“Baseball–On A Path to Destruction”

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They all have it, a form of partnership in sports, all except Baseball.

The NFL fought thru years of labor dispute and a couple of work stoppages, but has labor peace brought on by the shared mega profits, called the ‘Salary Cap’.  Everyone is making money and the pie grows.

The NBA created their unique partnership by shared revenue formulas and the creation of a Soft Salary Cap, that allows freedom of movement, max contracts, super max contracts, and huge contracts for everyone.  It has worked, it saved the league after the NBA-ABA merger…and their players make the most money of anyone in sports

The NHL cancelled an entire season and the Stanley Cup playoffs but in the end, came up with its own form of Salary Cap and Escrow accounts that has taken the league from small time to big time, including making it a global sport with US and Canadian TV contracts.

Not baseball though, where the Union has decided to have a turf war over every little thing in baseball.  They want to be compensated for this-that and the other.  The mistrust, that used to be part of the NFL-NBA-NHL, is gone as they have become partners.  Not so in baseball, it still exists today, maybe more so than ever .  The collateral damage could wind up being everywhere, like toxic fallout.

Sadly this war coincides with the Covid War and the Civil unrest and the destruction on Wall Street.  The average citizen may wake up and say my problems are worse than yours, and I no longer care about baseball and its 4M a year players and filthy rich owners.

The Union has rejected all four offers from the owners to get back on the field, arguing over pennies, when in reality the longterm almighty dollar of the sport is being threatened by the shutdown.  Talks have been replaced by nasty letters headed by the words bad-faith bargaining.

Tiough to say who violated the initial agreemet in early March.  The Unon says Manfred didn’t make the ‘best effort’ to play as many games as possible.  The owners lawyer responded it wasn’t fair to owners and the employees of teams to lose even greater amounts of money by playing more games.  Then the union responded by saying the owners were using the ‘pandemic to limit the amount of play’.  Ugly-ugly.

The tweets and responses are everywhere.  Players say ‘full work-full pay’.  Baseball sources use words like ‘ablaze with ill-will’.

Manfred proposed 72-76-82 games and now is looking at maybe a 50-game package.  Clark wanted 89-games and then 114.  And his last response, ‘tell us when we play-where we play’.

The proposals at times have been bizarre too.  Dissolving the American and National League; playing just at spring trainiing sights in the Catcus League and Grapefruit Circuit; playing in 3-divisions and 3-cities.  For everyday there is a new idea.  But for each new idea, it’s as if there are then 3-questions.

Distrust has been part of the baseball lexicon like balls-strikes-home runs.  Stretching as far back as Jim Crow Laws, to the court led imposition of free agency, the game has dissolved into an ugly Civil War.

The owners wanted it done one way, the union wanted everything to be bargaining chips, whether it was steroid testing to today’s ridiculous raging argument over pro-rated pay.

The season is teetering on collapse.  Of bigger concern should be what happens in the bigger picture.  A compressed free agent market a year from now because of the economic pandemic we have and crushed revenues..  The renewed outbreak of the virus further if we don’t get to a vaccine.  and the intangible damage done to the game, the fans psyche and the credibility of both sides.

It’s like Tony Clark and the Union want to ‘win the moment’, this scrap over the number of games played and what we get paid.  They risk losing the big game, the longterm health of the sport.

Rob Manfred will invoke his power and put in play a 50 or 60- game season so they can get to postseason.  Players will have to decide if they are going to forfeit the rest of their pay this year and just not play, and give up a year service time to free agency.

Where is baseball today.  The rich teams get richer.  The rich players get richer.  More than two thirds of the players make 1-M less, and they get hurt worse by this war than the Bryce Harper-Manny Machado-Clayton Kershaw and Mike Trout’s of the world.  And baseball’s recognition factor gets further damaged.

I grew up in the Yankees-Dodgers-Giants era, Jackie Robinson, Boys of Summer etc.  I followed thru decades of greatness.  McGwire-Sosa-Bonds home run derby.  Great teams, personalities, stadiums.  Great profits and paydays.

