Players/Agents mummering the C word

[corkedbat]

Collusion.

Granted, I wouldn't put it past the owners to take back anything they can, but the current climate has to affect the season ticket base and sponsorships.

You would think that the players/agents would be smart (or at least tactful) enough not to whine to loudly that they are being cheated and only making $18M instead of $15M, $1M instead of $12M or $4M instead of $6M while hundreds of thousands of Americans are losing their jobs, but don't count on it.

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog...3dolney_buster

[WMR]

I see this going really well for the players.

[Krusty]

Did the players and agents see what is happening to the economy? Oh I forgot, they live in a different world.

[M2]

MLB revenues, and salaries, rose in the late 70s and early 80s. Both rose in the early 90s too. In 2001, during the dotcom bust, MLB never slowed down.

The league is coming off of record revenues. While I'm sure a few teams will take hits next season, most won't. Unless season ticket renewals are off sharply, and I've yet to hear one instance of that, then I'm not quite sure what the hysteria is about.

[membengal]

Is MLB under a significant debt service? Are some individual teams?

Even for a league as solid as the NFL, that is already being signaled as a problem for some franchises. Hard to gauge just how the economy is affecting things. More importantly, given how skittish folks are in general about spending money right now, hard to look at the reluctance of MLB teams to do so and think "collusion".

[*BaseClogger*]

Catcher?

[Vada Pinson Fan]

Catcher?

I was thinking in Vegas it must be Cocktails and always Coin.

[Always Red]

One man's collusion is another man's economic catastrophe, at least in the real world.

Of course, MLB players, their agents, and the owners live in a different world than the rest of us.

Which is why I come here to get away from reality!

It will be very interesting to see how the economy effects attendance at the ballparks this year.

[BCubb2003]

collective bargaining?

[GADawg]

there's been an offer on the table for 140 million for close to a month...A guy with a bad back is offered 4 years and 40 million....a catcher in the twiligt(a dim one at that)of his career refuses arbitration on what would've certainly been over 10 million per...there's Manny Dodger offer(whatever that was)....David Ross got 2 years for God's sake....etc...etc...

where's the collusion? Things have been slow on the 'ole hot stove front it seems but it still seems the teams that have it are throwing it around and the rest are doing...well...what the rest do.