I am not on the side of the MLBPA or the MLB Owners. I am on the side of truth and fairness. I am a baseball fan. I want to see fair competition. I want to see small market teams do well. If the Dodgers really have the #1 Farm System in baseball, it is because they “bought it” by spending more on facilities, trainers, scouts, analytics, front office, and training programs. Sorry… but that is the truth.
- I do not think it is fair that some owners can actually become rich by tanking and not putting a good product on the field.
- I do not think it is fair that MiLB Players are paid so poorly… and while I am on that subject, I think it is abjectly stupid to say that you want more diversity (i.e., more Black players) and then refuse to pay them a decent wage. If you can play in A-Ball, you should make $200,000 a year. AA should be $300,000 and AAA should be $400,000. If you make it to the show, that should double! You want diversity? Give players a reason to play baseball and not football or basketball.
- MLB Players who are young and elite should be paid more… a lot more than they presently are. Don’t make them wait until their 6th year. They are working on a plan to get this done, but just do it already!
- I get that owners have a lot of money invested in their teams. I know that teams like the Braves, showed drops in revenue of over $300 million is 2020 over 2019. Teams need to make money, but there needs to be a modicum of transparancey! I think that a major accounting firm could provide basic accounting reporting guidelines to allow us to see their true financial condition. Hey, I want them to make money – I just don’t want it to be obscene.
White River State Park in Downtown Indianapolis is an idyllic venue. Victory Field is one of the best minor league ballparks in America. Last week we were contacted by the Indianapolis Indians (the Pirates’ AAA affiliate) about season tickets for a suite. I settled on an 18 game package with parking, food, and beer, plus 12 tickets and the suite per game. It was $13,000.00. I thought it was a no-brainer. Let’s do it!
Then, my wife reminded me that last summer I had bought 50 tickets for the company and only 21 people showed up! She said: “take an anonymous survey and see how many people would go” to the 18 games times 12 people per game. OK, so I made up ballots and gave them to all 48 employees, They put the ballots in a box and when we pulled them out 6 people said that would go. Several wrote, “Colts” and “Pacers” on the ballots. We have a young workforce and most are not interested in the least about baseball. I believe that this is fairly typical of young fans.
So this begs the question: What happens to baseball when all of us old guys and one (young) gal are gone? Now, I am going to be around a long time – only the good die young! In fact, when I was in the hospital with COVID-19, God and the Devil had a conversation. God said, “I’m not ready for him” to which the Devil said, “Well, I’m afraid he will take over down here.” So… here I am! But what will happen to baseball? We all love baseball, but most of us are old Fogies, except for Marcia who is evidently a young chick! 😉 I say that with a great deal of appreciation for Marcia. It seems like we always have one female here and we are better for it. It was MJ for years and then it was Dodger Blue Mom. God Rest their Souls. Now it’s Marcia and hopefully, she will grace us with her presence for a long time… if she can tolerate me… Someone explain to her that I am harmless.
With the younger generation, baseball is dying! What the owners and players are doing is hastening its death. They need to fix this labor issue. They need to pay the minor league players and the young players who are extraordinary. The players are asking that the MLB Minimum be raised to $775,000 – I think that is about right. I also think it is stupid that an MLB owner would give Max Scherzer $43,000,000! It’s obscene that Max makes that and Will Smith makes the MLB minimum! It’s reckless to give Scherzer that kind of money at 37, knowing full well his arm might fall off. How do you stop owners like Cohen from being stupid? There is no dumbass vaccine!
Rule Changes and Pace of Play
The Universal DH is a wise step, but just the first one. There have to be others:
- Larger bases – that’s a given.
- Runner on 2B in extra innings
- Ban the shift
- 15 second pitch clock
- Electronic Balls and Strikes – let the umps call it, but allow challenges (it’s very quick)
- 3 pitch maximum on throwing to 1B (more SB = more action)
- Limit time between innings to 2 or 3 minutes
- 5 warmup pitches (unless for injury) on the mound
- Keep the 3 batter minimum
- Think about this one: If you pinch hit for someone, they can come back to bat ONE TIME! Why not? More offense!