But the work stoppages have soured people.  The fight between millionaires and billionaires has become numbing.  No one wants to hear about your wants and needs during this time of 120,000 deaths, 43M unemployment and the worst divisiveness seen in our society’s modern times.

Where do we go from here?

The scariest part, and they better both pay attention to this. because I don’t think the MLB owners nor the Union are viewing it thru the proper lens any longer.

Baseball’s falls in relevance on the American sporting landscape.

We know how the NFL and College Football are now the marquee sporting events, in terms of crowd draw, TV ratings, and revenue streams.

We know the enormous gains made by the NBA coming back from the dead.

Hockey survived, saved itself, and made itself an important global game.

MLB and the Union better be aware of what might happen.

If they don’t forge a true partnership, develop some real form of revenue sharing on all baseball fronts, in essence a true formula for Growth Plans, they might not survive. The arrow might be pointed down.

America’s past-time, as we called it during the Yankees dynasty,  might become America’s passed-time, because of the greed that exists at this hour on both sides in this trench war-fare.

Baseball’s on a path to destruction.  People better see the big picture going forward.  It should not be about today’s dollar grab but about tomorrow’s growth potential.

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“NASCAR–About Time”

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They grew up in the sport.  It is part of their culture.  It has always been part of their life.  It represents where they lived, grew up, and live now.

And now it is going to change now whether they like it or not.

They were part of the good ole boy culture.  The way it was always done forever.  They rooted for the Flock Brothers, the Petty Family, the Alabama Gang.

Moonshiners became race card drivers.  Out running the cops was just like out running the rest of the pack in a Saturday night trophy dash.

What was, won’t be the same starting next week.

NASCAR is removing all things linked to the Confederate Flag, removing something that has part of Southern auto racing since the 1950s, when the Daytona Beach race moved to the massive complex known as Daytona International Speedway.

It’s hard to believe, that in 2020, some are still living and using symbols that was part of life in 1950.

It stunned me a year ago this spring, while driving across West Virginia and into coal mine country of Southern Virginia, to see it everywhere.

It, Confederate Flags, flying off buildings, in town’s squares, in front yards, and cars driven on highways and trucks on back roads.

Bubba Wallace is the lone African-American driver on the NASCAR circuit.  He drove an all ‘Black Lives Matter’ sponsored car in the Atlanta 500 on Wednesday night.  It was a statement that suddenly many others in NASCAR wrapped their arms around.

Black drivers have been few and far between.  Curtis Turner was the first to drive across the color barrier, but that was in the 1950s and 60s.  Aside from former Indy car driver Willy Tee-Ribbs, there have been none on the starting grid.  They single-handedly fought to be on the track and compete.

They are now revolting in the hot bed of NASCAR support in the Carolina’s, Virginia, Florida and probably elsewhere in the Mid-South.

But what happened quickly in NASCAR, is no different than what is happening nationwide about history and the south.

Monument Avenue in downtown Richmond was picturesque, a salute to history.  But now the monuments given to honor Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and others linked to the Confederacy and Civil War, things honoring them, are coming down.

It is a great debate whether we are honoring the history of the 1800s in the South, or honoring the men who served the Confederacy in the Civil War, fighting to retain slavery..

It is an argument, it may have signified an evil time in our country’s history, but it is also a sign of how far our country has supposedly come, so therefore we should not forget it, or act like it never happened.

And so too the arguments about removing the names of people on our great military training facilities, Fort Benning…Bragg…Hood.  Those military bases have served our country since before World War i.

The greatest founders of our time, Lincoln and Jefferson owned slaves.  Are we to eradicate monuments to them too, because of what was happening in 1776 or 1824?

Or should we retain those monuments as a reminder of patriotic legacy and how times should not be forgotten, but time should change us.

I don’t like what the Confederate Flag stood for.  I believe however that stripping an Episcopal church of its honorable name for Robert E. Lee steps over the line.  He may have been a General in the war, but he was an educator, a minister, a leader, a politician.  There seemed to be alot more good to him, beyond the fact he fought on the wrong side.

