2021-22 CBA Negotiation/Lockout Thread (DEAL IS AGREED TO)

[Taylor]

35 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

Honest question:

Do fans REALLY care if Spring Training starts on time?

There is the obvious point that people work at those ballparks and there is an impact on the local businesses, of course.

But in the big picture of being a fan of a big league team, so you really care much or at all if Spring Training is abbreviated as a result of this process?

Further, do you really care if the regular season is abbreviated by some nominal number of games (resulting in like 145 games or whatever)?

I just chalk it up to the price of this process.  It seems more likely that more gets done when there starts to be an actual cost.

So I don’t get worked up about it.

I don’t want some weird season that needs an asterisk obviously.  But I can absolutely live with there being an impact on some games because the pressure of those losses just might be necessary to get this resolved.

 

I care. 

[Taylor]

This is essentially Game of Thrones. Ultrarich monarchs squabbling over land while the peasants wonder when their next meal is going to be.

Thankfully baseball is just a game, so the stakes aren't as high.

[T.G.]

39 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

Honest question:

Do fans REALLY care if Spring Training starts on time?

I don't. 

I think most casual fans don't (not that I'm a casual fan).  I think some feel inconvenienced if they had plans to go to spring training, but most fans (those that don't spend any time on a message board talking about baseball) don't care.

As far as an abbreviated season... it depends.  Are we talking ten less games?  Or are we talking 50? 

At the end of the day, if there  isn't any baseball - I will miss it, but I'll find something else to do.  That doesn't mean I don't care - it's just not the most important thing in my life. 

 

Edited February 2, 2022 by True Grich

[James]

1 hour ago, Dtwncbad said:

Honest question:

Do fans REALLY care if Spring Training starts on time?

There is the obvious point that people work at those ballparks and there is an impact on the local businesses, of course.

But in the big picture of being a fan of a big league team, so you really care much or at all if Spring Training is abbreviated as a result of this process?

Further, do you really care if the regular season is abbreviated by some nominal number of games (resulting in like 145 games or whatever)?

I just chalk it up to the price of this process.  It seems more likely that more gets done when there starts to be an actual cost.

So I don’t get worked up about it.

I don’t want some weird season that needs an asterisk obviously.  But I can absolutely live with there being an impact on some games because the pressure of those losses just might be necessary to get this resolved.

 

Spring Training is my favorite part of the season, I root for the Angels. 

 

Seriously though, it is my favorite time of the season, so yes I care. 

[Dtwncbad]

26 minutes ago, True Grich said:

I don't. 

I think most casual fans don't (not that I'm a casual fan).  I think some feel inconvenienced if they had plans to go to spring training, but most fans (those that don't spend any time on a message board talking about baseball) don't care.

As far as an abbreviated season... it depends.  Are we talking ten less games?  Or are we talking 50? 

At the end of the day, if there  isn't any baseball - I will miss it, but I'll find something else to do.  That doesn't mean I don't care - it's just not the most important thing in my life. 

 

I appreciate your answer.

Honestly I can’t see there being a huge reduction in games played.  Maybe I am wrong.  No way to know until it happens.

I guess I am asking if there are any fans that actually feel like it is some kind of disaster if some games don’t happen.

You asked are we talking 10 or 50?  Great question.

To me, losing 10 games in a process to resolve this is nothing.  Don’t care.  A 150 game season is functionally a legit “full” season in my book.

Losing 50 games would suck.  But if that’s what it takes to resolve it then so be it.

This is between the owners and the players.  Let them do what they gotta do.

[Dtwncbad]

50 minutes ago, Taylor said:

This is essentially Game of Thrones. Ultrarich monarchs squabbling over land while the peasants wonder when their next meal is going to be.

Thankfully baseball is just a game, so the stakes aren't as high.

[Stradling]

I care but that’s because I like the off season almost as much as I like the regular season. I enjoy spring training as a fan, even though you take most everything that happens with a grain of salt. As for a shortened season, whatever, I guess.  I’d almost rather they end the lockout now, get us back to talking about free agency and possible trades and tell us the season will only be 120 games. 

[Taylor]

1 hour ago, Dtwncbad said:

I quit watching GoT after Season 4, I think.

I like The Witcher more.

[Angels 1961]

When season starts in June fans need to boycott. Stay away full season, fans can send a message.

[AngelsLakersFan]

2 hours ago, Taylor said:

I quit watching GoT after Season 4, I think.

I like The Witcher more.

I didn’t realize you were so strapped for cash back then. It explains a lot.

[Taylor]

47 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

I didn’t realize you were so strapped for cash back then. It explains a lot.

Couldn't afford HBO, or wouldn't?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Couldn't.

[Dtwncbad]

2 hours ago, Angels 1961 said:

When season starts in June fans need to boycott. Stay away full season, fans can send a message.

Why?

