Fixing the Rules

MLB and the MLBPA reached agreement on a tweaking rules for this year and for 2020.

Perhaps the most important part of the deal isn’t the elimination of August trades, the tweaking of All-Star Game starter selections, the incentives for stars to participate in the derby, the elimination of one-out relievers or the addition of a 26th player next year. It’s the provision that the sides will begin discussing labor issues imminently, far earlier than they typically would with a CBA that doesn’t expire until December 2021.

Those discussions, sources told ESPN, will center on the game’s most fundamental economic tenets — not only free agency but other macro issues with deep consequences. The bargaining over distribution of revenue could be the most difficult gap to bridge, with teams clearly paring back spending on aging players while players chafe at the notion that those 30 and older are no longer worthy of the deals they received in the past. While a compromise could be reached in distributing more money to the younger players whom the current system underpays, the complications of doing so warrant a long runway for discussions.

Other subjects to be broached include the manipulation of service time that keeps the best prospects in the minor leagues to begin a season, the luxury-tax threshold that some believe discourages spending, and the gathering of biometric data that has become commonplace among major league teams.

ESPN.com

In general, I disagree with people who think a work stoppage in on the way. First, there is just too much money on the table for either side to walk away. Second, both sides have been willing to make deals during the last few CBA rounds. There are any number of ways money can get shifted to younger players, so they don’t feel shafted when they don’t get paid when they reach free agency in their 30s. I suspect MLB might be willing to trade a much higher minimum salary and a shorter time to free agency for an elimination of salary arbitration. Maybe after their first season, basing salary on a combination of service time and an agreed measure of WAR.

The part I like about the new agreement is payment for the home run derby. I have been in favor of a large prize pot for the members of the winning team in the All-Star game, so prize money for the HR Derby is a good start.

from baseballmusings.com https://ift.tt/2T9v5AM