- Raise the roster to 27 and limit the pitchers to 13.
What About the Cost of Food and Drink?
I am sure it varies from stadium to stadium, but the guys who run around yelling “Beer – Get your ice-cold beer” make about 18% of everything they sell. It’s hard work, so I do not begrudge them. In fact, I tip them well. Most baseball teams hire an outside company to sell their food. Teams typically hire companies to sell their food and drink and collect commission between 35 and 55 percent of total sales, according to Chris Bigelow, a Kansas City-based foodservice consultant for teams.
It is reported that many teams made around $100 Million… or more on concessions. Here’s how it works: Let’s say Aramark buys beer in bulk and has $1.00 a bottle in a Budweiser (it’s less than that, but I am using round numbers). To cover “shrinkage, breakage, and loss” they are going to put their cost basis at $3.00. So, if they sell a beer for $16.00, here is how the profit shakes out:
- The Beer Guy gets $2.88 (18% of $16.00)
- The owner gets $8.80 (55% of $16.00)
- Aramark gets $4.32 which is a nice profit on $1.00
They probably want to raise prices, but there is a movement in certain areas to drop prices on some things like soft drinks, hot dogs, and hamburgers so that they can draw more fans. The beer will not go down. Most people will pay the price if they want it.
The Untouchables
We all know by now that for months I have been saying ad nauseum that the Dodgers have a TOP 10 FARM SYSTEM. Of course, Baseball America proved me right when pretty much every other Dodger fan said we were in the bottom half! They ranked the Dodgers #8. If my math is correct, that is TOP 10! Of course, then The Athletic’s Keith Law proclaimed that the Dodgers have the best farm system in baseball. The fact that they could be #1, never crossed my mind, I must confess, but Keith Law is damn good! Maybe I’ll compromise and say they are Top 4! At any rate, they are pretty good.
However, there are several players who I would rank as “almost untouchable.” Those players are: Diego Cartaya, Bobby Miller, Miguel Vargas, and Andy Pages. Now, when I say “almost untouchable” I mean that it would take an overwhelming deal to get them. Right here, right now, I would give the Angels a choice of any three for Mike Trout (let’s win now), but it would have to be that kind of deal.
Diego Cartaya could be Johnny Bench (hey, someone has to). Bobby Miller could be Curt Schilling. Miguel Vargas could be Miguel Cabrera, and Andy Pages could be Adam Dunn. I picked players they could be the most like (IMHO). Of course, they all probably won’t realize their potential… but they could. That’s why I would take Mike Trout for them right about now. I’d include Pollock in the deal, so the Dodgers lineup would look like this:
- Turner SS
- Betts RF
- Freeman 1B
- Trout LF
- Muncy 3B
- Turner DH
- Bellinger CF
- Smith C
- Lux/Taylor 2B
Would that team ever lose a game? Actually, maybe the Angels should do that deal!
Discussion (22)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I think Rich Hill may be on to something about “robot umps” calling the strike zone.
He argues that it will penalize finesse pitchers such as himself, who often throw curves that look like they’ll be strikes but wind up just outside the strike zone. With robots in charge, will hitters still take the bait or hold off? Will finesse pitchers be less effective as a result?
It will be interesting to see how it plays out in the tests down on in farm system.
Also, any news of whether Dodgers are running “mini-camps” for prospects. I just saw an article on MLB about how the Yankees are doing so, and I previously saw one concerning the Tigers. Perhaps I missed an article about what the Dodgers might be doing.
It seems that these are allowed despite the lockout.
Mark, loved your piece (sorry I got to it so late) and the ensuing discussion. But you are sadly mistaken about my youth. I am, well, 72, and possibly facing a hip replacement. I walk with a decided stoop and spent today trying to teach myself to use a cane–ha! I fondly remember bunt singles and hit and run in company softball games, but that damned rover always caught my line drives. I really dislike Manny Machado, especially in right field. Yes, ban the rover, if not the shift. But Bear, we have to fight these forces of evil who insist on ghost runners in extra innings!
