There is a lockout coming after the 26 season.

So two more years before reality sets in.

The reds only have ellly 5 more years before he signs with NY or LA or San Diego etc.

Will the reds lose a year of elly if there is a full year work
Stoppage like many are predicting?

(02-23-2025, 08:59 PM)c766 Wrote: There is a lockout coming after the 26 season.

So two more years before reality sets in.

The reds only have ellly 5 more years before he signs with NY or LA or San Diego etc.

Will the reds lose a year of elly if there is a full year work
Stoppage like many are predicting?

If there is a stoppage . . . I don't see them starting back up without some form of a salary cap.

If that happens, Elly will probably be a Red for quite awhile.

MLB needs a salary cap structure similar to the NFL. Keep things even across the board.

Can't wait! If it costs us a year of EDLC control, so be it. It's not like having him for an extra year, if massive changes aren't made, would matter anyway.

Current MLB structure needs to burn down because otherwise it's going to turn even more into the NBA, and Manfred needs to get his shitty little paws away from the game and be replaced before he totally ruins it.

(02-23-2025, 11:04 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Can't wait! If it costs us a year of EDLC control, so be it. It's not like having him for an extra year, if massive changes aren't made, would matter anyway.

Current MLB structure needs to burn down because otherwise it's going to turn even more into the NBA, and Manfred needs to get his shitty little paws away from the game and be replaced before he totally ruins it.

For Sure !!

They need a good lockout. I'm not a big "athletes are overpaid" guy, but this is out of hand. It threatens the future of the sport.

On the other end of it, I hope they saddle the owners with a salary floor. Should be around 150 or 175 million a year. You spend to that amount or. you get out. For that, they get a cap and maybe something like a super max rate like the NBA.

You just gotta hope that the strike doesn't alienate fans enough to permanently damage the league.

(02-23-2025, 11:04 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Can't wait! If it costs us a year of EDLC control, so be it. It's not like having him for an extra year, if massive changes aren't made, would matter anyway.

Current MLB structure needs to burn down because otherwise it's going to turn even more into the NBA, and Manfred needs to get his shitty little paws away from the game and be replaced before he totally ruins it.

Sometimes it seems like Manfred doesn't even like baseball.

(02-23-2025, 11:04 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Can't wait! If it costs us a year of EDLC control, so be it. It's not like having him for an extra year, if massive changes aren't made, would matter anyway.

Current MLB structure needs to burn down because otherwise it's going to turn even more into the NBA, and Manfred needs to get his shitty little paws away from the game and be replaced before he totally ruins it.

Agreed 100%.

The problem with the last few CBA's is that the MLBPA has been hanging the specter of the damage the 94 work stoppage caused to the league over the owners during the last several negotiations.  But enoughs enough - they need a salary cap and a salary floor.  Wouldn't surprise me if we lose at least one and maybe two full seasons over this.  But it needs to change.

I agree with you all on MLB needing a salary cap floor and ceiling. There is too much of a disparity between the haves and the have nots. It’s pushed a lot of fans away. MY gripe is MLB has turned to streaming services to the point where it’s been a huge hassle just to watch MY team. Get a year of MLB.tv? Cool. Reds games were always blacked out. Absolute waste of a yearly sub. I know we will never get back to local tv broadcasting, but I sure do miss Fox Sports for my Reds games. Aside from the occasional Apple TV-bought broadcast last year, I haven’t WATCHED a Reds game in five+ years. Dish dropped Fox Sports, then the Reds went to Bally’s. I didn’t get stream-worthy internet out where I live in the country until 2022, and by that time I couldn’t justify subscribing. Especially under the David Bell regime.

(02-25-2025, 01:22 PM)The D.O.Z. Wrote: I agree with you all on MLB needing a salary cap floor and ceiling. There is too much of a disparity between the haves and the have nots. It’s pushed a lot of fans away. MY gripe is MLB has turned to streaming services to the point where it’s been a huge hassle just to watch MY team. Get a year of MLB.tv? Cool. Reds games were always blacked out. Absolute waste of a yearly sub. I know we will never get back to local tv broadcasting, but I sure do miss Fox Sports for my Reds games. Aside from the occasional Apple TV-bought broadcast last year, I haven’t WATCHED a Reds game in five+ years. Dish dropped Fox Sports, then the Reds went to Bally’s. I didn’t get stream-worthy internet out where I live in the country until 2022, and by that time I couldn’t justify subscribing. Especially under the David Bell regime.

at the very least a salary cap. per team 

(02-23-2025, 09:23 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: MLB needs a salary cap structure similar to the NFL. Keep things even across the board.

