Quote from 3fingersplit on March 13, 2020, 11:18 am

Don't count on a couple weeks......the entire season could be in play and that would truly be a disaster because it would mean this virus is a long and nasty proposition......Hope for the Best but prepare for the Worst.

It's more than just Baseball at this point

Quote from MrPadre19 on March 13, 2020, 12:34 pm

Certainly 2 weeks is the most optimistic scenario and highly unlikely.

.

 

Quote from fenn68 on March 13, 2020, 12:38 pm

Quote from MrPadre19 on March 13, 2020, 11:04 am

I just read a story that MLB is looking at "all potential alternatives" and then goes on to mention starting late....playing double headers...extending the season to make up lost games.....but zero mention of starting on schedule without fans.

I realize this will cost teams and cities income,but if its just a few weeks it makes the most sense to me.It would mean "not" losing games and would mean the seasons legitimacy would still be intact.

 

 

Just can’t protect the players, coaches, umpires, et al from each other spreading the virus and subsequently a quarantine for the 14 days.

Just have to wait however long to have some assurance the testing is available (and easily available) and the spread is “controlled”.

No hurry, more concerned about public health and the national economy that any sports issue.

Quote from fenn68 on March 13, 2020, 12:45 pm

In the big picture not all that important but they will be some difficult negotiations (I expect) between MLB and the players union ... pay for sure but also on key dates for things such as service time, opt out dates, etc.

Same goes for MiL players who don’t get paid until the minor league season starts and that too is being delayed ... most don’t get much even then. If they send the minor league players home (high cost to keep them housed and fed for another month+) ... how to reassemble them ... how do they make a living ... plus for the Latin players, do they have to return to their home country?

There is a lot behind the scenes that has to be sorted ... all has some effect on ML games.

Quote from fenn68 on March 13, 2020, 12:47 pm

New report ... all players ML and MiL have been told to go home.

Quote from Ben Davey on March 13, 2020, 10:26 pm

I think MLB and all sports are in a wait and see mode.  Nothing new will be reported until the 23rd or so, when we will hopefully hear about it one way or the other.  My optimistic take is that the players are off until the 30th, they then have a week or two to get back to being ready before the season starts.  There could be an exception earlier on to having more pitchers on the active roster since ST was interrupted.

Quote from fenn68 on March 14, 2020, 6:42 am

Heard a discussion of POTENTIAL issues between MLB and the union ... keeping in mind the negotiation on the new CBA is pending and there have been some tension between the two on the current CBA.

Apparently with a National Emergency declared by the President, the owners now have the freedom to "pro-rate" players' contracts (that would not go well with the union) but you could see the owners argument that the lost revenue from cancelled games should be bourn by everyone not just the owners. If this issue goes long, a lot of games are lost, this becomes more of an issue. Bring on the lawyers.

As I mentioned before, has to be some tension around calculating service time (what constitutes a full year in a shortened season ... think eligible for FA), key opt out dates, has to be a long string of point of disagreement.

Would like to see in this crisis everyone would be on the same page ... not reality when it comes to human behavior.

Padres ownership seems to be of the character to to take as much of the hit as possible (not that sure about some of the owners).

Quote from 3fingersplit on March 14, 2020, 8:59 am

So if a player has this virus and infects others in MLB then what ?

The Owners are in the wrong ?

Bring in the lawyers ?

Owners not paying players or covering health cost ?

This is a National Emergency and people are worried about service time ?

How are Owners responsible for the actions of the Govt............250 people or less ?

Give me a Break.....if the Union tries to play this card they will get blasted from so many directions and the fact of the matter is they don't have a leg to stand on.......period.

The Owners didn't cause this and neither did the players....nothing to see here except maybe idiot comments from the union. Baseball is already on the decline from a fan standpoint and trying to make union points in the time of a National Emergency is a really bad look and it will cost them.

And you wonder why so many hate unions

 

Quote from Ben Davey on March 14, 2020, 9:48 am

Quote from 3fingersplit on March 14, 2020, 8:59 am

So if a player has this virus and infects others in MLB then what ?

The Owners are in the wrong ?

Bring in the lawyers ?

Owners not paying players or covering health cost ?

This is a National Emergency and people are worried about service time ?

Give me a Break

No one is saying anything about not covering health costs, calm down. And if a player has the virus, being a healthy 20 year old probably means virtually no symptoms, even if he passes it to his teammates.  For many of them, the flu that Tatis got, was worse than this (again for a disclaimer for healthy players in their 20s) they are more worried about the managers/owners/families contracting it.

But yes, this is a big problem with service time, $ lost etc...  Many people are stepping up to pay for hourly staff, but if I am Fox Sports Regional (now owned by Sinclair), I paid a lot of $ to air games, if the games dont air, do I get the $ back?  If they try and give the owners less $, they lose out on that AND  if we dont play 162 games, the owners lose out on ticket revenue, merchandise, etc..  If they are still paying the MLB players salaries, we are talking about a financial hit in the 10s of millions or more depending on how long the delay is.  Should the owners be on the hook for this?  I am not saying they shouldnt be but rather looking at the big picture.  Is there a big difference if Manny makes $29 mil verse $30 mil?

The bigger issue is minor league salaries (which, BTW they dont get paid for ST.  They only start to get paid when they are assigned to an affiliate.  The team pays for their flight, food, and a place to sleep during ST, thats it).  Most minor leaguers are being sent home (the team is paying) but then what?  They cant really look for a job because they could be leaving in 2 weeks.  But they still need $.  Even during the season they are typically only paid $1000/month.  This is the salary we should worry about.

When, they decide to come back, whether its in two weeks or two months, do they pick up the regular season from that day?  Is there a modified ST?  What about number of players on active roster?

The final big issue is service time.  If the season started on time, the Padres could call up Gore on May 1st and get that extra year of service time.  Call them up at the end of May, and get the extra year of low pay (avoid super 2).  They'd get pushing it back to later based on when OD is, but what if we play fewer games.  Do they still determine Super 2 status based on # of games played, or on % of games?  % is the rationale one, but do all the numbers adjust?  What about for all the players that have performance bonuses in their contract?  If Yates gets an extra $300k for saving 40+ games, it makes sense.  But what if the season is 140 games?  The top saves in baseball might only be 35.  Should all numbers like these be adjusted?  (This is why MLB really wants to play all 162 because all issues become easier to solve).

I know that we are saying "focus on health" and it is a "worldwide epidemic."  But you are also talking about extremely healthy players in the 20s, aka the people LEAST likely to even show symptoms or get sick from it.  Sports were postponed because they were worried about the fans getting it, and then the players contracting it and giving it to the elderly or immunocompromised.  It makes sense, and most of the world understands why they are doing it, but at the same time players are losing pay, and the idea that "they arnt getting any younger."  applies.