CubinNY

Just got through the first episode. Very upset you didn't mention who won the first ever Home Run Derby. I still wear my undersized Aramis Ramirez Cubs jersey with pride :D Edit: Nevermind I guess the prize was a Jeremy Hermida autographed bat (which I still have!) The Aramis jersey must have been a different contest Otherwise great stuff, great podcasting voice especially I won a Felix Pie autographed bat! Very much enjoying this podcast! Great work! Boy I thought he was going to be a good player.

International draft coming very likely.

I hope someone who is much smarter than me with a much bigger audience points out that it’s rich (pun intended) these billionaires understand so-called socialism when it benefits them, but not when it doesn’t. Helping out the smaller market is the same as helping the disadvantaged. They are paying lots to make sure society doesn’t work that way.

Not to mention the order of magnitude difference between a billion and a million.

Yeah, the 2 series is transparently in case the union folds. They aren't acting like they have the intention of folding, nor should they. They already made more compromises than they frankly should have. They should hold firm now. For once, it seems like public opinion isn't almost entirely pro-owner. I would be surprised if there is a season at all.

The owners tried used car sales tactics on the players.

Commissioners largely are puppets and carrying out the wishes of owners, I really don’t know how much power they truly have. This is all on owners, imo. Not defending Manfred by any means but it’s not like he has autonomy to make a deal, the owners suck and he’s just a face/extension of them and they clearly don’t want to cut a deal outside of their extreme terms. They choose him to break/weaken the union. He was among their top lawyers before they made him commissioner. He's doing his job.

No shame at all. Like charging $5.00 for $0.11 of syrup and carbonated water in a $0.10 cup.

Amazing

Thanks for the recap. I read somewhere about shifting rules, but I don't know if that was a rumor.

Jeff still bring the chin music. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33362477/inside-self-inflicted-crisis-boiling-mlb-lockout-deadline-arrives

Jeter out as CEO of Marlins. I hope he got his money back in cash and not Acela coupons. I wonder if this has to do with the lock-out negotiations.

Unless the players cave we aren't going to have MLB baseball for quite a while. I have no idea what the owners are thinking but I'm thinking they are completely out of touch with reality.

That''s the thing that pisses me off more than anything else. The Ricketts started a separate company for all the development around Wrigley. Easy to hide profits away from the Cubs. They are now using the Cubs to bankroll their other business.

There is not much Stroman can do about the racists, but there is a lot the Mets could do to make sure that horsefeathers gets squashed when it happens. I'm sure the MAGA Cubs owners and the geriatric all White Cubs ushers will be better at curbing the racism.

Same as the last few days mostly The owners ran out of ideas a long time ago.

Reading between the lines a little, it appears the owners can't get in agreement, whether by design or real conflicting interests. They appear to have miscalculated the player's resolve. What a mess.

Turns out the photographer is a racist and homophobe, so no harm no foul?

I very clearly don't understand this well, but I'm thinking that this would only increase the opportunity for service time manipulation by the owners?

Are you referring to Pat Hughes? He'd be awful on tv. And he'd spend the entire broadcast hawking one of this scam side projects. He wasn't awful last year. His first game was a little rough, but he got better.

My opinion is that the Cubs could do better than a part-time PBP guy with the reputation of being a nice guy. Boog is just ok, but I'd prefer not having a roving band of fill-in guys. I know a long-time radio guy who would be perfect for the job who works in the next both over.

You're also not already a couple of dozen times over millionaire, I assume. Context is everything.

I wonder if the 2020 season plays into the players cracking sooner than later. They lost a lot of money because of 2020 and unlike the owners their earning potential is limited to their at most ~15 year playing career. Of course they stand to gain money if the owners cave on certain isues but I'm sure there's a point where the losses outweigh the potential gains and that is probably what the owners are waiting for. I don't know. That pressure is always constant. I read an article a few days ago that said the average career length is down from around 4 years to 3 years and the average time to break into the majors has increased. All the changes have benefited the owners, funneled players from the minor leagues to college, etc. It think they know they have to make a stand.

Basically, they want appearance fees from the PGA for the top golfers. That's what this is about. It's kind of sickening to me that blood money is the tool by which they are trying to extract extra money from the PGA. Chamblee was right to call out Mickelson. I guess private jets don't pay for themselves. I don't play or watch golf for a good reason. $230 million is far more than traditional appearance fees. The money being thrown at these players makes appearance fee money seem tiny. Might as well make it a billion since it's just rumored money.

Golf media has been pretty much unified in its opposition to the SGL. How can they not be, since the King of Saudi Arabia killed one of their own? As Will Bardwell just wrote, sportswashing is designed to stop human rights reforms, but the players threatening to leave are saying that they think the new league will open up reforms in Saudi Arabia. The SGL isn’t a truly competitive league. They are willing to lose hundreds of millions to take the heat off of their human rights issues. It’s not an open market that the players are missing out on. And the Saudis found willing pawns in Phil and Bryson and DJ who are greedy enough not to care how the sausage is made. Phil and DJ have reportedly been offered over $100 million for a few years plus on-course earnings. Bryson has reportedly been offered $230 million. Tiger has only made $130 million on-course in his career. This is big money. The SGL wants to start this summer. The big questions are how many players will leave, will they be banned by the PGA Tour and DP Tour if they leave, will sponsors leave these players if they go to the SGL (Royal Bank of Canada wouldn’t let Dustin Johnson where their logo in Saudi Arabia), will they get world ranking points if they leave, will the majors let them in even if they have qualified for those tournaments, who will broadcast these tournaments (Fox, streaming?), and will the players sue the PGA Tour or the majors if they get kicked out. Basically, they want appearance fees from the PGA for the top golfers. That's what this is about. It's kind of sickening to me that blood money is the tool by which they are trying to extract extra money from the PGA. Chamblee was right to call out Mickelson. I guess private jets don't pay for themselves. I don't play or watch golf for a good reason.