MLB can't get outta it's own damn way...

(02-25-2025, 01:22 PM)The D.O.Z. Wrote: I agree with you all on MLB needing a salary cap floor and ceiling. There is too much of a disparity between the haves and the have nots. It’s pushed a lot of fans away. MY gripe is MLB has turned to streaming services to the point where it’s been a huge hassle just to watch MY team. Get a year of MLB.tv? Cool. Reds games were always blacked out. Absolute waste of a yearly sub. I know we will never get back to local tv broadcasting, but I sure do miss Fox Sports for my Reds games. Aside from the occasional Apple TV-bought broadcast last year, I haven’t WATCHED a Reds game in five+ years. Dish dropped Fox Sports, then the Reds went to Bally’s. I didn’t get stream-worthy internet out where I live in the country until 2022, and by that time I couldn’t justify subscribing. Especially under the David Bell regime.

MLB has made it much harder to watch its product in the last 5 years, while every other sport has made it exponentially easier. 

It is very odd.  It is almost like they are doing this opposite to see if anyone notices. 

If the owners require a salary cap, the players better require a salary floor.

I'm sick of these teams that spend less than 100 million dollars on payroll, knowing they'll be bad/coasting off of a ton of rookie contracts with no intention of ever paying their players.

The average in 2025 is 169M. At the very least, I think that should be a benchmark for a floor that rises as the revenue of the league rises.

(03-31-2025, 10:12 AM)CJD Wrote: If the owners require a salary cap, the players better require a salary floor.

I'm sick of these teams that spend less than 100 million dollars on payroll, knowing they'll be bad/coasting off of a ton of rookie contracts with no intention of ever paying their players.

The average in 2025 is 169M. At the very least, I think that should be a benchmark for a floor that rises as the revenue of the league rises.

I agree and think that it will lead to more competitive league on average and be more entertaining to see different teams having legitimate chances of success each year, similar to the NFL.

(03-31-2025, 12:48 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: I agree and think that it will lead to more competitive league on average and be more entertaining to see different teams having legitimate chances of success each year, similar to the NFL.

The NFL should be the model for competitive sports. Yes, there are transcendent talents, and we've kind of had to deal with 2 particularly egregious examples of that for a while now (Brady and then Mahomes), but any team can rise from the ashes in 1 to 2 seasons given the right coaches and players because the cap makes teams like the LA Dodgers impossible.

I think the players and players union will fight a salary cap/floor tooth-n-nail. They're used to the gravy train payrolls and guaranteed contracts. I think it could and will get ugly but change is long overdue. I guess we'll be watching Cincinnati Suds softball as a substitution again when the time comes.

(02-23-2025, 09:23 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: MLB needs a salary cap structure similar to the NFL. Keep things even across the board.

I think any fans of small-market teams want this (like us), but I wonder if overall it would generate more interest and revenue for MLB or not?

I don't personally watch postseason baseball unless the Reds are in it, but I know some are more inclined to watch if it's big teams like Yankees and Dodgers as opposed to likes of the Rays or Marlins.

I can say stadium attendance for most teams heavily fluctuates based on team performance, so the more likelihood of parity in MLB would likely help those perennial poor-performing teams bring in more revenue from ticket and concession sales if they had more frequent good seasons.

(04-01-2025, 12:58 AM)BrownAssClown Wrote: I think the players and players union will fight a salary cap/floor tooth-n-nail. They're used to the gravy train payrolls and guaranteed contracts. I think it could and will get ugly but change is long overdue. I guess we'll be watching Cincinnati Suds softball as a substitution again when the time comes.

The Florence Y'alls will get quite busy!

Somewhat related topic.... Of the top 10 teams right now by record 9 of them are above-average in payroll including all of the top-5 payroll teams.

The Tigers at 18th in payroll are the only below average team in the top-10 records but they have the benefit of being at the top of the worst division in baseball.