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While MLB and the MLB Players Association continue to negotiate a potential deal that could see the sport return this summer, Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday that he’s “disappointed in many ways that players are holding out for these very, very high salaries and payments” amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Pritzker appeared to take particular note of the MLBPA’s issues with the finances associated with the reported plan approved by owners on Monday. MLBPA Tony Clark recently told The Athletic that they are not in favor of a proposed 50-50 split, leading to possible delays in finalizing an agreement.
“I realize the players have the right to haggle over their salaries, but we do live in a moment where the people of Illinois and the people of the United States deserve to get their past time back, to watch anyway on television,” Pritzker said.
“If they’re able to come up with safety precautions, as has been suggested by Major League Baseball that works, I hope that the players will understand that the people of our United States need them to recognize that this is an important part of the leisure time that all of us want to have during the summer to watch them play baseball, to root for our favorite teams…I must say I’m disappointed in many ways that players are holding out for these very, very high salaries and payments during a time when I think everybody is sacrificing.”
* On the one hand, I can see his point…
Wow. Fed Chair Powell just said:
"Almost 40% of those in households making less than $40,000 a year lost a job in March."
This is according to a Fed survey coming out tomorrow. It measures the pain among people who were working in January & February. pic.twitter.com/g762UgbV3j
— Heather Long (@byHeatherLong) May 13, 2020
Whew. And those numbers don’t include April or the first part of May.
First, people don’t “deserve to get their pastime back.” We are not obligated to professional sports during a pandemic. We are not owed athletes, their family/significant others, coaches, trainers, groundskeepers, broadcasters, bus drivers, hotel staff, cooks, et. al. putting their lives at risk because we’re bored, because business owners want to see cash flow, because politicians need a symbolic victory.
Secondly, the players aren’t “holding out.” They agreed to salary reductions in March, as their salaries were pro-rated based on games played. For instance, a player earning $5 million this year for a 162-game season ($30,864 per game) would earn $2.47 million if there were to be an 80-game season this year. The players already sacrificed. The owners want to renegotiate the deal the two sides virtually shook hands upon two months ago in favor of a more owner-friendly deal. It’s the owners who are “holding out.”
Even if the players were holding out (which they’re not), they would have every right to do so, as they are the ones putting their careers and lives on the line for the almighty entertainment dollar. The owners aren’t going to be in close quarters in the clubhouse with three dozen other people, sitting next to players who spit, discard chewed sunflower seed shells, and inadvertently cough and sneeze in their vicinity. The risk is being taken on entirely by the players. It’s easy for owners, for politicians, for fans, and for members of the media to suggest what the players should do when they won’t have to personally deal with the consequences of doing so.
* And…
1. Anything with even the slightest relation to a salary-capped system frightens players, even if this proposal doesn’t involve a salary ceiling or any other cap tenets. The mistrust between the sides has deepened in recent years — just look at their different interpretations of that March agreement, which is barely six weeks old — and the slightest whiff of a cap sends off Pandora’s box signals at the union.
2. Salaries do not grow commensurate with revenue gains. So now, in a year in which the game is struggling, it’s necessary for the players to share in the losses? That’s not how it works.
3. If a second wave of the coronavirus were to strike before or during the postseason and force the cancellation of games, postseason TV money would vanish. Even if the estimated revenues were $5 billion, they would crater with the cancellation of playoff money and leave the players with less than their prorated share.
To really understand what the players think about the revenue-split idea, one needed only hear what MLBPA executive director Tony Clark told The Athletic: “A system that restricts player pay based on revenues is a salary cap, period. This is not the first salary-cap proposal our union has received. It probably won’t be the last. That the league is trying to take advantage of a global health crisis to get what they’ve failed to achieve in the past — and to anonymously negotiate through the media for the last several days — suggests they know exactly how this will be received. None of this is beneficial to the process of finding a way for us to safely get back on the field and resume the 2020 season — which continues to be our sole focus.”
* And…
After Pritzker’s comments were posted Tuesday on Twitter, Eireann Dolan, the wife of Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle and an Illinois resident, tweeted: “This is wild to me. Players haven’t even seen a proposal yet. How can they be holding out on something they literally haven’t seen?”
