atripleshyofthecycle

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  • in reply to: 2020 Spring Training #122898
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    Does this ring true for anybody else?

    Every single year! I am so glad you reminded me of this. I will save the headache of trying to get my MLB.tv access during Spring and just wait for the real games to start.

    in reply to: Minor league salaries #122878
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    Nonetheless is a word. You win a toaster!

    in reply to: Minor league salaries #122812
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    Good for the Giants. Paying for housing is HUGE for those guys. I’m glad to see a team take the lead on this.

    in reply to: Houston Astros (and Red Sox) Stealing Signs #122811
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    I’d say a major distinction would be that the rule that the Astros violated wasn’t around back then, so those guys weren’t cheating.

    I am sympathetic to the idea that many, many teams have been caught stealing signs from CF and not much more than a “knock it off” has been handed down. But the league had been warned this time, the Astros have other shenanigans on their resume, and I also think that MLB found a lot more than they are telling us about (a la Pete Rose).

    in reply to: Minor league salaries #122781
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    I’m not convinced that the FLSA is “very clear.” I mean, for some reason teachers are somehow exempted from most of those laws, as are a ton of “seasonal” employees.

    But let’s say that we can make minor league players fall under this rule. Let’s flesh it out a little bit.

    1. For home games, what are considered hours worked? Is it the time that players are required to be at the ballpark? If they come early for special instruction, do they clock in for that?

    2. For away games, do bus rides count as time worked? Or would we do it just like home games?

    3. Would you exempt them from overtime, or shall our new rule require overtime pay for hours worked over 40 hours in a week?

    4. Shall we allow them to use the federal minimum wages, or will it be locally determined? As far as I know, the FLSA requires the higher of the two – which would cause some issues with inequitable pay. If we are going to be “fair”, maybe we need to use the highest minimum wage of any state law, which, if memory serves, is Washington (and I think they are over $13 per hour).

    I think this will be a good exercise to see feasibility. I mean, I can see lawyers arguing for extremes on this, and, if taken to the extreme, the minors would be gutted.

    We would need to work out the questions above for our exercise, but a quick check in if we assume 40 hour work weeks (no overtime), the weekly salaries would range from $290 a week (I think I’ve seen this number recently) and $520.

    But the idea of 40 hours per week is a joke, since the typical day at the ballpark is at least 8 hours, and they average something like 6.5 games per week. I’d honestly estimate the average working hours in a week to be around 60 (though time at the ballpark is probably higher for most, I think ballplayers could agree on being paid for that). So now you’re looking at the range of weekly pay being $510 to $910.

    So is $510 per week an acceptable sum? Is $910? If you paid guys this amount for Spring Training through the end of the season, you are only looking at about 26 weeks, give or take. So their yearly salary would be about $13,000 to $24,000. For some reason, I don’t think that would satisfy the “living wage” and “fair” wage crowd.

    in reply to: Houston Astros (and Red Sox) Stealing Signs #122779
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    Does the players contract contain a clause that such as says a team cannot void a contract when the player is proven to have violated the drug provisions or some other such act.

    I’m sure the CBA doesn’t allow that. They have designated punishments, and there is no punishment for character assassination.

    in reply to: Miles Mikolas injury #122768
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    Next man up.

    in reply to: Minor league salaries #122767
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    Of course it isn’t enough (it is still peanuts). It never will be.

    What is a fair wage for workers in a business that loses money? Do the people bearing the burden of the losses get a say on how much they should be able to lose?

    The WNBA, which loses over $10 million per year, just basically doubled player salaries. And I can guarantee you that will not be enough soon enough.

    That’s the beauty of the word fair. It means whatever you want it to mean. So demands for a fair wage can go on forever – until the loudest voices demanding fair get their wishes of the economic system of their preference. And what used to be an unfair wage starts looking like a pipe dream. Venezuelan players probably aren’t complaining too loudly.

    in reply to: Houston Astros (and Red Sox) Stealing Signs #122762
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    Allegations that MLB sat on this for multiple years before Mike Fiers spoke up. Sort of reminds me of steroids…

    This has always been baseball’s MO. The Astros, without that Twitter guy’s trashcan-banging videos, would have gotten off with a slap on the wrist.

    All the scandals they have successfully swept under the rug is pretty amazing.

    Nothing sums up MLB’s desire to catch cheats better than how they banned illegal drugs in 1971, but didn’t bother to test anyone for 30 years. And people still believe that was a “drug policy.”

    I still remember what MLB allowed Ryan Braun to do to that delivery guy. That was embarrassing, but MLB tacitly supported it because it “protected the game.” They have always been about that.