Our weeks of protest will continue, and now some will happen at NASCAR tracks, where longtime fans will demand to be able to express their opinions, with their campers and flags, be they Red-White-Blue or the ones that remember the Confederacy.

Yesterday is gone.  Fireball Roberts, Jim Weatherly, Richard Petty and Bobby Allison are gone too.  New superstars are front of center Now NASCAR wants to rid the sport of its historical decor that takes us back to an era of White Supremacy..

A fight is surely coming in auto racing, not over the green flag or checkered flag, but what the Bars-and-Stars represents.

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“USC–Remembering Greatness”

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It was a spectacular three year run they had together, the USC Trojans-Pete Carroll era.

Triggered by QB-Matt Leinart, with the explosive Reggie Bush and the power running of Lendale White and the pass catching of Steve Smith, that 3-year span in the early 2000’s, was remarkable.

It brought Trojans football back to the era of John McKay and John Robinson.

And then it was over.

The Reggie Bush led National Title season, the Heisman Trophy award, and a (37-2) record was gone.

Stained, blemished, tarnished, shamed.

When the NCAA probe of USC football was done, it led to 4-years probation…the loss of 30-scholarships…stripped of the national title win over Oklahoma, and a decade long decline in something that had been so spectacular.

It cost the AD his job.  The President left the university.  Coaches were caught up and lost their jobs..

The Trojans running back was found to have received 300,000 over a 3-year span, money funneled to his family by a marketing firm, led by a financial advisor and a former imprisoned friend of his Bush’s father.

Reggie Bush ran free, right to the NFL, as a first round draft pick

He left behind a brilliant USC career, (4,470) all purpose yards and 38-TDs in that offense.

He spent 11-years in the NFL, 5-great seasons with the Saints, a couple with Detroit, and single seasons in Miami-Buffalo-San Francisco where injuries overtook his career.

The NFL ledger shows over (9,000) all purpose yards and 54-TDs.

Bush was the modern day equivalent of Tony Dorsett.  Maybe a vision of talent equal to Gale Sayers.

But in his wake of his career, was the destruction wrought on his Alma Mater.  That and the nasty 10-year ban handed down by the NCAA to disassociate himself from his university.  The Heisman was turned back into the Maxwell Club in New York.  Wins in the record book became losses with *asterisks.

Superstar became Persona-non-Grata.

Now the ban is over.  He is free to return to the University where people will forever remember the accomplishments.

Bush never cooperated in the NCAA investigation.  Never defended the coaches who tutored him.  Never admitted the wrong doing.  Never apologized.

I don’t know how card-carrying members of the Trojan Club can look back and feel good about Reggie Bush, the person.  The player-maybe, but the person no.

The son of Troy has come back to Heritage Hall and the McKay Center.

If Reggie Bush really wants to be welcomed back, he should apologize in full for what he did.

If Reggie Bush really wants to be honored, he should write a check for the 300,000-dollars illegal benefits he took, and give it to the University, for all the pain and harm he caused.

I don’t know if I were wearing Cardinal & Gold, I could ever look at the guy wearing #5 again in the same way.  What he did on the field at the LA Coliseum was magnificent.  What he allowed to happen to the University is shameful.

A glittery-star struck career seems forever tarnished and stained.

Until he says ‘truly sorry’ and pays his university back, I can’t recognize him for anything beyond being a Trojan record-setting cheat.

Classy player should try now to be a classy person.

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“Padres Lifeline–Baseball Draft”

 

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Baseball’s Amateur draft begins in hours.  It is the lifeline of the 30-major league teams.  The ones who do it well, like the Yankees and Dodgers, are the perennial pennant contendors.  The ones who have failed, the Pirates-Royals-Reds seem to be cellar dwellars for ages.

For the Padres, different leadership has put the franchise into a postion to be a playoff team for the first time in a decade.

History writes of the Padres epic failures in the MLB draft.  For every Tony Gwynn, there was a Mike Ivie.  Dave Winfield also brought Robbie Beckett.  For Andy Hawkins there was a Mark Phillips.  There was Derrek Lee but there was also a Jeff Pyburn.