By the way, The Athletic has a great series of articles on the future of baseball…
Reports are that even though they are “talking” they actually may be moving further apart.
Fun article about Goose Gossage’s takes on baseball and the current collective “bargaining”.
https://sports.yahoo.com/hall-famer-goose-gossage-wants-162619671.html
I’ve gotta say I agree with a lot of it…boy is he grumpy!
Dodger Derangement Syndrome
“Andrew Friedman et al is the worst Dodger leadership team ever!”
“The McCourt team was far superior!”
“The Chris Taylor trade that AF made was the worst trade ever!”
“Relying on our own farm system is a terrible idea. LA will be much better off if we don’t develop our own players but instead immediately go to an alternate source!”
“AF’s results don’t matter, and those wins would not have happened anyway if AF had not inherited such an excellent team from McCourt!”
How ’bout we just start with one rule change before we start overhauling the entire game to try to manipulate an outcome we think is desirable?
As for the salary of minor leaguers, they shouldn’t be surviving on ramen and bologna sandwiches on white bread, but they shouldn’t be getting 600k salaries. Being a minor league baseball player should not be a career. You should develop skills to advance to the next level, and if you can’t advance you need to get out and find another line of work. That’s the way it should be.
I’d prefer baseball just set aside the funds to build dormitories a bit like the Olympic Training Center in CO. They stay on campus and have the facilities there to develop as world class athletes.
Dodgers signed veteran LH Robbie Erlin to a minor league deal.
Off subject, I just read an article about Gavin Lux and that Keith Law is high on a breakout year. He points to Lux’s hot May after a slow April and his performance down the stretch. In May, Lux’s OPS was .836 and in Sept it was .967. He remembered Lux’s hammering of AAA to the tune of 1.197 in 2019 and that he’s still just 24 years old. He alludes to the fact the he can adequately handle the middle of the diamond defensively as well.
I don’t see much of a chance that Lux is traded for rotation help (or Jose Ramirez) like some seem to believe. They have a very deep minor league system for that, if needed. I can still see Lux as our shortstop if they don’t re-up TT and as our second baseman if they do.
Speaking of Dodgers shortstops, old friend Oneil Cruz is the top prospect for the Pittsburgh Pirates. At 6’7″, he’s one on the tallest shortstops in MLB history. The Dodgers traded him to the Pirates in the Tony Watson deal.
The good news: The two sides “negotiated over pre-arb compensation and lottery picks. Among MLB proposals today: MLB raised its prearbitration bonus pool $5 million, to $20 million. Still a very large gap compared to players’ proposal. MLB also proposed to allow one more draft pick to be determined by lottery, now top 4. Players had proposed 8
The bad news; The gulf is still enormous!!!! MLB’s prearbitration bonus pool: the $20 million would go to 30 players. Union’s latest proposal distributed it to 150 players (at $115 million)
The worse news: No revised CBT proposal today. No service time discussions. Those are areas of major importance to both sides.
Food for thought:
How many of you would want to eliminate the shift IF the Dodgers hitters had made adjustments and was the 1 team ‘beating’ the shift?
Defensively the Dodgers are known to be up there in the leaders for shifting their infield. Is it a case where the fans love the shift defensively but not when their team is up to bat? Be honest.
Sorry Mark, but I think you’re dead wrong about your assumptions with younger fans and salaries for minor leaguers. Yes, they need to get paid more than they do now. No, they don’t deserve anything close to $200K. Engineers, out of college make $60-70K and it’s considered a top paying job. $35K for A, $40K A+, $50K for AA and 55K for AAA is more like it, IMHO.
You employees chose two pro teams over a minor league team, duh! If you’re business was in LA and you offered Dodgers tickets, they would go. My son’s old roommate didn’t play baseball growing up, but went to 10+ Dodgers games last year. He’s young and is interested in the game. You don’t need bigger bases to attract fans.
Of all of your proposed rule changes, I would like a pitch clock and shift elimination.
Rather than the Auto strike zone which would introduce a lot of unintended consequences, I would rather see umpires be rewarded and penalized for their strike zone accuracy. Have their pay tied to performance like so many other jobs out there. It would work something like this. If you’re in the top 25% in accuracy, you get a 30% performance bonus, if you’re in the bottom 20%, you go back to the minors with minor league pay and get replaced by the top minor league performers.
