Um … well, actually …
The biggest changes are on the international spending front.
Ben and Zachary talk to Houston Chronicle Astros beat writer Evan Drellich about the Astros’ contentious negotiations with no. 1 overall pick Brady Aiken.
Even the All-Star Game gets collectively bargained.
Searching for exceptions in the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Does the hard time Kyle Lohse had finding a job suggest that we should change the draft pick compensation system?
Adapting the rules governing free agency might seem like sound policy, but it comes with considerable risk.
With one deadline under the new CBA behind us, can we say anything about what we’ll see from future July 31sts?
The Blue Jays came very close to exceeding their bonus allotment for amateur draft picks.
Hi, everyone. I hope you all had a good Labor Day weekend.
Of course, I’m an A’s fan, so every weekend’s been good to me lately. And yet, even with the continuation of The Streak, I’m beginning to get the same feeling in the pit of my stomach that I did when Jeter made the flip to nail Giambi last year. Yeah, 19 in a row is tremendous, but if Oakland can do it, so can Anaheim or Seattle–and there’s still plenty of time. Sure, it’s better to be in first, but I’d feel considerably better if they could shred out another four or five wins immediately after this run ends.
[Just after midnight Eastern time Friday morning, the Prospectus staff starts discussing the coming agreement]
Derek Zumsteg: It appears that if the owners gave in right now, just said “sure, we’ll take your last offer”, they’d have won more in this negotiation than in any previous one since free agency. Why did the players move so far? Are they that afraid of the NLRB and implementation? Do they believe that if they give in this time, they’ll be able to win it back in four years when it’s apparent none of this did any good for competitive balance?
I’m baffled.
It’s 11:49 p.m. EDT, and I’m sitting here staring slack-jawed at a 13-inch television set. In St. Louis, the remnants of what was a crowd of 47,000 people are going nuts, and the Cardinals are jumping around as if they’ve won the World Series. Edgar Renteria has just hit a three-run home run to cap a six-run ninth inning, giving the Cards a 10-9 victory.
Lost in the chaos that surrounded the All-Star Game–and the spate of anti-marketing that followed it–was that the players did not set a strike date. They met, they authorized team votes on whether to walk, but no date was set, and none has yet been set.
To test your mettle, we’re offering a quiz on contraction. Let’s see how closely you’ve been paying attention and how well you understand the new math that Major League Baseball has unveiled during its current round of labor negotiations.