The nitemare reached epic proportions when from 1994-to-2012, only one first round draft pick became a star contributor in San Diego, the brief success SS-Khalil Green had.  Think about that, 1-star player in a span of 20-years, just Green up till the pick of Hunter Renfroe in 2013..

Since 2000, the Padres had 37-first round picks in the regular draft and the then secondary draft, and had 1-All Star, in Green.  The team went thru a myriad of GMs, from the popular Kevin Towers to Randy Smith to a variety of others, here-today, gone tomorrow.  Ownership changes also played into the equation.

The only other notable first rounders that came to San Diego, had marginal success:

2002..Khalil Green..All Star dealt to Cardinals-left baseball
2003..Tim Stouffer..Solid mid-starter but plagued by arm issues
2007..Corey Leubke..Promising future-snuffed out 3-elbow surgeries
2008..Logan Forsythe..Journeyman player traded early
2011..Corey Spangenberg..Utilityman dealt away
2012..Travis Jankowksi..Utilityman left as free agent

The utter failures included the likes of OF-Donavan Tate, who took (4.6M) in the Jeff Moorad era, got hurt, got involved with drugs, and never got above A-Ball.  Add in the disgrace that Matt Bush became.  The drafting of oft-injured Allen Dykstra, all high first round pick-failures.

Since the arrival of AJ Preller, drafting high because of bad seasons, the Padres have had success, but no impact players yet.  Preller’s scorecard with #1’s.

2019..SS-CJ Abrams, just a year into his career as a pro.
2018..P-Ryan Weathers, in the pipeline
2017..P-MacKenzie Gore, on the brink of an MLB debut
2016..P-Cal Quantrill, college star, now established starter
..P-Eric Lauer, arrived-had two good years, then traded
..2B-Hudson Potts, injuries slowed him down
2015..No first round draft pick.

The only established star has been SS-Treu Turner, dealt away early to the Washington Nationals in the 3-way deal with Tampa Bay that netted OF-Wil Myers.  He was not a Preller pick, but became a Preller trade chip.

The Preller staff has also uncovered potential gems, including SS-Owen Miller, SS-Xavier Edwards, C-Luis Campusano, P-Joey Lucchesi, P-Reggie Lawson.
Lucchesi is here.  None of the others have gotten here yet.  But as the phrase says…Prospects but suspect till they prove it.

But the truth is there is no true superstar yet to come out of a farm system that has had alot of high draft picks in recent years.

For all the money the Padres have spent, hardly any of that talent have arrived yet, including the vast sweep of signings from Cuba and the Caribbean.  Waiting and hoping for a return on the massive investment.

Wednesday’s draft promises two high picks.  Preller’s track record is incomplete.  In his 5-years at Petco Park, his franchise is (349-461)..that’s some  112-games under 500.  That’s stapled to his resume.

The Padres GM is ready for two more high draft picks heading into the Wednesday night draft.  He had lots to say about the franchise.

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Comments from Padres GM-AJ Preller…Mark Conner-Director of Scouting

..Much different Draft year…must know what we can do with 5-round draft…Alot of players don’t crack the top 150 board…so we cannot draft them…will connect post draft….Some signings will be about chance and opportunity….This is a different process.  ….Don’t know how many we will sign…Those undrafted need to bring value.

..Scouting players for unique draft…look at totality of players….college players perform immediately vs developmental aspect long term….have to choose the best one

..Teams have the 67-page document on keeping players healthy….We have protocols in place but we don’t know what minor league season looks like…We will steer our players to health….We will have a test run with the big league season first then develop plan on what happens in the minors.

..Usually take best player available…if two guys on board at number 8-are the same-we look at organizational needs.  We could take 6-pitchers or take 6-position players.

..AJ constant traveller-for all our staff-totally different way of doing things…our cross-checkers are definitely road warriors…on road 95% of time…we have gotten used to Zoom calls… way of doing things….Definitely a different structure….Miss seeing players…smell of grass.