With the Auto strike zone, stolen bases wouldn’t exist because catchers won’t need to frame that pitch making it easier to throw out baserunners. They would be able to come out of the crouch as soon as the runner breaks. Just one example of unintended consequences. Same for the 3 throws to first rule. If you throw over three times, the runner can take just about walk to second base since you can no longer throw over. The pitch clock is enough to speed the game along. If you don’t throw to the base or home in 15 seconds, it’s a ball. That’s enough of a deterrent.
I don’t care about the number of warmup pitches either. Give the reliever a get ready clock. Once you signal for a reliever, you’re on a timer. Run to the mound and start your warmup pitches, the faster you get to the mound and the faster you work, the more pitches you get.
Why the hell do you need pinch hitters to re-enter when you already have a DH? What next, have an all defense team and an all offense team? Nine DH’s and eight fielders and 13 pitchers and a 30 man roster? Or, just let the top 4 hitters on every team hit over and over again?
Let’s make the game so unrecognizable so we alienate the current fan base in order to attract new fans?
On one hand, there’s so much money in baseball that we need to pay minor leaguers $200K, but it’s so uninteresting that we need to change it? That reminds of a famous Yogi quote. ‘Nobody goes to that restaurant anymore because it’s too crowded.’
They are supposed to start meeting daily starting this afternoon. Get something done by Friday and I will be happy. Yeah Badger, I know we are old and in the way. But we are the ones who respect the traditions of the game. Someone suggested not long ago that the Dodgers needed to change their name to something that associates the team with Los Angeles. Bull pucky. Respect the history. They are already talking about putting advertising on the helmets and the shoulders of the uniforms. I remember when Dodger Stadium had no advertising on the outfield walls, and they have resisted renaming the Stadium for a corporate sponsor. Back in the day the only corporate logo you saw was the orange 76 Union ball on top of the left field scoreboard.
Great post today Mark.
Very thought provoking.
This is why this site is the best Dodger Blog out there.
I’ve learned so much more about Baseball since I found this place .
Mark, we are almost in complete agreement on rule changes. However, having seen the extra inning runner on second rule in practice, I wouldn’t want to see it in the majors. Especially not in the playoffs.
It makes sense in the minors as, having gone to hundreds of minor league games, almost nobody stays for extra innings. Hell, most fans don’t stay for 9. And since Minor league games aren’t televised (aside from the pay streaming service) there isn’t much of a reason to go deep into extra innings when nobody is watching but the last 50 fans (sometimes less) at the stadium. I found it un gratifying to watch a walk off single with only one at bat. So I wouldn’t like to see that rule implemented at the MLB level.
I think the others will do a lot to bring the game back. Especially the 13 pitcher max. If they end the misuse of the 10 injured list, I think that will be the end of bullpen games. Which I find to be the most boring recent change to baseball. It will also force teams to carry more position players. Less need for super utility guys. More defensive and base running specialists. Like baseball had until about 10 years ago.
I will add, of the minor league players I’ve known; they aren’t asking for $200k or $300k. They’d be happy with $60k and a housing and food allowance. More than happy. Verses $20k and living 8 deep in a 2 bedroom apartment with cases of ramen noodles in the corner. Having been involved in a booster club in the past, the most common requests from players was toilet paper, shampoo, ramen noodles and protein powder. Which is sad.
I purchased my ticket plan for the Quakes and 66ers. So I will be watching baseball. I just hope that’s not the only baseball this year. This next two weeks can save the sport or kill the sport. It’s on them.
“We’re doing everything we can to get a deal done for our fans,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said last Thursday.
I have problems with both sides in this negotiation but Manfred is doing his best to kill the game. Didn’t I read lately that there’s a plan to eliminate more MiLB players? And please spare me a lecture on how he’s just carrying out the wishes and interests or the owners.
Really great post Mark and I agree with most of your thoughts.
