And the work stoppage continues. Normally we’d be counting down the days until Rex Fregosi uploaded his glorious pictures of Angels walking around Tempe Diablo Stadium and beginning drills. Now we are left to wonder when, perhaps if, those will come.
Fair or not, the man in charge gets far too much credit for the good times and all the blame for the bad times. President, quarterback, commissioner, head coach. Take any of those jobs and that’s your lot in life.
Rob Manfred is taking plenty of heat for the current work stoppage. The first work stoppage in the lives of many players like Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh.
What are Manfred’s powers and could he have stopped this? Per Wiki (I know, dangerous), this should fall at his feet:
“Under the direction of the Commissioner, the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball hires and maintains the sport’s umpiring crews, and negotiates marketing, labor, and television contracts. The commissioner is chosen by a vote of the owners of the teams”
After all, Manfred was hired as Commissioner largely due to his background as a labor relations attorney.
Per MLB, the Commissioner’s powers go far beyond that. “Best interests of baseball” is a clause that gives the Commission very broad powers. None of which, it seems, Manfred used to avoid this lockout.
Want to do some real book learnin’? Marquette University’s Sports Law Review has a great piece on the powers held by baseball’s Commissioner as well as some of the precedents that set and/or confirmed some of those powers.
The players and the owners are like two children intent on bickering and annoying the hell out of each other. Manfred was supposed to be the parent telling them to knock it off, shake hands, and get back to the table. And he didn’t.
It looks like parents could be on the way. MLB owners are now requesting federal mediators to help out. MLBPA has to agree to mediation and this isn’t binding, but mediators often induce conversation and allow both sides to be heard. If they both showed up, it would at least be a sign they want a deal.
Maybe they know something we don’t, maybe they are being optimistic. But the Angels sent out an email and they are hiring. My wife has already decided I get to be an usher when I retire. She either loves and knows me well or wants me out of the house.
The Angels will definitely be employing plenty of lawyers. An appeals court ruled that former clubhouse attendant Bubba Harkins defamation case is valid and should be heard by a jury.
That trial is not the big one, however, Eric Kay will finally face trial for his role in the death of Tyler Skaggs. Witness lists are being revealed and the trial starts Tuesday.
Trying to fill time during the lockout, ESPN is counting down the top 100 players in baseball history. They’ve made some laughably bad takes like placing Jeter at 28th overall and ahead of vastly superior players such as Johnny Bench, Albert Pujols, and Tony Gwynn. Might as well double down on that and peg #1 as a guy who played against the worst competition in MLB history, but also in NY.
I love Ruth for what he was; the first baseball icon. Dude was a beast back in his day. However, the competition in his day was so weak I can’t consider him to be the GOAT. Quite simply, he didn’t prove himself against the best competition the world could offer. Mays generation on did. Not Ruth’s fault, but that’s the facts.
The offseason is not yet complete but as it stands now, Zips has the Angels as second in the AL West with an even .500 record. Oakland and Seattle are right there with us.
The crew at FG’s thinks the Angels would be a great fit for Carlos Rondon and after reading their piece I agree. A six man rotation likely helps him stay on top of his game and he did generate 5 WAR in just over 130 innings last year.
Enjoy this with your morning coffees. Might take a couple of sittings to get through it, but these were the stars of my childhood.
In late breaking news, longtime Angels broadcaster Jose Mota has decided to leave the Angels and Bally’s network. Jose is truly one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and I sincerely wish him well in his next endeavor.
This is pure gold.
https://twitter.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/1490413613613420545
And of course, there’s the obligatory “put him in pinstripes” post. F***ing MFY fans are so damned entitled.
If you’ve ever wondered why I bag on “back in my day…. let me tell you what this MLB player is doing wrong cause I helped coach some players once in Sandcrack, CA….” guy these comments on this video pretty much sum it up.
STFU dorks, no one asked for you to flex your wisdom and “help” the MLB players out.
Jose Mota is joining the Dodgers broadcast team…
That didn’t take very long. But I guess It makes sense considering his Dad is a Doyer legend and he was doing local postgame analysis for Fox 11 after the Dodger playoff games last year
If he wanted a more substantial role (and his filling in as a guest suggests that), then being passed up two years in a row – for someone with less to no knowledge of the team/fanbase – must have pushed him out.
