Originally Posted by
redsof72
If they are not getting shut down, then why wouldn’t they have the option to continue in their same league without a PDC and sign their own players? If they are not getting shut down, then what happens to their MiLB franchise agreement, which in most cases, is worth several million dollars (see Beloit situation in the Midwest League—their stadium did not meet standards, but they held one of 16 Midwest League franchises and had the option to sell that franchise to an owner in another city. Value of a franchise at that level, even without a stadium to play in, was somewhere around 10 million dollars, simply because there are only 16 in existence. What happens to their franchise agreement?). I mean, you say they are not being shut down, and then the options you offer as their alternatives would be the exact same thing that anyone would have if they were shut down.
Are you seriously buying this “Dream League” concept? Seriously? “We are going to stop providing you with players, but you can keep using your own field, sign guys we don’t want, pay all your own player and coach salaries, pay their insurance, workman’s comp, take on all those expenses, and operate like an independent league, and we will somehow act like we provided you with a soft landing.” Did they think that up in about five minutes and tack it on to the proposal and expect someone would think that was ok?
As I said, this was all a proposal in a negotiation. What MLB wants from the MiLB owners in their counter proposal is an increase in the percentage of MiLB ticket revenue that goes back to MLB, and that would cover the cost of the inevitable increase in MiLB player salaries. When MLB gets that counter proposal, then the MLB idea of putting existing MiLB teams out of business will start to go away. It is just a case of trying to use leverage.
Why is MLB suddenly concerned with all these issues that have been in effect for decades? MiLB stadiums today are a heck of a lot better than they ever were in the past. As far as player travel, hotel quality, all that stuff in the two news stories...did MLB just suddenly develop a conscience and say, hey, we better start making things better for our players? Or did they see this big new expense (MiLB player salaries) that they fought tooth and nail until there were lawsuits and court decisions and it became inevitable that it would happen, and conveniently their deal with MiLB is about to expire, and they decided to find some way to leverage that deal to cover the new expenses?