2021 MLB Regular Season thread

No. There are legitimate things the players will ask for that they should receive and that the owners won't give up anything close to easily. Because they suck.

 

Such as?

 

This is just a partial list of issues that will be fought about before a new CBA gets hammered out.

Service time manipulation

Free agency sooner

Stupid pandemic rules rolled back (or kept): runner on second in extras, seven-inning doubleheaders

Three-batter minimum

DH in the National League

 

The first two are legit issues, but still should be easily resolvable for two parties making more money than God. Which, of course, won't happen, because the negotiations pit stupid billionaires against the most entitled athletes in the country.

The other three are like the teacher's union asking for five more minutes of break time or one more non-contract day. Seriously, those are hills you're gonna die on and risk losing ANY salary via a strike?

 

How did we go to wanting universal DH from banning the DH? Or was that never a real choice? Do fans of NL teams want the DH, not that it’s determinative?

7 inning Doubleheaders don’t bother me as much as runner on second, 3 batter minimum, banning the shift.
Add a 26th roster spot in lieu of the DH.

 

I'm not saying any of these are my issues, just issues I've seen discussed on this board and in newspapers I read. I think the real impasse is going to be on the first two, with the others — to a point — just window dressing.

If I had to bet, I'd put money on no baseball next spring.

 

The NL approved the DH in the 1930s. The AL shot it down so it wasn't universally adopted. So all this talk from the NL about "tradition" is so much malarkey.

If there is no baseball next spring, the owners and players are dumber than Trump. With the stadiums back open at full capacity by then, they'd be set up for a huge year, attendance-wise. They'd have to be beyond stupid to have any kind of work stoppage.

Which is why you are probably right. The owners and players are both beyond stupid.

 

Everyone in baseball wants the DH in the National League.

Issue is, how will the players be compensated for it?

Owners wanted to expand the playoffs. In return, they offered to make the DH universal.

Players laughed. They want a piece of the revenue pie expanded playoffs generate. Trading the DH for expanded playoffs makes no economic sense for the players. Playoff revenue is worth way more than that.

 

How will they be compensated for it? I suspect the DH will get paid, like DHs get paid in the American League.

 

I think the theory is that the players benefit from the DH because it allows more hitters to get more at-bats and some guys can play a bit longer. There are guys like Yordan Alvarez who might not have much of a career at all if not for the DH. Based on that logic, the owners think they deserve some form of compensation from the players for allowing the universal DH.

 

Should a shortstop with an OPS of .675 start?

I want to build to something here.

 

Compensated for expanded playoffs? They get a significant percentage of the money generated.