I hope he does well, and feels appreciated, over in the Ravine.
Brutal to lose him to the doyers.
Arte must be furious rn
Damn it.
Jim?
Mota is nice. Mota is a crap broadcaster. I don’t care that he’s gone. I’m glad he has a job.
This ^^^^
So many of the folks now whining hated his broadcasts. Let’s just call it as is it. Nice guy but not a huge loss.
Had a thought – were the big contracts that were quickly handed out this off-season pre-lockout a form of owner PR? A way to implicitly say ‘what are the players complaining about’ and shift the blame perception?
One additional thought- a core issue is revenue sharing. Basically that shared revenue is allegedly causing tanking because small market teams do not have to be successful on the field to be profitable. They do not bid for expensive free agents because they make plenty of revenue even in a poor/tanking season. Then they are rewarded with high draft picks and can conceivably build a low cost successful team. Players obviously hate this because it lowers the number of bidding teams in free agency.
Would not a simple solution be to require teams that receive revenue as part of revenue sharing to use a certain percentage of that money (say 75%) on player acquisition and salaries and enforce that requirement. Enforcement could be achieved with an independent audit – any team that failed to spend that money on player salaries has to return the money to the pool and loses revenue sharing funds the next season. I don’t think it would be that difficult to enforce.
But then you have the alternative argument of teams like the Tampa Bay Rays who genuinely feel they need revenue sharing to survive but still have been wildly successful by spending those gifted funds on an extensive player development program.
How else can you explain their perennial success ? Their attendance and TV revenues are concisely at the bottom of the league, They have constant roster turnover, and their executives are routinely poached by big market clubs Yet they are expected to consistently contend through shrewd talent trades, keen scouting and extensive player development while given so many young players early Major League experience. Mandating the Rays to expend a minimum of their shared funds on some group of middle age, mediocre post-peak veterans would be a complete joke.
I get the TB argument (ie that they likely invested in player development) but the problem is that if you leave it ambiguous – the tracing of the money becomes impossible. And there are many owners willing to put a terrible product on the field while collecting shared revenue.
Ultimately I am viewing it more from the standpoint of making a deal with the players and I think if you had clear accountability of 75% of the shared money being spent on players – that compromise would work.
I think this highlights a key point. While Cowboy is right, TB manages well despite being a small revenue team because they are savvy, this is a negotiation with the Player’s Union. From the players perspective (especially the ones negotiating, even given that they are looking after younger players much more than they have done), more money dedicated to the players is a key factor.
This could be an issue that splinters the owners group a bit (who likes paying a team that tanks), unless they also think that advantages them (less teams to truly compete with means more money from marketing/sales for their more expensive but marketable winning franchises?).
Correct re fracturing the owners – there are many owners who are against revenue sharing in its entirety and the tanking issue has become a rallying cry against it. Players like revenue sharing as long as that shared money is spent on players.
The area where many of the owners and players are in agreement is that revenue sharing should not promote tanking.
The compromise probably exists somewhere where the majority of revenue sharing $$ must be spent on players and a systematic disincentive against tanking is instituted.
I think the idea that a team can spend less than $20 million on payroll and collect well over $100 million in shared revenue and TV dollars is pretty ridiculous. I can see why players are upset about that.
+1 to Fangraphs for putting data to my Rodon advocacy from several months ago. Assuming we have a season between the lockout, COVID, and incessant political instability, he’d be a great add for us. He could start and also be the ultimate swingman, sort of like Andrew Miller was with Cleveland a few years ago.
Also, I don’t believe the Astros are that strong anymore. They’ll still contend but as long as we get another piece or two like Rodon, I think the AL West is between Seattle and us for 2-3 years.
Yes, Rodon seems like a good fit. Having Lorenzen in a starter/swing role too, gives us lots of options in case a Detmers or Canning take a step forward.
I’m really bummed to hear about Jose Mota’s departure. I echo your sentiments and wish him all the best.
O’Neal’s promotion to the play-by-play job was probably the nail in the coffin. Ownership can’t even get the TV broadcast booth correct.
