Jack Parkman

Have you been paying attention to baseball at all over the last 5 years? This isn't normal behavior, I'd agree.......and it is completely obvious........however it is a continuation of a trend that has been happening for half a decade.....and the pandemic is a built in excuse for the owners to put the spending cuts into hyperdrive. Ever since the Astros and Cubs showed the rest of baseball how to do the rebuild thing, it has been either an in or out with no middle ground system in baseball. You know who the playoff teams are going to be every year generally, because the gap between the playoff teams and the non-playoff teams is very high.

What I see in baseball right now is the overwhelming majority of teams, with the exception of the Padres and Blue Jays so far, cutting payroll or remaining neutral from last year. I see the Pittsburgh Pirates trading everyone with a guaranteed contract away. Even the Dodgers and Yankees have cut payroll so far. Why wouldn't I believe that would continue? You're pointing to the Padres, and they are the exception rather than the rule.

I do not believe that. I believe that the top teams will spend to a point where they're comfortable and have a relatively low risk of missing the playoffs. The more rounds a playoff team has to win, the lower the return on investment is and the harder it is to win a championship.

PM me and we can discuss dude. That's not what I'm saying at all, but go on....

That's not what I was trying to say at all, but ok. I was defending my position, not attacking others. Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss.

MLB playoffs are a crapshoot. It's different because generally you have to win 90 games to make the playoffs with the 10 team structure. If you go back in history, that threshold with 8 drops to around 79-81.

Only if they're thinking short-term. In the long term it gets them paid less.

The MLBPA views expanded playoffs as a salary suppression maneuver, so I do not think they'll agree to it under any circumstances this year. If they do, the cat is out of the bag and the regular season becomes a glorified seeding exercise.

There is no advantage in expanded playoffs to win 95 games vs 84-88. Where teams become disincentivized is at the top. Teams that are already good have no reason to plug roster holes. Also, if you go back there are a lot of 77-80 win teams that qualify for the playoffs under this scenario. It could lead to widespread mediocrity rather than excellence from a few teams.

I think we all do but income inequality is an issue in every aspect of life, and even though it's happening on a much larger monetary scale in sports, they aren't immune either. The averagely productive player in sports leagues are getting squeezed, too. It's all about finding the best or the cheapest, and there's no room for anything in between. The entire business model has changed at the macro level, and it's resulted in some very negative consequences.

Now: I'm not saying that the MLBPA is completely innocent here, as CBA negotiations get started: 1) The MLBPA has to realize that the luxury tax as it currently exists is a de facto soft cap. They've already lost that negotiation, and there is no going back. It's time to negotiate an NBA style cap and floor system. The cat is out of the bag. 2) This gets the owners to open their books, which the MLBPA has been trying to do since its inception. Get the owners to open their books, then decide on a revenue split and the cap will be like 70% of the ceiling. Keep the Luxury tax penalties the same as the penalty for going over the soft cap.

Have you been paying attention the last few years to baseball at all? The overwhelming majority of baseball owners have been engaging in anticompetitive behavior. The number of owners cutting payroll is ridiculous. The Pittsburgh Pirates are a disgrace to MLB. Even the Yankees and Dodgers have been partaking in some of this behavior to a degree. If you think all of the owners aren't greedy, you haven't been paying attention. The issue with MLB vs other sports is that in the other sports, they all sacrificed multiple seasons to institute a cap/floor system. Neither side in baseball wants a cap and floor system. Owners want the freedom to spend as little as possible on players, and players want owners to spend as much as possible on players.

Not if you realize that expanded playoffs are a salary suppression tool. No expanded playoffs without a floor and soft cap.

I'm anti-zero sum game, not anti ownership. Don't be condescending to me. Economics is a hobby of mine. I tend to focus on the practical side rather than the theoretical side. (hint-practical side says theory is incorrect) They say that a rising tide should lift all boats, but everywhere in American society that's not happening. Think win-win. The owners think win-lose. They make more money and engage in anticompetitive behavior. That's not how it should work. I'm all for being reasonable, but generally, people need to make a living wage and in the upper reaches like Baseball, owners are not sharing enough of the revenue with the players. I'm not saying that owners shouldn't turn a profit, but I am saying that the proportion of profit to salaries/wages is out of whack. Not just in baseball, but everywhere.

We don't watch the owners. We watch the players. Without the players, the owners have nothing. The players should get more. Simple as that. Owners were making money hand over fist before the pandemic. Players are the product. The problem is that both sides should be thinking win-win rather than win-lose. The mentality that everything is a zero sum game instead of making the pie bigger is the issue. It's a US culture issue, and it's toxic and destroying society.

I think the players union would be idiots to agree to anything that includes an expanded postseason. 10 teams is plenty. Less is more when it comes to the playoffs. Cut to the chase.

With an expanded postseason, owners no longer have the incentive to build 95 win teams. In that case 85 win teams are suddenly acceptable. big hell no to expanded postseason. Union should reject it. It could result in teams with 78-82 wins making the postseason with regularity. This is a salary suppressing stunt.

I think that Miami is the only team that has what it takes to get a deal done.

As much as I hate to say it because he's the Bulls best player, they should trade Lavine too.

You're only allowed to trade 1st round picks 3 drafts in the future, so yeah Watson is pretty much untradeable.......however, it does seem that the extra 1st was for Detroit to take Goff's contract.

What would you guys do with Markkanen if you have to choose now? Re-sign or trade?

I think they're going to tag him and figure it out from there. Pace would be a moron to do anything else.

I've believed Garropolo is going to be the Bears QB in 2021 for a while. Just a hunch.

I think Bob got Rodon and Colome confused.

Well the overwhelming majority.