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“War Fare in Baseball”

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It’s getting worse, rather than getting better.

Talking about baseball’s civil war between the Owners and the Union in the midst of the life and death struggle the US-vs-Virus Crisis.

The next 7-days are may be the most critical baseball has faced ever, with the potential canceling of the 2020 season and postseason, if the two sides cannot come to a financial agreement on the salaries for the 82-games baseball wants to play.

A history of distrust is there now, more so than ever before as the Union questions the documents Rob Manfred presented about the money all the owners are losing with half a season…with no fans…or no season at all.

And then baseball make a new financial offer.  Not one involving deferred payments to all players.  Not one that allowed just ‘pro-rated salaries’.  Not one with revenue sharing.

Instead Manfred wants more cuts in salaries for the 82-games to be played on the schedule.  They promised the players a bigger cut of the TV-playoff pie for the expanded wildcard games and World Series.  The old TV deal was worth 777M to baseball.  The new deal with the expanded playoffs will be worth 1B for this fall.

But the formula of pay-cuts will be massive….especially for the star players.

Here in San Diego, Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer, both slated to make 30M this year, would have earned 15M in the new schedule.  Now according to this proposal, they would be forced to take another M-cut, meaning they play for 7M this season.  It’s a 60-percent paychop overall.

Do the math on the other big stars.

The Angels Mike Trout goes from 37M-to-11MM
The Yankees Gerrit Cole was to earn 36M-now-10M
The Phillies Bryce Harper’s 33M deal will be worth 8M likely.

There will be pay-cuts, maybe not as high as 60%, to mid-level players.  The players making the major league minimum, 580,000 will take as little as a 10-percent cut.

It is a huge giveback..in some cases 65%..

Owners are bleeding money, lots of money.  But asking players to take a 60-percent cut, should be matched by every big name executive, from the owner, to the CEO, to the President, to every GM and VP on an organizational chart.  They should take a 60-percent cut too.

What’s right for one, should be right for the other…right?

The health of the game is at stake, and we are in the midst of warfare.

Not just Republicans-vs-Democrats
Not just Medical Science-vs-the Virus

But now Baseball owners-vs-Union over how much to pay..whatever number of games to be played.

This looks like World War 1…Trench warfare-both sides dug in-both sides suffering massive casualties.

This has the catastrophic look of the end of World War II when the bombs were dropped if there is no season at all.

This next week of talks might look like the Paris Peace Talks in the aftermath of Viet Nam..with lots of talks involving people who do not trust the guys on the other side of the table.

It is baseball warfare at the worst moment in our society.

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