Jose was on Roger Lodge tonight for a final farewell. Gubi even joined in. It was very classy with a lot of love. It will be real interesting to find out where he ends up
Yeah, damn, I didn’t even realize he was leaving until coming here. Saw the post on Angels IG, but thought they were just celebrating his 20 year mark. Very un-Mota-vating. 🙁
You would think the video historians of baseball would know how to spell Vin Scully
ha ha. Can’t believe I missed that. Brutal.
Players so no to mediation.
Baseball is definitely not happening for a long time.
PR-wise, pretty savvy move by the league to force the union to wear that publicly.
Fans would love mediation. It will get brought up every time a milestone gets delayed or cancelled like spring training.
Manfred works for the Owners. He was appointed as a successor to a tool for the Owners. (Bud Selig) Selig was an owner himself (Brewers) and as such was not exactly unbiased. In reading the Marquette piece as it pertains to the history of the position of the Commissioner and his powers it would seem the finding the right commissioner to deal with the business end and the “Best Interest” side can easily come down to a Selig/Manfred type who is not about to want to take on the owners as a Landis/Kuhn once did.
In fairness to both the Owners and the Players there really should be a commissioner that is agreed on by both sides for a set term of 10 years and to be removed by a 100% vote of owners and player’s representative.
The Best Interest cannot be fairly arbitrated by only one side of argument. The Owners enjoyed financial considerations by allowing steroids and thus having a commissioner who worked for them was just going to turn his head the other way and hope that the issue would not be discovered. Steroids were not in the best interest of MLB other than their results filled seats. Same idea with Manfred and the stealing of signs. Vincent is the example of what happens when the commissioner upsets the owners.
It is not in the best interests of MLB to have Manfred as the Commissioner who will protect everyone’s best interest as that is asking the impossible.
I’ve been in enough negotiations in my career to see the writing on this wall.
The players are angry over perceived (real or unreal) mistreatment and semi-collusion by the owners. Their fire has been stoked by agents and lawyers and union reps who have provided the narrative that they are doing this for the future players which makes them believe this fight is just.
The owners are fighting for what they believe is their right to run their teams the way they want to with a revenue stream that directs as much of the money towards their businesses as they are the ones taking the risks. They are fighting against a perceived force of greedy players and agents who demand more and more money.
Whenever negotiations involve the perception that the fight is for the future and/or against a big concept like greed – lines in the sand are drawn and those rarely result in compromise. I think that is what we are seeing right now – myopic righteousness. The sides have dug in and to me, that means a long, distrusting slugfest.
I previously predicted no baseball until June with a 100 game season. From what I am seeing, that may prove overly optimistic.
The work stoppages of ’81 and ’94 hurt the MLB seen, this one will be no different. I think that there is no doubt about it that you are right, and a 100-game season might be optimistic as 45 minutes every other day does not accomplish a lot of results. Although they are going to drag this out, we could be seeing a full season gone by the wayside. Covid was not going to help revenue at all, so the Owners just might pick up their toys and go home.
And, ironically, Baseball did not recover from the ’94 stoppage until the PED driven McGwire/Sosa home run derby season. PEDs saved baseball.
Since Rob is the head negotiator for the owners doesn’t that make him one of the kids in the squabble, which means there is no adult (parent) in the room.
Yes. He is not neutral. He is a mouthpiece for the owners’ side.
Notice I didn’t call for him to do the negotiating but to call on the parties to start negotiating.
As long as Rob has interest in the results he cannot be the adult in the room
he isn’t the head negotiator though
Evan Drellich says the players union is likely to reject the idea of federal mediation.
Oh, FFS 😡🤬
Baseball is doomed
From what i see, the players have good reason to reject it – looks like a PR ploy and didn”t help in 1994
I’d hope it’s in good faith but who knows at this point.
I’m all for anything that will generate real conversation between the two. That hasn’t happened yet.
Of course its a PR ploy. But the players want sweeping changes and a federal mediator would probably just try to get everyone to settle down the middle. So the bottom line is unless the Owners will accept sweeping changes involving pre arbitration players’ salaries, revenue sharing reduction and much higher CBT thresholds , the only other option the owners have is to try and wait this thing out.
Good luck with that.
