00:00Major League Baseball players and owners have now traded proposals to try to save
00:04baseball after this season I don't like to get into the minutiae of it because
00:09it's pointless and it's crazy but I'll just tell you this that the owners made
00:14it official now they are looking for a hard cap the players proposal offered
00:19not a hard cap but a bit of a basement where if you don't spend 150 million
00:26dollars on your payroll there's a tax involved they didn't explain whether or not
00:30that tax gets you up to 150 so that becomes a minimum basement for salary but
00:35the bottom line is this the bottom line is that the proposal for Major League
00:41Baseball delivers exactly what baseball said they were going to ask for which
00:45they have not officially asked for since 1994 and that is an actual hard cap and
00:51every other sport has a version of a cap baseball is the only sport that does not
00:56I know baseball has done legitimate fan studies I've been made privy to those
01:00studies I think they're actually public whether you've seen them or not I have
01:03seen them and that is that 83 percent of baseball fans that have been polled
01:09nationwide and we're talking thousands of fans so I think it's a pretty legitimate
01:13you know a cross-section of baseball fans they're in favor of there being some
01:18type of cap as long as there's a floor and most fans biggest concern is not that
01:25the Dodgers or the Yankees or you know the Phillies for that matter the Red Sox
01:28you know major market teams that have owners willing to write major checks
01:32Mets included it's not that those teams have that ability it's that why don't the
01:38Pirates spend another 50 million dollars so they don't they see a guy like Paul
01:43Skeens one of the best if not the best young pitchers in baseball you know be
01:47shipped off somewhere for five more prospects or draft picks when if you keep
01:52a guy like Paul Skeens you can build around him and maybe one day become a
01:57legitimate World Series threat and I found that interesting that while you think
02:01fans mostly would want unlimited spending so that if they one day have an owner
02:07like the Mets currently having Steve Cohen who's willing to continue to stroke
02:10checks that that'd be more important to them but it's very interesting according to
02:14the polling that major league baseball has done most baseball fans are more
02:19interested in a basement than an actual cap or lack of a cap for that matter so I
02:25thought that was interesting but here's the reality the reality is much like after
02:30the Phillies lost to the Blue Jays in 93 in that great World Series where Joe Carter
02:35hits the walk-off against Mitch Williams and everybody revolts against
02:47Mitch Williams gave up the home run not killing yeah Mitch Williams said he threw a fastball Joe
02:53Carter said it looked like a slider I can't speak to that but that did happen factually so 94 there's
03:01a
03:01strike why is there a strike because the owners at the time in 94 said we want to put a
03:06cap in
03:06and the players said we're not going to agree to a cap here's the underlying reality though of the
03:12major league baseball players union which I find interesting there's a battle amongst the players
03:19between the quote-unquote haves and the have-nots the haves meaning guys like Bryce Harper guys like
03:27Garrett Cole guys like Max Scherzer guys that are towards the end of their careers who have made a few
03:32money those guys fully support the notion of a work stoppage they've already gotten paid so obviously
03:40it has no financial impact on them or their futures the younger players who are the upcoming stars who
03:48haven't yet reached arbitration or haven't yet gotten that first opportunity to negotiate a you know
03:55significant you know 200 plus million dollar contract those guys want to keep playing those guys don't want
04:01a work stoppage because as soon as there's a work stoppage the clock stops and it puts back another
04:08year if you miss a year of baseball towards them being eligible to one day get the big contract now
04:14three years ago when we had the near work stoppage the union was in favor of sitting out and the
04:21guy
04:21that's now in charge of the union I forget his first name it's something Meyer I think Bruce Meyer he's
04:27the
04:27new guy ever since the last guy got caught with his hand in the cookie jar this guy that you
04:32see a
04:33picture of right now we'll put him on the screen Bruce Meyer thank you for that guys he's the interim
04:37executive director of the union that guy and I have this on good authority from both players and from
04:44people on the ownership side that guy is desperate for the for there to be a work stoppage he wants
04:52a work
04:52stoppage he didn't want there to be baseball this year he fought very hard and he lost out uh on
04:59his
04:59position a year ago to make sure there's a work stoppage that guy right there is bad for baseball
05:06that guy right there is bad for baseball fans he's a hero if that guy gets his way there will
05:12be no
05:13baseball next year and I do not know how that's possibly good for baseball fans
Comments