oldtimer

You are right, there are a lot of potential reasons for sticking points and as fans not in on the negotiations, we can only guess. I was assuming the regular season could not start before mid July and would be over in very early Oct, with a playoff to follow. I see that as more of an 80 day period with maybe 70-75 games max. I assume there would be a playoff. I don't see how the players or you believe a season until the end of October works out and they get 114 games with a much higher prorated pay. Are you assuming no playoffs or those beginning in November and running up to the election. Too late for my thinking. The opt out is also clearly a question. If a player can opt out by only indicating someone in his household is At Risk, and still get full pay, how many would choose that option leaving the owners with a large bill and no players.

I don't think the offer of a 110 game season starting in mid July is all that sensible.

There are always dopes that yell ethnic slurs from the stands. I sat in the stands at Fenway from the 1940's on. I have heard slurs about Polish, Italian, Latinos and African Americans. I have also seen the love for players like Yaz, Big Papi and Manny. By far, most of the fans are civil and don't engage in name calling.

You seem to have an anti-owner bias. The players counter proposal was not sensible. Maybe behind the scenes negotiations are underway and that a shortened season will start sometime in July. Since they will need to get arranged and started and then have a 3 week spring training 2, the earliest may be mid July. Would that allow for a 70 game season with prorated pay? Will players accept 70/162nd of their contracted pay? I don't really feel that we will have a season and I am okay with that.

Ted I am 79 and also share your sentiment about not playing. If they reach agreement by each giving in on some points then I am happy enough to watch games on TV. No fans in stands. The most I see is an 82 game season. If they can't negotiate in good faith, then I will find other avenues for my sports entertainment. i also think we should avoid bringing in political topics here as there are more suitable places for those discussions.

The short season would be a boon for the Sox. Didn't the players ask for allowing any player who had an at risk person at home could elect to opt out at full salary. What is the definition of an at risk person. That is another non-starter. I hope Kimmi is right about some MLB this year but it looks less and less likely.

I don't see how that can work. The best scenario, and one that possibly could be agreed to is a shortened season of around 81 games with the players salaries prorated based on the number of games played. That would require both sides to give. The owners paying as if the seats were filled and concessions business booming. The players would have to accept 1/2 their contracted salary before the virus changed everthing. Both sides bargaining positions are set based on not losing as much money. The fans be damned is the attitude as far as I can see. That is why I really don't expect a season at all this year. The big bucks players are probably set for life anyway so loss of their millions can be accepted, but the marginal players will see a year of earnings (maybe their only year) go out the window while all this reaches its conclusion. I can play softball and play the horses for entertainment and let this thing play out without much chagrin.

Major league baseball is a business with multi-millionaire players, obnoxious agents and multi-billionaire owners. They argue over who gets what share of the proceeds but seem to overlook the fans. They do that at their own peril, as I for one would accept the loss of this season to the virus pandemic and let MLBB return as best it can next year. If the owners and players take a hit financially, they would have it themselves to blame. I play softball year round and can get my kicks that way. Its more real anyway.

The way I understand it, thecontracts are now based on a prorated amount of the total salary committed to earlier based upon the fraction of games played. At 82 games, players would get 505 of their salary, however if 100 games were played the players would get a largeer fraction. The owners are saying wait a minuted, a large fraction of our income comes from ticket sales and concessions. That is not to mention, the fixed costs associated with owning a club. So the owners make a lot less but the players don't want to share in paying for that loss. If it was the reverse situation and the owners were making a lot more, would the players not be looking for a share of the new found income? I think the owners have a reasonable argument regarding players sharing the cost of the lost revenue.

You seem to be the primary poster these days. How you stay excited enough to bother escapes me. As far as I am concerned the season is toast and they can pack it in now. The product they could offer will be second rate. Do them all good to sit out a year.

Some kind of watered down baseball being played is good for the Sox in that our CBT will be reset and the Mookie/Price trade won't hurt us as much. It will be hard to see the game in any serious vein but it probably will go on without fans present.

Whats going on is known as negotiations. Not unusual that each side will use all the tatics available to them.

I seriously doubt if any club is going to come up with more than $19.5 mil per year for a DH in the new reality of baseball contracts. I think JD will remain with the Sox for the next 2 years and that is a good thing for us.

