Mik 0 Report post Posted October 23, 2006 DETROIT -- Major League Baseball had hoped the new Basic Agreement could be finished Friday and announced before the World Series began. Hence Rob Manfred and the Players Association worked all Friday to try to get it done. While they haven't finished, they will likely finish before the end of this series. There is little that is earth-shattering about the deal except that it is being accomplished so discreetly, without threats or cries of poverty, press conferences or games missed. That's because the baseball business is awash in cash. Twelve years ago, when a strike cancelled the World Series, baseball was a $1.3 billion business, give or take a few million. I was told that this season baseball did $4.7 billion in revenue, but was then corrected Saturday night by one MLB official, who said, "We're going over $5 billion." Bud Selig made baseball a business, and as he watches a series that assures a seventh champion in seven years -- something the NFL, NBA and NHL have never done -- he can rest assured that the business he will eventually turn over to Andy MacPhail will be judged by its financial record, not steroids tests. A team like the Royals can get $30 million from revenue-sharing, $30 million from the national television contact, millions more from the Internet, etc., and then sell tickets and make local radio and TV deals. It's a wonderful life. The new agreement will likely end draft choice compensation for losing free agents, move up the contract tender date from around Dec. 20 to early December, and other small alterations. No pay-for-performance. No salary cap. Just labor peace and a lot of money. -Peter Gammons I mean - you can argue all day about the wild card, his screw up with the tie in the all-star game and whatnot, but complete labor peace and a near 500% increase in the economy of the game? That's pretty impressive to me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0 Report post Posted October 23, 2006 A team like the Royals can get $30 million from revenue-sharing, $30 million from the national television contact, millions more from the Internet, etc., and then sell tickets and make local radio and TV deals. It's a wonderful life. Has someone informed anyone kn the Royals' organization about this fact? I can't believe there isn't going to be a strike or lockout. Donald Fehr must be losing his touch. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest NYankees Report post Posted October 23, 2006 A team like the Royals can get $30 million from revenue-sharing, $30 million from the national television contact, millions more from the Internet, etc., and then sell tickets and make local radio and TV deals. It's a wonderful life. Has someone informed anyone kn the Royals' organization about this fact? I can't believe there isn't going to be a strike or lockout. Donald Fehr must be losing his touch. Yeah it's nice to see that the Royals are going to get over 80 million in revenue and have a payroll of 40 million. It really is nice to see David Glass pocket all of the money that they get in baseball welfare. Maybe they will go out and sign some young talent this year like Moises Alou, David Wells etc. That is what they seem to do every year in tearms of wasting their free agent money on over the hill veterans. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slayer 0 Report post Posted October 23, 2006 Don't forget their place as MLB's favorite farm team Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vern Gagne 0 Report post Posted October 23, 2006 I don't hate Bud Selig. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
teke184 0 Report post Posted October 23, 2006 I hate Bud,. The main reason he's able to pull this off is that he's a defacto owner still, which makes it hard for the union to try a hard-line with the owners. It would be like the NFL Player's Union having to negotiate with the owners having Tom Benson as Commissioner. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Felonies! Report post Posted October 23, 2006 Bud Selig sold the Brewers, teke. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
teke184 0 Report post Posted October 23, 2006 Bud Selig sold the Brewers, teke. To his DAUGHTER, Felonies, which is why I said "defacto owner" instead of "owner". It's not like he sold it to someone who has no connections to him, like the Sonics owners who sold out to the Oklahoma City investors. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Paul Report post Posted October 23, 2006 It's the BREWERS. Who cares... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
teke184 0 Report post Posted October 23, 2006 It's the BREWERS. Who cares... The only reason it matters is because he's the commissioner. If he was, say, the owner of the Devil Rays, no one would give a shit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Felonies! Report post Posted October 23, 2006 Bud Selig sold the Brewers, teke. To his DAUGHTER, Felonies, which is why I said "defacto owner" instead of "owner". It's not like he sold it to someone who has no connections to him, like the Sonics owners who sold out to the Oklahoma City investors. Noooooooo, he sold it to a guy named Frank Attanasio or something. Trust me here. He's out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted October 23, 2006 I mean - you can argue all day about the wild card... No you can't. It was a good idea. Of course, I'm one of those anti-interleague assholes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mik 0 Report post Posted October 24, 2006 Oh - I totally agree with you. But there ARE people who still think it's terrible. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted October 24, 2006 I don't like the wild card because it cuts into the divisional races, and as one thread revealed, it really hasn't given us a truly classic first round playoff matchup. Instead of watching the Yankees win the East by one game and a winner take all playoff between San Diego and Los Angeles, we got two sweeps and two mostly uncompetitive series. I don't hate Bud as long as I keep things in perspective. He's the owners' represenative, and nothing else. I am truly happy that there will be no extracted labor negotiation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Open the Muggy Gate 0 Report post Posted October 24, 2006 If there wasn't a Wild Card, Mik would be going "FUCK THE BRAVES" ever year for 10 years. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Princess Leena Report post Posted October 24, 2006 I'd be fine with the WC if they were given a somewhat harder road in the playoffs. Because HFA (and even more so in hockey) means virutally nothing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Man in Blak 0 Report post Posted October 24, 2006 I think the Wild Card is a decent improvement, but it could be dramatically improved if they found a way to integrate a balanced schedule for all teams, which would give the WC a little more merit. As for the financial numbers, I trust nothing that comes from MLB. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Felonies! Report post Posted October 25, 2006 I'd be fine with the WC if they were given a somewhat harder road in the playoffs. Because HFA (and even more so in hockey) means virutally nothing. Well geez, what more do you want them to do? Clear an obstacle course before they can get swept by the Cardinals? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Princess Leena Report post Posted October 25, 2006 Preferrably, force WC (and the lowest division winner) to win an extra round of playoffs. And the WC teams have done very well before this year, winning the WS multiple times. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Felonies! Report post Posted October 25, 2006 Preferrably, force WC (and the lowest division winner) to win an extra round of playoffs. And the WC teams have done very well before this year, winning the WS multiple times. So? More often than not, wild card teams have better records than one or two other division leaders in the league. Why make it harder for them than it needs to be? Otherwise you're just putting them there as cannon fodder. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bored 0 Report post Posted October 25, 2006 Since it wasn't mentioned yet, compensation picks were not eliminated. They just eliminated Type C free agent compensation so no more draft picks for middle relievers and platoon outfielders. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mik 0 Report post Posted October 25, 2006 I saw that earlier. They also made the A and Bs a little harder to get. I'm glad that they didn't eliminate completely. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