..Virtual draft…we are ready if problems crop up….we have done alot of zoom calls with different types of communications….Talked to some GMs in NFL-Dave Gettleman-NY Giants… about how zoom draft worked out….NFL had 3-different zoom channels going on at same time….we have different lines of communictions….AJ will be based at Petco Park

..System wise we have alot of depth in system…we need more lefthanded bats…but overall it is balanced system player wise and by position…We don’t have an area of need.

..There will be minor league baseball this season…we don’t know what the situation will be…all that to be deetermined…we have to see how many players comes to a second spring training…or an expanded Fall League…we don’t have the rules…..Really don’t know specifics…we all understand how important develpment is…Alot of smart people are working on this…

..Everyone loves the game-wants to see the game back…Alot of people in Commissioner’s office are working to get the game back on the field….Clubs are playing the waiting game for information…We will be prepared for second half baseball…not focused on the odds of playing the games again.

..We have 10M bonus pool and Ron Fowler expects us to spend it…to sign all 6-draft picks.

..Not having access to young players is hard…losing a spring season hurts some prospects..We know talent up top of draft…We don’t have subset of actual games this spring to go back and look at…We have done Zoom calls with prospects…Look different ways to know-learn about players…Feels better now about makeup of players.

And so they begin the draft process.  Wednesday is another step forward to solidifying a Padres future of wins.  They haven’t done very much of that the last 10-years, which is why these Preller drafts are so critical.

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‘Baseball-Keeping Score at Home’

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The days on the calendar continue to be ripped away, and the clock is ticking, counting down the days running off to get some form of a baseball season and the playoffs in.

The Owners and Union are at odds over what players should be paid to play in a truncated season.

Between them, they have now exchanged four different proposals, and all talks are stalled about money.

The base argument, the owners and union agreed players would take a pro-rated share of their contracts for an 82-game season, as first proposed.  The owners left open, that if there were further issues about the ability to stage a season, talks would have to be reopened.

That issue was no fans in the stands, costing owners some 40% of their operating revenue this season, on top of the loss of at least half their TV revenues.

The union said “no”, they would not give back more money beyond the pro-rated share they initially agreed too.

At stake is not only players pay, but a 1B-expanded TV contract for playoffs, which have been expanded.  If the union won’t sign off on expanded playoffs, it likely kills the upgraded TV deal the owners want to share with the players.

That was followed by a 48-game owners proposal, which the union rejected, saying it would mean players would take another paycut playing a lesser schedule.

On Monday morning owners made another proposal to the players, as the clock ticks away.

Here’s what the owners proposed.  You be the judge”

..76-game schedule and expanded playoffs.
..Players get 75% of pro rated salary because of no fans in stands
..Players get expanded share of playoff TV contract-since no fans
..Expand playoffs by 2-more teams..meaning (16) teams get in.
..If postseason cancelled by outbreak-players give back 25%-salary
..Free Agency without draft pick compensation for one year
..No draft pick compensation for players offered Qualifying deals.
..Players sign ‘Risk waiver’ against Virus upon return to play
..Players keep 286,000-per man given as Advance in March
..Players get 1-full year towards free agency-arbitration
..Players stay on full medical health benefits
..Suspend Luxury Tax for 2020 season.

The only ‘no’ item to me is the ‘giveback’ clause if the playoffs are cancelled.  How can you expect players to give back 25% of the 75% earned, for games they already would have played.

Aside from that clause, the players should accept the deal.  This is only for 3-months, and you return to the full packages in the CBA agreement for the 2021-season.  They have been given advance money; they will get a chunk of salary for the 78-games played.  They get a full year towards free agency and arbitration which is huge.  Free agency will definitely have a different look next season, but there will be no draft pick compensation that has hindered movement in the past.

The teams are bleeding money, and the players need to take a chunk share of losses too.  No one is trying to screw the players.  They are just trying to have everyone assume some share of the losses.

Nobody is winning this deal.  Baseball stands to suffer significant financial losses, emotional distress, and a credibility hit,  if they don’t play, while the NFL-NBA-NHL-NASCAR-Indy Car-Formula 1-PGA-LPGA and NCAA relaunch.

Your response invited.  Waiting for the Union’s response too.

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