Although in recent hours the rapprochement has deepened, at this point progress is scarce and a definitive agreement has not been reached between the owners of the teams and the baseball players’ union, activity in the Major Leagues continues to be paralyzed. All the owners have enormous fortunes and the dome of the star players also have multi-year contracts of considerable money. There are many aspects that separate both sides and what has been discussed and approved so far are cosmetic issues and not substantive ones.
The issues that are publicly known are that the players’ union wants a minimum salary of $895,000 and the other party offers
$680,000. The players ask to shorten the waiting time to qualify for the figure of free agent to two years, eliminate the luxury tax that teams must pay when they exceed the value of their contract payroll, and distribute the profits.
As the total agreement has not yet arrived, it was decided to delay the opening of the training camps and the first week of preseason games was canceled. The previous February 28 was set as the deadline to reach an agreement and the start of the preparation was moved to next March 5 (these two deadlines have already expired).
It will dawn and we will see if harmony arrives. Before the players played because they loved baseball, but now because they want much more millions of dollars. In earlier times, baseball players were desperate to start practices, but now many are very entertained with their millions. If they were judicious, they could well begin to exercise without stopping negotiating, after all, other people are the ones who manage the debates and discussions.
At the last minute a figure appeared that I don’t think can change the landscape. A group of fans placed a full-page ad in a Milwaukee newspaper asking Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert Manfred to include them in job talks. The ad reads: “Fans don’t need one-way statements about canceling the sport we love. If they’re going to bargain collectively on how best to allocate our money, what we really want is to be heard and respected. We want a seat at the table.”
It adds: “Without us, decisions will be made thinking only of billionaire owners and billionaire baseball players; not on the fans whose support makes the whole enterprise possible. With us, MLB has an opportunity to change the conversation and turn this labor dispute into a historic call from the group that is most often ignored. It’s time for us to be part of the conversation about how our money should be spent and how we’re treated in our favorite hobby.”
This group of followers is very right because at the end of the story they are the ones who pay all the money with the purchase of the ticket to go to the stadium, those who spend in the parking lot, consume in the food places of each stage, for the souvenirs that they buy in the official stores of the teams, for the money they pay to hire the signal to watch the games on television and online. But the clubs are not willing to share the power of their decisions because this is a private business. They are the ones who invest and risk their assets in infrastructure, stadiums, salaries and other items.
Today many players receive very good fees, stay in five-star hotels when they play on the road, and have extra income from advertising. But they want more. So much so that Dominican outfielder and slugger Juan Soto turned down a $350 million contract extension with the Nationals. They endanger baseball, which has lost space in the United States as the first sporting event. They better trade fast because if they don’t, games will be canceled and everyone will lose thousands of dollars for every day the start of the season is delayed. (OR)
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