Shortly after the sport was shut down during spring training in March to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, MLB and the union reached an agreement that players would be paid a prorated salary for a shortened season, based on the number of games played. […]
Players went on strike in 1994 to fight a proposed salary cap, and the work stoppage lasted into the 1995 season. Baseball remains the only major sport without a cap on salaries.
“A system that restricts player pay based on revenues is a salary cap, period,” Clark told The Athletic. “This is not the first salary-cap proposal our union has received. It probably won’t be the last. That the league is trying to take advantage of a global health crisis to get what they’ve failed to achieve in the past — and to anonymously negotiate through the media for the last several days — suggests they know exactly how this will be received.”
Thoughts?
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 11:10 am
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Swing and a miss by the Gov. I’ll forgive him if he didn’t know everything going on within MLB since he’s trying to handle other things right now. Worst thing to do is speak on something he doesn’t know about and that’s what he tried. I just hope he doesn’t create an EO that limits baseball player salaries because not everyone comes from generational wealth.
Comment by Jose Abreu's Next Homer Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 11:12 am
Stay in your lane, Gov…..
Comment by Are Ya Kiddin’ Me? Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 11:14 am
A billionaire arguing over how much money millionaires get to make doesn’t even register as an issue I can pretend to care about right now.
Comment by Just Me 2 Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 11:18 am
Are Ya Kidding …What you said x 2
Comment by NorthsideNoMore Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 11:18 am
My rule of thumb with professional sports;
Never, ever comment on professional sports when multi-millionaires are bickering with billionaires.
Throw in a global pandemic, support workers, media, umpires…
No reason to say anything but…
“Baseball is America’s game. How they all decide to plan to reopen and consider all those effected, then I’ll see if it matches the state’s plan too”
The rest is a dollars discussion that usually makes no sense.
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 11:18 am
My thoughts are that nobody is going to come out of this looking good. But for sure the Governor didn’t need to stick his nose and mouth into it at this point. Could have easily punted the question.
Comment by Responsa Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 11:20 am
The Governor should NOT have weighed into the MLB question yesterday. The plan the owners sent to the union does/days nothing to address the health, welfare and safety of players. The Governor acted like a billionaire in that moment instead of supporting and understanding the concerns of the union and players.
Comment by MakePoliticsCoolAgain Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 11:21 am
“I think everybody is sacrificing…” What sacrifices has the Governor made?
Comment by GADawg Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 11:22 am
given the other big problems, I really don’t care about this fight.
Comment by Amalia Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 11:22 am
Maybe he should have stayed out of the fray, but with so many losing their paychecks, or taking pay cuts he expressed something a lot of us may be thinking.
Comment by illinifan Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 11:23 am
They need to be given the time and space to negotiate in good faith. And the players have a right to demand a fair share and some guarantee of something approaching normal pay.
That said, laments from cushioned millionaires refusing to do their jobs (whether it’s “essential” or not) will ring hollow in a country with 40% unemployment and supermarkets full of workers showing up to do their jobs, fully exposed to the public, for $12 an hour.
Comment by JB13 Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 11:24 am
=== “I think everybody is sacrificing…” What sacrifices has the Governor made?===
Welp, he’s currently in self quarantine due to his staff having an infection… while they all work 12 hour days, 6-7 days a week…
That not good enough… or…
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 11:25 am
Lesson number 859,246 during a pandemic:
Don’t provide sports commentary into the vacuum of the sports reporting, opinion, and talk industry.
Comment by Ok Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 11:31 am
Amalia +1. JB should stay out of the food fight, but I have a hard time caring about the tribulations of millionaires.
Comment by Jibba Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 11:32 am
“putting their lives at risk because we’re bored,”
Are we convinced that this is proved by data? Seems slightly hyperbolic at this point.
Comment by weeds Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 11:39 am
Not content with ruling Illinois by fiat, JB opines on Multi millionaires arguing with billionaires
Haven’t heard JB from the north side call into the Score lately
Comment by Lucky Pierre Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 11:44 am
Sure glad we took care of the pandemic so we could focus on one comment from one politician.
Good grief, we are some kind of entitled.
Lemme guess, the same people criticizing his comment were the ones talking about how pro athletes are overpaid.
Comment by efudd Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 11:48 am
weeds-
Are you asking that putting lives at risk due to exposure to this pandemic is proven by data?
If so, uh, yeah.
Comment by efudd Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 11:50 am
Ok +1
Sports writers have had little or nothing to write about for 7 weeks.
