COVID19
Yesterday, the Mets drubbed the Nationals to the tune of an 11-0 victory. Today’s game was much closer, but unfortunately for the Nationals, that was a 9-2 win for the Mets.
It was difficult to ascertain who had the better game. Was it Jacob deGrom who allowed just one earned and came within an out of a complete game?
Or was it Jeff McNeil who was 5-for-5 with three runs, a double, two homers, and three RBI?
In any event, the Mets beat up on the Nationals, especially with five runs in the eight and seven runs over the final two innings. In addition to McNeil, Robinson Cano, Yoenis Cespedes, and Michael Conforto homered.
On a side note, MLB The Show has gotten a lot wrong with deGrom, but at least here, they did showcase his day game dominance.
After a series of offers which were angrily rejected by the other side, you’ll note there was an important development as it pertained to the owners. Before proceeding further, it is important to hone in on what the owners first offer entailed. As reported by various outlets, the owners initial offer was an 82 game season.
Put the financial details aside for a moment (that’ll be addressed later). The owners initial proposal was to play 82 games or essentially half a season (plus one game). When taking into account how part of these offers constitute a bit of posturing, the owners were saying 82 games were feasible, and there might be some room to fit in some additional games.
In the players proposal of 114 games, there was an important response from the owners. First and foremost, their proposal was to reduce the games from 82 to 50 with them finally honoring their agreement to pay the players their full prorated salaries. Without prompting, that 50 number was reduced to 48 games (if you’ve followed Jacob deGrom‘s career, you can expect no support for 48).
The next part was especially dubious. As reported by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Tony Clark said, “In fact, Rob confirmed yesterday that, ‘We can pay you 100 percent of salary right now.'”
And there you have it. Despite protesting otherwise, the owners have the money.
So, what the all amounts to is the owners attempts to reduce the amount of money they have to pay the players, and to a certain extent, to shield them from financial losses. On the latter point, it should be noted the owners continuously refuse to open their books. When they don’t do that, no one can know with any certainty what is truth and what is conjecture.
Really, at this point, no one knows if the owners will suffer losses. Remember, a loss of revenues does not necessarily mean a financial loss. Any business, including Major League Baseball, can see revenues decrease and still break-even or realize profits. With MLB still having media rights deals, having significantly decreased costs (in the billions of dollars), and the ability to purse additional revenues when baseball does return, it is quite possible no Major League team will suffer any real financial losses.
If there are teams who do, like the New York Mets for example, fact is, they were already experiencing losses. To that point, there is a legitimate question if they suffered a loss across all of their baseball related companies. Going back to the Mets, yes, there are reports the team lost money, but then again, they made money off of SNY, which is part of their baseball business enterprise.
The overriding point here is the owners admit they have the money to play baseball in 2020. While the players and fans want more games, they want fewer. This isn’t about getting back and selling the game. It’s about breaking the union and selling more postseason games.
Ultimately, the owners have no real interest in returning to play games. Every proposal where they limit the amount of games played says as much. That goes double when you consider they admit they have the money on hand to do it right now.
Through five, neither Michael Wacha nor Anibal Sanchez allowed a run. Finally, in the sixth, Brandon Nimmo hit an RBI single giving the Mets a 1-0 lead. Soon the floodgates would open.
Amed Rosario had a two RBI single to cap off the three run inning. After a run in the seventh, the Mets put up seven runs to get an 11-0 lead.
In that inning, Michael Conforto hit a three run homer, and later, Yoenis Cespedes hit a two run shot. That pushed the lead to 11-0, and that would be the final score with Wacha earning the win.
The Mets won 11-0 with Wacha picking up the win.
The Mets we’re leading 2-0 with Robinson Cano and Pete Alonso homering, but they couldn’t hold the lead after Rick Porcello allowed four runs in the fourth.
The Mets got a run back in the fifth when Alonso broke for third on a Patrick Corbin wild pitch with him scoring as Kurt Suzuki threw the ball into left.
When Sean Dolittle came on for the save in the ninth, he had the same issues against the Mets he usually does. Jake Marisnick tied the game on a sacrifice fly, and Alonso hit the go-ahead RBI single.
Seth Lugo earned the win, and Edwin Diaz picked up the save in the Mets come from behind 5-4 win.
For the first six innings, this was a pitcher’s duel between Steven Matz and Stephen Strasburg with the Mets having a 1-0 lead with Robinson Cano hitting a solo homer in the second.
Both pitchers lost it in the seventh.
In that inning, Cano had an RBI single chasing Strasburg. Yoenis Cespedes then hit a three run homer off Daniel Hudson increasing the Mets lead to 5-0.
After an Eric Thames two run homer, Matz was lifted. The Nationals pulled within one when Robert Gsellman allowed two runs.
Cano homered for the second time in the game in the eighth. That three run homer put the Mets up 8-4. That would be the final score with Matz picking up the win. Dellin Betances earned the save.
Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros bullpen limited the Mets to just four hits in their 4-0 shut out of the Mets. Jeff McNeil had half of the Mets hits.
Marcus Stroman look the loss after allowing three runs over five innings.
Former Astro J.D. Davis was 0-for-4. Apparently, he only got the signs when he was a member of that Astros team.
In the second inning, the Mets jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Astros on a pair of RBI from Jeff McNeil and Michael Conforto. Typically, that is far more run support than Jacob deGrom gets.
For some reason, the Mets ace game out after five. Walker Lockett pitched a scoreless sixth before allowing a three run homer to Michael Brantley. He took the loss in what was a 6-2 Mets loss.
Yesterday, it was Robert Gsellman picking up the win in relief. Today, it was Gsellman giving up a three run homer to Corey Seager in a tie game in the seventh to take the loss.
The bullpen fell apart in the Mets 10-4 loss. The Mets offense came from Dominic Smith (2-for-4, 2B, HR, RBI) and Yoenis Cespedes (1-for-4, RBI).
With Robinson Cano homering and Rick Porcello dealing, the Mets were tied 1-1 with the Dodgers heading into the seventh.
Amed Rosario broke the tie with an RBI single. The Mets couldn’t build off that 2-1 lead after J.D. Davis failed to deliver in the RBI situation.
Dominic Smith would in the eighth hitting a three run homer. That put the Mets ahead 5-1, and that would be the final score with Robert Gsellman picking up the win in relief.
Back in March, Major League Baseball and the Player’s Association agreed the players would receive a prorated portion of their salaries predicated upon how many games were played in 2020. This has now devolved into a he said-she said with owners trying to back out of the deal and push for players to cut their salaries more than previously agreed.
Based upon the proposed revised season from the owners, there would be an 81 game season. Even if the previously agreed upon deal was honored by both sides, that would mean each player would receive half of their 2020 salary. As an example, Marcus Stroman would only make $6 million out of his $12 million salary.
However, the proposal MLB made earlier this week would not allow Stroman to make his $6 million let alone the $12 he agreed upon in arbitration. No, MLB wants to pay him MUCH less than that. As part of what could be described as a union busting plan, MLB proposed staggering ADDITIONAL pay cuts to the players. Jeff Passan of ESPN broke down the percentages:
The salary scale in the proposal is:
– $0 to $563,500 (league minimum) paid at 90%
– $563,501 to $1 million paid at 72.5%
– $1,000,001 to $5 million paid at 50%
– $5,000,001 to $10 million paid at 40%
– $10,000,001 to $20 million paid at 30%
– $20,000,001 and up paid at 20%— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 27, 2020
Just to let you know how this works math works out, Passan used Mike Trout, the highest paid player in the game, as an example. Trout was due to make $36.7 million in 2020. Under the proposal presented by MLB, Trout’s salary would be reduced from $36.7 million to $5,748,577. That’s a pay cut of roughly 85%.
Running through the same convoluted math for Stroman, and we see his $12 million salary be reduced to roughly $2.7 million. That is a 78% pay cut. More than that, Stroman is being less than what Michael Wacha‘s $3 million base salary was supposed to be in 2020, but unlike Wacha, he’s not going to get incentives to raise his salary.
Let’s compare that to Commissioner Rob Manfred.
According to rumors, Manfred earns $11 million per year as the commissioner of baseball. If we were to use the same formula for Manfred as we used for the players, Manfred’s $11 million salary would drop to approximately $2.6 million. That would be an approximate 76% pay cut.
However, that is not what Manfred is doing. No, he is only cutting his salary by 35%. That means instead of the $2.6 million he would make as a player, he is going to make $7.15 million.
Keep in mind, Manfred is not going to have to assume the risk of playing games and traveling. He is not going to have to be separated from his family for months on end. He is not going to have to experience the same level of exposure to COVID19 as the players will if the season ever resumes. No, Manfred has the option to work from home or from an office he can dictate screening procedures. He can go home to his family every night.
Even if we take the owners who won’t open their books at face value and accept they can’t proceed with a season paying players at the previously collectively bargained amounts, there needs to be an explanation why Manfred should only take a 35% pay cut while Stroman takes a 78% pay cut.
We need an explanation why Manfred should make more money off of his $11 million than Trout will make off of his $36.7 million. Seriously, Manfred is currently slated to make about $1.45 million more than Trout. When you look at it that way, you understand a little more why Max Scherzer responded on behalf of the players the way he did:
— Max Scherzer (@Max_Scherzer) May 28, 2020
In the end, fans have taken different positions on this fight between the players and owners. Many are frustrated in what they see as a fight between billionaires and millionaires. While we have the right to our own opinions, and we can understand people’s frustrations, we should be at least able to agree a system where Manfred’s pay is cut only 35% and players’ salaries are cut anywhere from 70 – 85% is unfair, and no one should be defending Manfred and the owners pursuing such an inequity.