Lots of Kim's and Lee's. Hard to botch those.

Interesting point. Is the outbreak due to weather or due to a large number of kids being thrown together in close proximity that causes the outbreaks. One would think that nrthern latitudes and places where schools are in session in warmer climates might answe these worts of questions. Baseball does appear to want to start games in June, probably with no fans in attendance and move forward on a scheduled implementation to adding fans. We shall see.

Back in the NC mountains after a 685 mi drive from my florida home. Gas price of 1.49. 46 and windy here, some difference. a lot of people are lookng for a shorter baseball season, but this is a heck of a way of making that happen. Looking forward to the start of play, maybe in june or July.

The real balance will be between people earning a living and the health of our population. Both are important or even critical. Leadership is trying to address both and of course are drawing criticsm, some realistic and some more political in nature. We do best in society when we cooperate for the benefit of all. Baseball is a business. Its return is in no way more important than opening other businesses throughout the country. Of course as sports fans we miss it a lot but its only part of the whole economy.

I believe a season could begin sometime in the June/July time frame, but the admission of fans to parks will be problematical. Even if the outbreak dies down, one asymptomatic person can infect hundreds in a crowded setting. Hot spots like NY City and Boston will take a while to die down. We may see some fans allowed in later in the summer but I can see full parks. If that is the scenario, MLB has to decide if it wants to attempt to have a season at all.

My understanding is that the rule was set for the 2018 season such that a team could not use the replay room to decode the signs as the game was in progress. You could use prior tapes or after the game was over you could. That is the distinction as i understand it. Since the replay room has to be able to communicate with the dugout for the purpose of questioning umpires calls, the means of communication was set up in advance. A person could just as easily go between the two to communicate as well. Clearly the temptation is there to decode the signs during the game, since the same guy is allowed to do that before and after. My understanding was that a hitter who got to second could then use the information and relay it to the player at the plate. No banging of trash cans and no buzzers worn beneath the uniform. Also, easily defeated by changing signs with a player on second. I'd bet that other clubs have done the same or similar things so a harsh punishment is neither warranted or fair, unless Manfred wants to open the investigation to other teams, such as the Yankees. Probably the rule should be looked at, since it is hard to enforce and not importants, since teams can avoid any harm by just changing signs. I have no information about the Yankees or any other club using similar sign stealing as the Sox used, but it is quite likely that they did.

The Sox were guilty of our replaqay booth decoding the signs so that if we got a runner on second he could relay that knowledge to the hitter. Just as I expected and probably not differet than a lot of clubs have done. Manfred made a lot of hoopla over it but the punishment was mild as it should have been. It's Over, get on with it.

I agree. Almost certainly signing Mookie would require a very long term contract at big bucks. Lets hope we have learned a lesson and try walking a diffrerent path to resurgence. By the way, the long term saga of my neice's son-in-law ended well. After 12 days on a ventilator he was removed and on Easter Sunday he was able to talk to his wife and children. He is still weak but was discharged to the rehab unit. The Doctors and nurses lined up to applaud his long fight as he was moved to rehab. Good things do happen.

After 12 days of unrelenting bad news, our prayers were answered and his fever broke last night. Now he will remain ventilated and hopefully will be able to recover some or all of his strength. Thanks for your concern.

We have had a family member in intensive care for 12 days now and he is not responding to the specialty drugs. A young man with 2 children. There is still hope but it has been a protracted fight. I still think sports keep us occupied but this pandemic is certainly front and center in our lives. Anyone with a large family has a moderate probabily of the same experience, just based on the number of infections.

Our relief pitching was poor. Good field play and luck got us the win. I am just as happy we are moving on to a different group. Will we get to play this year. Very doubtful anything happens until June and even that is optimistic. More likely 2nd half start.

Still going roughly. Ventillator although heavy does of the new drug may be helping. Fingers crossed as of now. Thanks for your concern. Warning for younger people, you too can be hit hard with this. Varies based on genetics I think. So far us old folks here in Florida have escaped the disease, but every day the risk continues. While in my 80th year, I am still out there playing decent softball and enjoying life. Take care of yourself and no doubt you can get there and more. Just please take care.