Jerry Beach – Forbes: Every single day it seems like there is a news story or another that makes Major League Baseball seem like an organization of ghouls. This past week was no different. MLB shortening the amateur draft and reducing the signing bonuses for draftees is yet another example of MLB being the absolute worst baseball organization possible. The actions they took towards the draft will save the owners a minuscule amount of money and cause longterm damage to the MLB brand of baseball. The owners, and MLB, don’t care though, they have profits to make and kids to exploit.
Craig Edwards – FanGraphs: Keeping with the above, MLB also announced its plan to start the 2020 season. One major hitch in their plan is that they want the players to take a pay cut beyond the prorated salaries that the players and owners agreed to a month back. The owners have no skin in the game if the season is played, the players will be the ones risking their lives. Yet, it is the owners making demands of the players when it should be the other way around.
Bill Baer – NBC Sports: Bringing the theme home with a trifecta is the actual underpinnings of the plan MLB sent to the players. It’s as vague as can be with very little in the way of actual substance. One thing it does make clear is that the league really does not care about the health of ancillary team staff. Even when they do address the issue of ancillary staff getting sick it is through a weak half measure that doesn’t do much good at all. Making money is what matters to the owners, nothing else.
Lead photo courtesy of LM Otero – Associated Press
