Jim Allen – Jballallen.com: So much of our talk of baseball and labor centers around Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball. That makes sense considering affiliated baseball dominates the news. However, sometimes it’s interesting to take a step back and look at labor and baseball in other leagues and countries. I don’t lay claim to being an expert on Nippon Professional Baseball, and that makes reading about the idea of societally expected acts of kindness by ownership far different than anything affiliated baseball has ever offered.
Jayson Stark – The Athletic ($): The election of Marvin Miller to the National Baseball Hall of Fame is a dilemma of sorts. On the one hand, Miller deserves the recognition, so much so that his previous absence from the Hall was laughable. There is however the issue of Miller not wanting to be elected and his family stating they will honor his wishes and not attend his inauguration ceremony. That opens the door for what we all fear the most, MLB and ownership taking Miller’s deserved honor and warping it to somehow tarnish Miller’s legacy.
Matt Provenzano – Beyond the Box Score: MLB continues to make money hand over fist. Every MLB franchise is now valued at over one billion dollars, and there’s no end in sight to the ability of these teams to make money, remain cheap, and bring in incredible profits. Guys like Stephen Strasburg and Gerrit Cole aren’t being paid too much, but rather they are being paid amounts that are directly in line with how much money MLB teams are making.
Lead photo courtesy of Jason Miller – Getty Images
