poppysox

That's not money in today's game as you know.

Hahn did not pick up the extension in order to give him away for nothing.

I agree with everything you said here. Although I side with the owners...I believe work stoppages are bad for baseball. Both sides need to get this solved asap.

Because the owners take 100% of the risk of making those decisions.

They are the only ones who will benefit.

When is enough...enough? I don't want to pay more than I am already paying for a ticket or a hot dog. Is there some player you feel sorry for? I can't think of a single example of some player who would be doing better in some other line of work.

The minor leaguers...but these talks have nothing to do with them. Actually, I would favor a larger "minimum" wage. The top guys don't seem to need any of our help IMO.

Never misses a paycheck.

Yeah...have I told you about this great bridge I have?

How is the "average" major league player improving his situation under what the union is asking? What's in it for a guy like Leury?

Believe what you want...that's why they make chocolate and vanilla.

Every dollar won by the players will ultimately be charged to the fan. It's naive to think the owners are going to settle for less profit.

He would probably be correct. Do you think players like Leury want to take half a year off? I don't.

Just stating a fact.

The First Spring Training home game is scheduled for February 26th. If they are not talking about the important issues until January we will be lucky to have a deal by February 1st. FA signing period when it reopens will be a pure madhouse. If a deal is not reached by February 1st...lots of mid-tier type players will be very unhappy with their union reps IMO.

When Hemond was GM the off-seasons were fun. Trades happened like the ones you mention.

I like your idea of trading picks.

Except for raising the minimum wage for a couple of players, I don't see anything that will help current Sox players in a meaningful way. Get more bucks for the guys hampered by qualifying offers along with earlier FA I guess. Not much incentive for the average ballplayer to want to endure a long sit-out. I would like to see the minimum raised to something more substantial like 1 million and the team minimum raised substantially in order to have a more equal playing field. Some reworking of the rules to avoid a Brandt situation and universal DH and I would be good to go. I am not in favor of changing the playoff format or adding teams for that matter. We already have teams unable to compete because not operating in substantial markets. The disparity in payrolls is just plain unfair.

Yep...really hard to keep up with all the fast-breaking news surrounding the settlement talks. Anticipating word of settlement to break at any moment now.

I agree but you will get lots of flack for taking this position. Giving an inordinate amount of the total payroll to one player has never seemed the smart way to build a team to me.

We will be lucky if there is a deal in place by the end of February IMO. Both sides think their bargaining position gets stronger as ST gets closer. If they were serious about getting this settled they would be holding meetings daily. This is just posturing...and is very annoying.

One thing for sure...the market will be better than before the NL approves the DH. His unbelievable April still impressed a lot of people. If you own a poor franchise it can be a cheap marketing kind of pickup. Back in our rent-a-player days with Veeck, he would have been perfect.

Someone always thinks they can handle those problems. Only takes 1.

Better than some of you think I would guess.

Once NL approves the DH...Yermin becomes a trade chip.