Regarding game changes, I’m all for time rules to speed up play. While their at it, eliminate the “walk-up” music while the Machados and Tatis’ pose and take 30 second strolling to the plate.
Unlike Bear, I like the runner on 2nd for extra innings but I might start in the 11th. The way skippers run games now days, players aren’t available for extra innings. I’m totally not interested in watching a reserve left fielder pitch the 15th in a 6 hour game. And I don’t know many fans who do.
Since the players have convinced me that they will never adjust and hit away from the shift or bunt for 20 hits a year, I’m a convert to banning the shifts particularly the 3rd baseman becoming the rover in shallow right field.
The ABS system should be the sole judge in calling balls and strikes. It’s not an “aid” to the umpire. The home plate ump calls bounced strikes, foul balls, check swings, safe or out, controls the line ups but doesn’t overrule routine balls and strike calls. If they were proficient enough at it now, we wouldn’t need the technology.
As an ex-player I generally side with the Union but some of their demands, I can’t agree with this time.
The minor leaguers have forever been underpaid and I applaud the efforts to increase the salaries, housing and conditions that have been made. But it cost what the elimination of what, 40 teams? The disparity between the haves and the have nots is striking. I have used this example for years now but it’s still accurate. Manny Machado (I use him because I can’t stand the guy) , makes $51,000 per at bat. In 12 at bats he made the $600,000, around the MLB minimum. Entire AAA franchises could be paid with the salary of Scherzer. So yes, the minimum should be higher. Or better yet, Machado makes less. I can’t go as high as Mark’s minimums however but why not?
But I am not on board with a 100 million pre-arbitration fund to pay players with less that 3 years of service time (or 2 if the Union gets that changed) for awards or performance based on WAR. I have no idea why a rookie can’t squeak by on a minimum of say $750 grand for 3 yearsn until he’s arbitration eligible? We all remember the problems from the past when veterans felt short changed when rookie bonuses and salary exceeded the veteran’s.
Mark is so right about the game loosing the younger audience and increasingly eliminating the common guy and his family from attending games. And while I can afford it, I’m just not going to pay 18 bucks for a beer and a Dodger dog at a fall-ball game.
I also think the ushers and other staff at CamelBack Ranch are the rudest and least fan-friendly of any of the sites in Arizona. And the covid restrictions allowed plenty of the ushers to become “brown shirts” when given additional power. Hey I understand they had to enforces the rules with people who weren’t the most obedient but as with a good comedian, the delivery is everything. I saw people, especially elderly who are great supporters of spring training, get yelled at and reprimanded by some snout nose usher for taking a bite of a hot dog or sipping their beer out of their seat. Very disrespectful and unnecessary. That stuff just causes ill will. It’s bad people business and another example of the the fans meaning less and less.
And know that the communities who have put up big money to build facilities that they get a dollar a year in lease payments from the MLB teams, are having second thoughts about their investments. Neither side in negotiations seem too concerned about this collateral damage. And this all adds up to more and more fans losing interest as the millionaires battle the billionaire.
I’m a lifer but I’ll walk away from all this bullshit. I’m a baseball fan first and a Dodger fan second. There’s other baseball to watch. Check out some quality PAC-12 baseball or an SEC game at Mississippi State or Vanderbuilt with the stands full of rabid supporters.
Again, great post Mark and others here who offer up great opinions on this nonsense we are seeing. And we knew from the end of the season that it was going to come to this and both sides are quilty of letting it happen.
Long time reader of the LADT site because of the insightful baseball views that are shared here. I am a 75 year-old who grew up in the early 1950’s when the only big league baseball we had in LA was KMPC’s recreation of games from back east.
I became a Dodger fan in 1958 and attended many games at the LA Coliseum as a member of the “Knot-Hole” club in deep centerfield; we got in by wearing our Little League uniforms. I played baseball at many levels with guys who became lifetime friends; and, I coached baseball to my kids and their friends until they became adults. Since then, I still follow the game closely because I have loved it my whole life.
