Not necessarily bad just yet - saved a boatload of money by bringing Ozuna in rather than Donaldson back, and SHOULD get a comp pick this winter when Ozuna walks. If they happen not to be able to sign whomever they take at #25 inexpensively and get the #26 pick next June as well, that should be 3 relatively high picks in what could be a rather loaded draft next year.
MLB optimistic about starting season in late June
- Thread starter Acuña’s Bat Flip
- Start date
Not necessarily bad just yet - saved a boatload of money by bringing Ozuna in rather than Donaldson back, and SHOULD get a comp pick this winter when Ozuna walks. If they happen not to be able to sign whomever they take at #25 inexpensively and get the #26 pick next June as well, that should be 3 relatively high picks in what could be a rather loaded draft next year.
they'll get a pick for Ozuna? they can't offer him a QO.
CyYoung31
Shift Leader
That’s what I’m saying. They need to be ready to stand their ground.
Tapate50
Well-known member
Yeah, they can't file unemployment bc they are still under contract. That guys a HUGE POS. It should be that you can sign a FA deal with whoever if your team decides to forego your paycheck.
Right - was in a hurry - my bad.
Still don't think it was terrible to give up the picks they did. I'm guessing Southcack wasn't directing any criticism AA's way by saying it might "not be such a great value in hindsight", but that's much more likely to be the case for those that did so AND signed those veterans to long-term deals. IF (the two letters that seem to get bigger by the hour) they wind up playing games this season, renting Ozuna for what turns out to be a late second round pick likely wasn't a bad gamble had Covid not surfaced. If Smith winds up closing for the last 3 years of his deal (and potentially part of 2020 as well), AA might have given up a little bit more than some would have liked - but that's in hindsight as well. He already has the replacements for Ozuna in place, and if the circumstances that existed when he was signed had continued both Pache and Waters would likely have been ready next spring.
I look at it this way - giving up that pick to rent Ozuna all but assured Waters wasn't going to be dealt. The chances we'd have been able to get a player like Waters with that pick were insanely low. It also assured that Riley was going to get a chance to show he can adjust and potentially kept them from making a mistake in giving him away. I'm not saying Riley's for sure going to be able to make the needed adjustments, but chances are also slim that we'd have even gotten a player with his upside with that pick.
We'll know before the draft whether they'll play games this season. By that time AA should have a decent enough feel for the players that will be available at #25 to decide to even offer close enough to slot value for those guys to sign. Having two picks in the Top 30 in a much deeper 2021 draft may well be the best outcome we could have possibly hoped for. Those two picks could easily be better than what we gave up for Ozuna and what's there at #25 this season.
Heyward
<B>Voted Worst Poster <br>'13, '14, '15 (Co-Winner
I guess if you knew the CV19 would cancel sports, yes. But i still like AA's approach to building the team even if the season is cancelled.
striker42
Well-known member
Why do we have to take sides between owners and players? They're all incredibly greedy and out of touch. Seeing millionaires and billionaires fight over how to divide my money isn't a great look. I just want baseball and I'm not seeing a lot of reasonable positions right now.
CrimsonCowboy
Moderator
The circumstances are different obviously, but it’s feeling like 1994 in MLB to me at the moment
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CrimsonCowboy
Moderator
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UNCBlue012
Well-known member
The players aren't settling in this one, it seems. Hopefully, the owners pony-up.
Agree with thewupk - see y'all in 2021
Agree with thewupk - see y'all in 2021
MadduxFanII
Swallowed by Mark Bowman
I shall never forget the Marcell Ozuna Era in Braves history.
CrimsonCowboy
Moderator
If there is no 2020 season, the PR hit the sport will take is going to be as bad, perhaps even worse than in the 1994-95 work stoppage. Unfortunately, the players and owners don’t seem to really care about that in their unwillingness to compromise. Too much at stake for MLB and it seems like it’s about to be thrown away in a battle of egos.
Because - in this case, at least - while both sides are incredibly greedy, the players are being incredibly stupid on top of things.
Like him or not, players don't have to look any further than Tom Glavine for their "voice of reason" - and he was the poster child for the last work stoppage. He keeps saying they're playing with fire, and he's right. While it's incredibly tough for fans to wrap their heads around it, the people that own (and fund) the teams aren't baseball fans anymore...they're businessmen period. They've all embraced analytics, trimmed lots of fat, and don't intend to operate while losing large sums of money anymore. The game and the fans aren't the important things anymore - these guys are only interested in spending their piles of money if it makes them bigger piles, and they've hired seriously smart people (rather than baseball fans) to see to it that their investments aren't bleeding internally.
If fans aren't coming to the park to see the games (or can't) and make money for owners by spending on incidentals (parking, hot dogs, beer, etc.) the owners aren't able to maximize their investment. The players aren't paying anyone's salaries (other than their agents) out of their back pockets. Here's hoping someone with some common sense starts speaking to (and leading) the players before the owners decide this isn't a good investment and decide to take their piles of money and go home (or spend them elsewhere).
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Southcack77
Well-known member
The owners have as much incentive to grab what cash there is available as anyone else. Some cash is better than no cash. This should settle.
bravesfanforlife88
Well-known member
An interesting counter proposal for the players would be no revenue sharing, but agreeing to deferred payments of this years salaries. That would reduce the hit the owners take this season and the players would still get their money.
I have to wonder if some of the lost revenue for fan attendance can't come from selling the TV, etc rights. Are the teams currently being paid an annual or per game TV contracts? Expand the playoffs and make it all pay per view, that could make up a ton of revenue. I understand contracts, etc, it's just interesting that that's what will need to happen in all sports to make up for lost attendance revenue.
Will be awfully tough to generate that type of revenue if 20% of the country is out of work.
bravesfanforlife88
Well-known member
They could sell the various seating sections around the field for temporary advertisements.
Then with tv viewership up, they could also charge more for advertising.
Then with tv viewership up, they could also charge more for advertising.
The owners' position is that they will lose more money every game played with no fans in attendance if they pay the players a prorated salary than if they simply don't play any games. If this is true, then no, it doesn't make sense to grab more negative cash.
I'm going to assume Scherzer is right, and the owners are not being truthful about how much they stand to lose/gain in each scenario. This explains why the owners won't be transparent with these accounting numbers. So again, it's a scenario where the billionaires are being greedy scum, and labor isn't going to allow it.
There is a real risk now that this doesn't settle because the owners gave the players false revenue information, and they won't be willing to admit to that fact by settling with the union.