MLB and the MLBPA need to get a deal done and sooner than later. New York Yankees fans and fans of all teams are going to hold baseball accountable if they can’t get a deal done over money. With each day that passes fans have less tolerance for millionaires and billionaires belly aching while they have been laid off, had their pay reduced, or in some cases, can’t feed their families.
Last week I reported on Tampa Bay Rays star pitcher Blake Snell‘s rant on having his multimillion-dollar salary cut on subjecting himself to health risks through the roof and having to pay income taxes. The more I think about his rant, the more I get a belly ache. He sounded more like a little kid bitching about not getting a candy bar that was promised than a professional baseball player that gets paid $30K for 3 hours of work.
As far as the MLB risk is concerned, we take a risk every time we leave our homes. Some idiot might smash into us on our commute to a job that might not pay us $30K for 2,000 hours. We might be a grocery store cashier who faces hundreds of customers, some of them who may be ill. We might be a Walmart greeter that greets a thousand customers a day. We might be a restauranteur who’s trying to pay his employees while their 100 seat restaurant can only serve 30 tables while the bills keep rolling in. We might also be a health worker who faces no healthy people, just sick people that might jeopardize their own life and the lives of their families.
All of baseball needs to get their collective heads screwed on correctly. We don’t care about how many millions you might not make. Baseball is no longer America’s game, football is. MLB attendance has been in a downward spiral for years. Attendance has shrunk 14% since 2007. If baseball thinks this squabbling is going to improve their image, they don’t realize baseball is not about the players; it’s about the fans. The fans are the ones that pay these huge salaries, not the owners.
The player’s health concerns have been addressed to the point they will be the most protected employees in any industry. They already make a boatload of money. And as far as the owners, they need to drop the revenue sharing thing. You made a deal, stick to it, there are no do-overs in baseball. It’s time to get a deal done and think about the fans for once. If you fail, don’t try to sell me a $65 ticket for a 2021 game.