Now they do.
But it’s a one day story and a benefit of the Governor’s daily briefings is he can clarify and clean up missteps. And that’s all this was.
Comment by Scott Cross for President Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 11:53 am
In the Millionaires v. Billionaires battle, I’m with the Millionaires
Comment by SAP Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 12:03 pm
When I first read “the people…deserve to get their past time back”, I thought it was a misstep on Governor Pritzker’s part.
You’re in a no-win situation by saying anything more than “I’d like to see the sides work something out.” Better to defer.
Comment by thunderspirit Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 12:05 pm
Def an unforced error. I’m expecting/hoping for a question about this at today’s briefing. I’m grateful for Dolan & Dolittle’s take on the situation, many things I hadn’t considered. They are both good follows on the Twitters.
Comment by LoyalVirus Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 12:06 pm
==Sure glad we took care of the pandemic so we could focus on one comment from one politician.==
Like when Rauner emerged from hibernation?
https://capitolfax.com/2020/05/12/the-return-of-radical-candor/#comments
Comment by City Zen Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 12:15 pm
This is the populist track from the governor, and more people are going to hear his remarks, not the remarks of individual players. However, his remarks were wrong. In a just world, all of the franchise holders (also known as “owners”) who led the collusion theft from the players in the 1980s would’ve been pushed out of the sport. Instead, we’ve spent decades fawning over them, including one of the ringleaders who proceeded to get a taxpayer handout stadium on the South Side.
Comment by Precinct Captain Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 12:22 pm
He sounds like a Cubs fan to me…
Comment by The Magnificent Purple Walnut Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 12:33 pm
Amalia +2. Professional sports already trades in greed and exploitation, and I cannot muster any interest in this “need” for the return of professional baseball.
Comment by Morningstar Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 12:34 pm
Nice class solidarity from our gov.
Comment by Evanstonian Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 12:47 pm
== Welp, he’s currently in self quarantine due to his staff having an infection… while they all work 12 hour days, 6-7 days a week ==
Agreed! Which is why I’m giving him a mulligan (to mix sports metaphors) on this one. I’ve heard worse on sports talk radio. It’s not like he was talking about policy or something else important. He was spouting off like a fan. No harm, no foul.
Comment by SouthSide Markie Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 1:14 pm
I agree with the Governor’s main point: that Americans who love watching baseball are ready for the shortened season to resume soon. No doubt about that. On sacrifice, the Governor’s staff has done yeomen’s work trying to lead the state during this crazy time. I salute them. But there is a move he could make that would score huge points with the public: furlough non essential state employees in the upper management level to send a message about belt tightening that everyone in the private sector is doing. With fewer dollars coming into state government due to the economic downturn, there should be a common-sense furlough among upper level management due to dollars shrinking in the private sectors. This is meant for all state agencies, boards of higher education, etc.
Comment by west wing Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 1:19 pm
Focus JB. You are teetering on the verge of a very significant portion of Illinois and Illinoisans simply ignoring your edicts related to COVIDIOTS-19.
You have bigger fish to fry than MLB. And for goodness sakes don’t become locker room fodder in a dispute that isn’t your fight.
Comment by Say What? Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 1:29 pm
Not surprisingly, Governor Rauner, er I mean Pritzker, has decided to take up the cause of billionaires like him. The MLBPA and owners reached an agreement in good faith on salary changes due to the pandemic. I must say I’m disappointed in many ways that owners are holding out for these very, very high profits during a time when I think everybody is sacrificing. They should honor their March agreement.
Comment by Mark F Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 1:47 pm
==Instead, we’ve spent decades fawning over them, including one of the ringleaders who proceeded to get a taxpayer handout stadium on the South Side.==
The work of the “ringleaders” did lead to a classic GA (and Chicago radio moment) when the House was trying to find necessary votes for new Sox stadium funding on June 30, 1988. Almost chilling hearing this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcGr64mNkOM
Comment by Chatham Resident Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 2:03 pm
See JB, it’s not so hard to stand up to these unions, is it?
Comment by Mayne Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 2:37 pm
NASCAR is back on Sunday. Drivers aren’t complaining about their salaries. One of the first major sports back. Watch it and learn to love the most beautiful sport, the true American pastime
Comment by CJ Wednesday, May 13, 20 @ 2:54 pm