[Sully151]

I would be bummed if they cut the regular season down to 150 and the Angels missed the playoffs by 3 games.

[Lou]

I would be happy if they cut the regular season down to 150 and the Angels made the playoffs by 3 games.

[Dtwncbad]

13 hours ago, Stradling said:

I care but that’s because I like the off season almost as much as I like the regular season. I enjoy spring training as a fan, even though you take most everything that happens with a grain of salt. As for a shortened season, whatever, I guess.  I’d almost rather they end the lockout now, get us back to talking about free agency and possible trades and tell us the season will only be 120 games. 

I understand this angle.

I definitely enjoy the hot stove and tracking transactions too.

I am looking forward to the frenzy of transactions when the CBA gets resolved.

Edited February 2, 2022 by Dtwncbad

[mtangelsfan]

I care, I enjoy watching the younger players on the field, often my only chance to see the farm kids play.  Also, shortening spring training means the quality of the play will be lower early in the season and it will increase the chance of injuries as well.  Also, real baseball fans enjoy spring training, it is really the only time when hope springs eternal and it is exciting to see a bunch of new players in your team's uniforms.  Lastly, it is just simply bad for baseball in general.  A slap in the face.  With all of the bullshit happening out there in the real world, fans need the escape of sports and the consistency it brings.

[T.G.]

Additional thoughts...

The biggest downer for me is that impact all of this might have on Trout's legacy.  Fewer games, fewer opportunities to add to his "counting stats," etc. 

At the end of the day, the fact that this is a dispute between billionaires and millionaires doesn't bother me. Labor disputes happen all the time...

I think the owners are underestimating the resolve of the players and their willingness to miss games to get what they want.  That's the gist I got from listening to some MLB radio.

[Dtwncbad]

22 minutes ago, mtangelsfan said:

I care, I enjoy watching the younger players on the field, often my only chance to see the farm kids play.  Also, shortening spring training means the quality of the play will be lower early in the season and it will increase the chance of injuries as well.  Also, real baseball fans enjoy spring training, it is really the only time when hope springs eternal and it is exciting to see a bunch of new players in your team's uniforms.  Lastly, it is just simply bad for baseball in general.  A slap in the face.  With all of the bullshit happening out there in the real world, fans need the escape of sports and the consistency it brings.

So fans that say they can easily live with missing Spring Training games this year because they think it will end up being part of the natural resolution process to establish a new CBA are not “real” baseball fans?

Nobody said they didn’t “enjoy” Spring Training games.

I said I “don’t care” (if games are lost) if it is simply a necessary thing that happens to resolve the bigger picture.

Edited February 2, 2022 by Dtwncbad

[Dtwncbad]

Anybody knows where the money for pre-arbitration bonus pool actually comes from?  

All I can find is it is would be funded by “central baseball.”

Do all the teams share this expense equally?

I am asking because there so many fresh pessimistic reports about how there is such a huge gargantuan gap on the amount of the pool.

If the owners are at $10m and the players are at $100m, on its face it seems like a monster difference.

But if all the teams are sharing in the cost, then the difference is only $3m per team.

An optimist might view this as not a discouraging, insurmountable gap to resolve at all.

But again my comments here are based on a premise that the cost of this bonus pool is shared by all teams, which I personally have not verified.

Edited February 2, 2022 by Dtwncbad

[Dtwncbad]

19 hours ago, daygloman said:

Just saw this..............

What a genius.  He predicted 20 months ago that the end of a CBA agreement, and the subsequent necessary negotiations on a new CBA, would produce a moment when at least one side postures with a statement that they are not satisfied with the other side’s proposal?

Absolutely amazing.  Who else could have predicted that?

Let’s all make a point to stay close to this modern day Nostradamus.

[Taylor]

11 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

What a genius.  He predicted 20 months ago that the end of a CBA agreement, and the subsequent necessary negotiations on a new CBA, would produce a moment when at least one side postures with a statement that they are not satisfied with the other side’s proposal?

Absolutely amazing.  Who else could have predicted that?

Let’s all make a point to stay close to this modern day Nostradamus.

His wife's tire must've picked up a nail before yours did.

[Dtwncbad]

5 minutes ago, Taylor said:

His wife's tire must've picked up a nail before yours did.

[Lou]

After the first few innings I find ST games rather boring. 

[Dtwncbad]

36 minutes ago, Lou said:

After the first few innings I find ST games rather boring. 

Yes other than waiting to see a certain prospect get an at bat or something like that.

Some of the joy of Spring Training games is just missing the real games Nov-Feb.

Then after four innings you realize you are not really getting that real game experience.

[mtangelsfan]

So fans that say they can easily live with missing Spring Training games this year because they think it will end up being part of the natural resolution process to establish a new CBA are not “real” baseball fans?

Not really what I was trying to say.  However you really didn't address the points I made.

Edited February 2, 2022 by mtangelsfan