Major League Baseball,
led by Bud Selig and the owners, and the players association, led by the
players, has reached an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement that
will last until 2016. Before getting into the nuts and bolts of the
changes to the new CBA I want to congratulate the players
and and owners for ensuring that baseball will continue to be played without a work stoppage. Baseball has continued to grow
every season and remains America's pastime. For it
to be the only major sport in the U.S. not to have a strike since the 1990's
constitutes an impressive accomplishment.
The new collective
bargaining agreement contains some interesting changes. One of the most
recent intense debates in the baseball world has concerned the use or disuse of
instant replay. The new CBA stipulates that instant replay will expand its
purview. Pending an agreement with the umpires union, the new owners and
players have agreed to use instant replay in situations of fair/foul calls and
in cases of a "trapped" ball. I am a proponent of expanding
instant replay. If we have the technology and we truly love the game we
should want to get the call right, no matter what. I agree that
utilizing umpires keeps the human element as part of
baseball, but allowing the umpires some assistance adds to the game's
legitimacy. No one will forget the no-call that disallowed Armando Gallaraga's perfect game. Interestingly, these new changes will not
govern a play similar to the one in Gallaraga's imperfect game, but they
do illustrate a move in the right direction.
Another important change
covered in the CBA also refers to a hot-button issue: performance enhancing drugs. The new CBA
calls for drug testing of the top 200 amateur prospects as well as blood
testing for human growth hormone. HGH has been recently publicized as rampant throughout baseball. Previously there was no definitive test for HGH but
blood testing has proven effective. The owners finally convinced the
players union to allow their members to be blood tested in addition to the urine test
which they were subjected to previously. Following the testing the samples will be disposed of. Players are subjected to be
tested at random for HGH in spring training and after that players can only be
tested for just cause.
Tobacco has become an
important topic in baseball circles. Large numbers of players chew
tobacco, which can lead to esophageal, tongue, and mouth cancer. MLB
sent a message to the country in the new agreement by banning the use of
smokeless tobacco during any on-camera moments. A player
should be allowed to chew tobacco, but by doing so on TV he advertises its use. This new directive is
aimed at discouraging children from picking up unhealthy habits. Players
are role models and should act as such through their play, attitude, and their health habits.
Other important changes
in the new collective bargaining agreement concern free agents and the draft.
Under the new agreement, contracts for amateurs have
undergone adjustments. Each team, depending on regular season record, with
the teams that win more getting less money and the teams who win less getting
more money, will receive a stipend or signing bonus pool that can then be
spent on signing top free agents. Teams with higher pools will find it
easier to sign their top draft picks and thus rebuild their farm systems,
while consistently competitive teams will have to use other methods
to sign coveted youngsters. The same bonus pool system will apply to
international amateurs, those players whose nationality is of a country other
than the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, or other U.S. territories and who
have not attended a U.S. high school or college. Teams like the Rangers,
Reds, and Rays have recently signed a number of highly touted international players by
spending more money on them. These teams have benefited from this
increase in spending, using it to compete with bigger market teams like the Red
Sox, Yankees, Phillies and Giants. The changes lessen but do not erase
this advantage.
One inherent problem
with bonus pools for signing amateurs regards two or multi-sport athletes.
Money remains a significant reason for multi-sport athletes to choose
baseball over football, basketball, and hockey. If MLB decreases the
ability of teams to spend lots of money on signing bonuses then some players
who excel more than one sport may be persuaded to play another sport
instead of baseball.
Two other minor but
interesting changes in the new CBA include a minimum salary increase for
first-year players as well as the elimination of the Elias sports rankings for
free agents. No longer will players be classified as type-A or type-B
free agents according to Elias. Instead, the decision to award compensatory draft picks for losing
a free agent will be determined by the amount of money per year in the free
agent's new contract. Teams offering a contract to a free agent that has
a value greater than $12.4 million per season will receive a first-round draft
pick as compensation. $12.4 million is the average salary of the 125
highest-paid players in the league. Teams that finish in the bottom 15
teams in the regular season will not have to forfeit a draft pick for signing a
free agent for more than $12.4 million per season. I think this change
serves a purpose, in that it rids the league of the arbitrary Elias sports rankings
and implements a system that can change as contracts do.
The new system will most likely need tweaking, but theoretically it seems
more beneficial than the old system.[1]
Additionally, new CBA realigns the league as well as changes the playoff system.
The players and owners announced that the Houston Astros, under new owner
Jim Crane, will be moving to the American League West beginning in 2013.
This will leave 6 divisions with 5 teams in each. Each league will
have 15 teams, which creates some scheduling problems. In the new vision,
there would have to be an inter league series played at all times
because each league has an odd number of teams instead of an even number. The new realignment means more inter league games, something which
does not excite me. Inter league play is fun but nothing in baseball
creates more excitement than a division race with playoff
implications. It is more important that teams within each division play
themselves more often than teams from different leagues playing each other.
As a Phillies fan, I would rather see more games against the Mets,
Braves, Marlins, and Nationals, than games against the Red Sox, Royals, or
Mariners. This change may eventually lead to the elimination of the
pitcher from hitting, even in the National League. The DH may soon be introduced in the NL because owners and
managers will not want to sit their DH's for more games being played in NL
parks. This distresses me even more because I am completely against the
designated hitter.[2]
Finally, the new CBA
also calls for an eventual expansion of the playoffs to include one more wild
card in each league. I cannot begin to articulate the stupidity of
expanding the playoffs. With advanced metrics taking over the baseball
world, influencing the valuation of players, teams, and even statistics,
devaluing the regular season seems ludicrous. It is now possible that the
5th best team in either league could not only win their league's pennant, but
the World Series. The 5th best teams in the NL and AL respectively in
2011 were the Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox. Both teams experienced
infamous collapses. Neither team deserved to make the playoffs.
This change will add more games to the playoffs, which already last till
the end of October. MLB owners will make more money due to this change;
no other legitimate reason could be found other than the obvious monetary
incentive. Currently the 8th best team could win the World Series; under
the new agreement the 10th best team in the league could do so. I
understand the odds are against the 9th and 10th best teams, but with the
Cardinals winning two World Series with teams that won 90 or fewer games many
fans already see the playoff system as completely random instead of rewarding
the teams with the best regular season records. Inflating the playoff system
will only prove to further dilute the talent pool in the playoffs.[3]
The latest collective
bargaining agreement encompasses some powerful changes to Major League
Baseball. The most comforting piece of information to come out of this
agreement is that baseball will be played through 2016 and that both the
players association and owners agreed to all of these changes. Although
both sides have agendas, I trust that both the owners and players want to
uphold the integrity of the game despite the possible flaws in the new
agreement. Both sides have the best intentions of the league at heart.
The announcement of the new CBA perfectly exemplifies the importance of
the off-season. The off-season contains great excitement and importance,
something extremely evident in the new collective bargaining agreement.
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