of this forum favor the players. The public at large is a different matter.