    And the MLBPA pointing fingers here is the height of hypocricy.

    in reply to: Restructuring MiLB #122741
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    BHC, at least you are up front about your beliefs on this. I don’t agree, but it is a legitimate perspective.

    in reply to: Restructuring MiLB #122735
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    So is it having the most money or pushing for change that makes them wrong? I can’t keep up. But surely with regard to your other minor league pet story, the ones seeking change are the good guys. And the bad guys, surprise, surprise, are the ones with the most money. There’s a theme here, as much as you insist there isn’t.

    in reply to: Restructuring MiLB #122733
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    Although I do have to respect the simplicity of a world where all you have to do is figure out who has the most money to figure out who the bad guy is.

    in reply to: Restructuring MiLB #122732
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    On the other hand, MLB teams are worth as much as several billion each. Light years difference,

    Yeah, one group owns something, the other is borrowing. Who do you think has the power here? I’m gonna bet on the group with a viable business plan.

    in reply to: Brad Miller Signing #122723
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    Fancy stats won’t show us how Yadier Molina was a better hitter than Paul Goldschmidt and Marcell Ozuna last year. Not sure what the manager is thinking when putting the lineup together, though.

    in reply to: Restructuring MiLB #122715
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    If we’re going to blame it on greed of rich people, we could just as easily talk about how the millionaire owners of the minor league teams could afford to pay the players themselves.

    Maybe Congress could tax billionaires and divert those taxes to these minor leaguers, their fans, the owners of those teams, and the employees.

    in reply to: Houston Astros (and Red Sox) Stealing Signs #122675
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    Justin Turner’s act toward Manfred sort of reminds me of Ryan Braun hating on that delivery driver.

    The Dodgers were named in MLB’s report as another team that they had evidence of sign stealing from. I can’t remember if that was the public report or not, though.

    in reply to: Brad Miller Signing #122622
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    There sure are a lot of people here who believe the measure of a player is batting average.

    Not that there is anything wrong with that. Just noticing the size of the tribe.

    in reply to: Minor league salaries #122615
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    Maybe they should raise ticket prices and put all the games on pay per view. Let the fans pay for it.

    People here really hate capitalism.

    At the end of the day, we are all getting a good look at how markets work. Raise the minimum wage – lower the number of jobs. The good news is that this will give people new victims to champion.

    in reply to: Brad Miller Signing #122576
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    Don’t throw algebra at people who think an abacus is too complicated. Slowly backing away now.

    in reply to: MLB announces pace of play changes #122575
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    So the batter gets to tell the pitcher if he wants a high ball or a low ball?

    in reply to: Brad Miller Signing #122572
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    I thought we were having a hitting conversation, not a batting average conversation. My mistake. I’ll let you go back to playing with blocks now.

    in reply to: Proposed New MLB playoff format #122548
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    Why is it every offseason Manfred comes up with proposed rule changes, etc? Is baseball in such a sad state of affairs that we have to keep tweaking things?

    The owners are scared to death at the demographics of the fans, and they, for some reason, think “pace of play” is going to entice more young fans.

    The fear of their fans aging out probably influences the playoffs money grab, too.

    I agree that it does seem like they’ve been doing a ton of changes lately.

    in reply to: Minor league salaries #122547
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    Forsch, there was always a trade off, whether you agree with the trade off or not. I’m in the camp of wanting more jobs and opportunities. While living in poverty isn’t the greatest thing in the world, all of those guys doing it are free to pursue other employment opportunities. I know plenty of guys who made the choice not to play for poverty wages, so it isn’t like it doesn’t happen.

    FWIW, unless you are a bonus baby, it is financially better to play major college baseball than it is to play in the low minors. I’m not sure these changes are going to swing that the other way. One positive of all this will be an improvement in college baseball. There is a lot of bad baseball being played in college right now, and I expect that to improve when the teams are eliminated (or maybe even a year sooner – how many players get drafted and signed this year is going to be very interesting).

    The game will adjust and be just fine.

    in reply to: Houston Astros (and Red Sox) Stealing Signs #122474
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    Tell be about all the unions you know that are quick to let their members get fired/punished for poor behavior.

    in reply to: Minor league salaries #122473
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    This place is like a Bernie field office.

    Some of you are perfectly fine with the team not being able to take on Arenado’s salary unless they dump salary to offset it, but when they have been forced to add $13 million in minor league expenses, they are greedy a-holes for looking to offset those costs. Titans of industry here.

Viewing 25 posts - 51 through 75 (of 432 total)