The current
collective-bargaining agreement has some real problems, as evidenced by Kris
Bryant’s grievance and Mookie Betts’ salary, one or both of which could lead to
a strike once the CBA expires after the 2021 season.
Bryant is upset
the Cubs held off calling him up in 2015 until late April. Had he been part of the Opening Day roster,
his service-time count-off to free agency would’ve started; by waiting a few
weeks, the Cubs got an extra year on the clock, if you will. Only in baseball can a day equal a year.
The problem with
Betts, it would seem, is his salary.
Rather than go to arbitration, the Red Sox and Betts agreed to a $27
million, one-year deal. Consider that
Betts hit .295 last year with 29 homeruns and 80 RBIs, all down from 2018, when
he won the AL MVP hitting .346 with 32 homers and 80 RBIs Betts did score 135 runs in 2019, up six from
the season before.
For that great
season, Betts earned $10.5 million, vs. $20 million for 2019. His third and final year of arbitration
eligibility will net him $27 million.
But if his production went down, why didn’t his salary? Welcome to the vagaries of baseball
arbitration.
The temptation
here is to pick sides, but that would be a mistake. Players and owners may be at each other’s
throats, but they’re pretty united in not giving a damn’ about me or any other
fan. I’ve always looked forward to
September call ups to see what the Sox minor-league system has developed. No more, service time. I can barely afford the cost of a ticket,
this at the same time while in all likelihood I’ll be stuck subsidizing the
Cubs as soon as my cable provider picks up the team’s new network and passes
the cost along in my bill. The Ricketts
as owners couldn’t care less about this White Sox fan. After all, money spent on their cable network
is money I can’t spend on the Sox.
And Mookie
Betts? He’s too busy counting down the
days to free agency, which happens the moment the 2020 season comes to an
end. Doug? Doug who?
Oh, Doug the baseball fan. What a
chump.
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