I chose to participate in today’s discussion because of the quality Mark’s article and the comments offered in response. One point in particular struck me: “negotiations should be less about money and more about the sustainability of the game.” I agree completely! If the owners and players don’t begin addressing this reality, the game will continue its decline in appeal to young people. Ultimately, it will lose its place permanently in today’s sports/entertainment marketplace. It is reassuring to know others feel the same way!
Thank you for the wisdom and joy LADT has brought to this old man the past few years!
Greed and more greed on both parties will put baseball at the lowest rated and watched sport if it isn’t already.
Interesting, Mark.
Very good article, written by Bob Klapisch, Staying Relevant, in Lindy’s Sports Baseball 2022 Preview.
Some of the interesting stats included: last season a ball was put in play every three minutes, 42 seconds. The average strikeout rate hovers at 25 percent, which is in line with Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan numbers.
But today the pitchers have gummed up the action. Games are 23 minutes longer than 2005, 34 minutes longer than in 1984 and 35 minutes longer than in 1962.
Obviously the lack of action and the length of games is concerning and younger people are turning away as analytics makes the game more boring. One of MLB writers for the LA Daily News just wrote the focus of the negotiations should be less about money and more about the sustainability of the game.
Seems like lots of people are recognizing baseball has a problem, yet pretty much all we here about is money.
New revenue streams have given baseball, both owners and players, a false sense of where the game is at these days. Oh, the Dodgers draw well and the fan base is growing, but elsewhere? Not so much. Miami? Tampa Bay (great organization, but not a big draw). Other franchises floundering. Even the Giants with that incredible run didn’t pack them in at the Bay.
Pitchers have to throw the ball, nothing happens until they do. Pitch clock, definitely. End shifts. Base hits are a good thing, action and all. Reducing the number of minor league teams, this pointed out by the Daily News columnist, not a good thing in helping to keep the game relevant. How many more kids are no longer exposed to the game?
All the nonsense taking place right now is not helping. Why not negotiate in person until you get it done? Enough of the Zoom crap. Hard to read a room on Zoom. Then they had better take an inner look at the game and make it fast. The future lies in the balance.
Good column, Mark.
Some of the changes are coming, as for the man on second in extra’s, no thanks. That is not baseball. If you are going to do that again, wait until the game goes to inning 12. No shifts, all for it. Pitch clock, yep.
Solid post Mark
I’m in on rule changes. I still say they don’t want shorter games. The longer you sit there, (at the park and in front of your tv) the more money is spent in beer hot dogs and advertising. This cash flow is what helps both sides engaged in this bickering to make bank.
Some of the younger star players do quite well. Cody Bellinger is a good example. He’s made over $28 million before becoming arb eligible. From where I sit all Major League players are doing EXTREMELY well. Guaranteed generational wealth whether you perform or not? Retirement wealth long before you’re 30? Who gets offered that?
I like your minor league salary ideas. The money is there, but, not sure how to make owners spread it around.
Tanking can be tempered by a lottery. Will owners go for that? Some certainly won’t.
You are absolutely right about the Dodgers and money. How do you prevent the rich from getting richer? Obviously you don’t. How do you create competitive balance? Well, first you have to make an honest attempt. MLB hasn’t. But, look around. Other sports are doing a much better job of than you are. Take note. Evolve. Yeah, sure.
Of course, the Dodgers Luxury Cap Number would be about $320 Million….
One of your better posts, Mark. Lots of interesting stuff to contemplate.
I assume that if you’re going to pay a Rancho Cucamonga player $200,000 per season, you’re expecting the big club to foot most or all of that salary.
Based on the numbers you laid out for the various rungs on the ladder, I wonder how much that would add to a major league team’s operating expenses. Once you see that number, the plan might not be feasible.
Most here will probably disagree, but I’d rather trade those prospects for Soto instead of Trout. Much more of his career is still in front of him.
Too bad I never get to Indianapolis or I’d be happy to fill one of the seats for you. Good point about what happens to the grand ol’ game when all of us ancient guys are gone. First thing to do is get rid of Manfred and hire Theo to replace him. I bet you would see all kinds of interesting changes. And then hire a big time promoter who knows how to get young people to view the game in the first place. If they never watch it, they’ll never become fans.