Dammit. At least I’ll get a refund on the suite I got for my graduation party.
“The players and the owners are like two children intent on bickering and annoying the hell out of each other. Manfred was supposed to be the parent telling them to knock it off, shake hands, and get back to the table. And he didn’t.”
That’s an interesting statement. Why, exactly, is the MLB commissioner an owner-voted tool rather than a neutral governor of the bests interests of baseball? That’s what the MLBPA should push for in this negotiation – a neutral commissioner. Each team assigns a player rep and the commissioner of baseball is selected by a vote of the owners AND player reps. The new commissioner is therefore held accountable to both sides and can act as a neutral mediator in labor negotiations.
The Commissioner is granted his job by the owners. I wouldn’t want him acting as a mediator.
However, to avoid future work stoppages, I would like a clause allowing him to call for binding arbitration to begin one year prior to the expiration of the next CBA. Perhaps a setup there a pool of candidates to the the arbitrator is presented to both sides, each ranks their preference 1 through 3 and the person with the best overall score is chosen.
My point is the commissioner shouldn’t be granted his job by the owners. The commissioner should be selected by the combined vote of owners and player reps.
Unlike every other Major Professional sports league? Sure. Why not?
I like your pre-conflict arbitration idea.
I’ve read up on all the “powers” that the commish has when it comes to this stuff and still don’t get what Manfred’s really supposed to do. Sure, there are some words on my screen that say he’s “empowered”, but as a man who has kissed women, paid taxes, been to jail, seen boobies, crashed a car and been punched in the face (all on different days) I don’t see what Rob’s supposed to do in real life. I mean, you realize, I am also “empowered” to just show up in Washington and speak with my state’s senator… paperpower baby.
Can you imagine how laughable it would be if he ordered the MLBPA to do anything? Can you imagine the shitstorm if he forced those poor, downtrodden players to do anything? And how does he hector the owners into doing anything?
“But he could come out and publicly say something so I feel good for two minutes…” And that would do what? Make both groups of assholes realize we’re not happy with them? They already know.
It still seems like his only real power is the ability to say “C’mon guysss…”
But if everyone agreed that he’s mandated to set up arbitration that far ahead of a CBA ending that would actually be useful.
Well he has the power to grant immunity to all the Trashstro cheaters so they can tell fanciful lies and throw the front office under the bus. (Just as long as they don’t implicate any of the team owners )
Uhhh. Boo f**kn who? Tooty Two?
As little as the Astros have to do with this, they are an example of the problem….
Astros: “Aww poopy. We got caught cheating!”
Many Many Many other players: “Aw shit. If people start looking too close at the Asstros they may see that we also cheat like crazy!”
Many other managers: “Crap.”
Other owners to their managers, GMs and players: “Uh, guys, we haven’t been cheating have we?”
MLBPA: “Crap…”
Owners: “Crap….”
Manfred: “And now, I flex my power to semi-punish the Asstros and not look very closely at anyone else. HUZAH!”
MLBPA: “HUZAH!.”
Owners: “HUZAH!.”
And thus flows the power of the commissioner.
a federal mediator will likely not make major changes, something the MLBPA does not want. They want big changes.
A feral mediator also has zero power unless both parties agree to his proposal. In some realms, mediation is just a required stepping stone to arbitration.
But don’t you think he would bite?
Nope. At this point the MLBPA pool would be split between the two numbers, so somewhere around 60 to 65 million. Neither side is moving in that direction.
The truth is no one, not the great and mighty Joe Biden himself, nor #2 Jesus from the sky Barack Obama, nor even Chuck Norris can make either side in this hissy fit agree to or do anything. The only hammer in the govt’s bag of fish is the threat of declaring the MLB a monopoly. This has always been an empty threat because no one’s setting up a second professional baseball league that makes money and outlasts the XFL. There only real threat is to break the NL and AL away from each other into separate pro leagues and push them to expand a little, then hope they start competing with each other for players.
The only other threat is that a huge number of Americans will forego a form of entertainment they like for a long time once its available. The same pile of people who agree by a mass majority that social media is harming society… but can’t stay off social media for a single day.
I think both the players and the MLBPA know they have nothing to worry about.