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What if MLB gets what it wants — players to forego a significant part of their salaries for 2020 — and then a group of players does not show up? That would be victory turning to defeat quickly for the owners, especially if these are star players and particularly since it could spark another round …
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MLB and the Players Association are in a familiar situation unfamiliarly. They are fighting about money. Duh. Players and owners have done that since the inception of the game, quite publicly since the Players Association was formally recognized as a union in 1966. Within that frame what occurred Tuesday is as routine as the national …
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MLB made its financial pitch to the Players Association on Tuesday. The key question when it comes to restarting a season is, how does the union take that pitch? MLB’s plan, as first reported by USA Today, was to have a sliding scale, so that those who make the least in 2020 would receive the …
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The Players Association was expected to deliver its response to MLB’s 67-page health and safety manual Thursday while the league is supposed to provide answers to economic questions raised by the union by Friday. One of these issues is more vital to tackle first and completely. Because as the saying goes, you have nothing without …
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Hal Steinbrenner and Jeff Wilpon DNA-ed their way into jobs. Whatever you think of Jacoby Ellsbury and Yoenis Cespedes, they used talent to gain their contracts. There was no inheritance, nepotism or being born on third base. Players earn what franchises are willing to pay. Scott Boras, for example, has been accused of many tricks …
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Alex Rodriguez caused a stir last weekend after calling for MLB players to accept the owners’ offer of a 50-50 split in revenues for games played in empty ballparks. And ESPN Radio host Dan Le Batard says players have every right to be angry at A-Rod, the retired ex-Yankee who raked in roughly $450 million …
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First of all, enough with the spitting. I get why we’re all so fascinated by the notion that coronavirus baseball will be expectorate-free. Spitting is as synonymous with baseball as are home runs, stolen bases and poverty-crying owners. Guess what, though? Most players, understanding the logic behind the banishment, will go along with it. Those …
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The answers just might be in those 67 pages. Unfortunately, so are all the difficulties. MLB sent the union a “2020 Operations Manual” to cover the protocols designed to restart the game with health and safety. The 67 pages delivered Friday night are an exhaustive effort covering items as large as testing for COVID-19 and …
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A 2020 without Major League Baseball would lead to losses for the industry that “could approach $4 billion,” commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday night. In an interview on CNN’s “AC360” with Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Manfred also expressed hope that he and his Players Association equivalent Tony Clark could find common ground on …
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Versatility has proven a trademark of the Tampa Bay Rays, who unleashed super-utility man Ben Zobrist on the baseball world and introduced us to openers. I doubt they’ll take any credit for Blake Snell’s words and actions Wednesday. Yet the Rays southpaw managed to establish a novel versatility plateau. Who knew one could exhibit tone …
What if MLB gets what it wants — players to forego a significant part of their salaries for 2020 — and then a group of players does not show up? That would be victory turning to defeat quickly for the owners, especially if these are star players and particularly since it could spark another round …
