The Atlanta Braves are what baseball should be right now

The Atlanta Braves are the counter-model for a dysfunctional sport.

Major League Baseball’s ownership and the MLB player’s association both need a hug from the Atlanta Braves.  Freddie Freeman is standing by to assist (with proper protection, of course).

They need to be reminded about being kids and having fun at the ball field.  One look at players like Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuna should do that.

There should be huge smiles on their faces that they are even associated with a sport like baseball that has the ability to capture the attention of fans from all over the world.  See Dansby Swanson for examples.

Yet right now it looks like all of that is being thrown aside because each side is ignoring, the fun, the history, the competition, and most importantly:  the fans.

The really disturbing aspect of all this is that they are doing this just for the sake of trying to win this …. this contest of testosterone that has broken out.  Each side is trying to avoid looking weak and conciliatory when that is exactly what each side needs to be doing.  It’s childish and petty.

Think I’m exaggerating?  Consider this:

• MLB’s proposal:  82 games with a 30-33% cut off the pro-rated salaries (via that ‘sliding scale’ plan)
• MLBPA’s proposal:  nope… we want 114 games with no changes to the already agreed-upon pro-rated salaries (in essence, this ups salaries by lengthening the season by 32 games).
• MLB’s response:  nope… instead, we’re going to shorten the season by exactly those same 32 games… down to 50 games.
  • Oh: you can have your pro-rated salaries with that, because we’d get our 30-33% payroll cuts that way.

It’s a tit-for-tat squabble.  What’s more, each side is in a hole and yet both are digging in further.  With each passing day, now, even that 82-game short season is looking less likely… and with that, the owners’ position will continue to strengthen.

This gets to something I wrote a couple of weeks ago:  the players union is in a no-win situation.  There is no scenario in which they could out of this well.

They were out-maneuvered back in March because they didn’t read the fine print.  They seem to have naively expected that “pro-rated” salaries would result in ‘x’ dollars since the hype at the time was ‘more double-headers!’ and ‘fewer days off!’ and all kinds of scheduling gymnastics to get 120+ games in.

Well, there’s a couple of problems they apparently never considered:

• Having no fans in the stands is terrible from a monetary point of view
• Having weekly double-headers isn’t something that exciting to the media either (how many of us would actually sit in front of a TV for 7 straight hours every week for 2 full games?  The answer:  not nearly enough)
• Baseball players want to be paid, but the money to pay them has to come from the above 2 sources:  fans buying things and advertisers buying TV time.
• Oh, and they left the discretion for conducting the season up to the Commissioners office… and they work for the owners.

By now, both reality and panic should be settling in over at Tony Clark’s offices.  Since it will require a month to get this season cranked up, each passing day is going to cost the players another 1/162nd of their individual contracts.

• Atlanta Braves Cole Hamels and Marcell Ozuna:  $111,111 per game.
• Even minimum-salaried players:  $3,478 per game.

There won’t be 120+ games.  There won’t be 114.  There may not be 82.  They may not be any.

The union has two choices:  go on strike (yeah, that’ll work) or try to save face by issuing some sort of statement that they understand the situation the country is in, (blah blah blah…) and is willing to play an 82 games schedule for 10-15% under their “previously agreed to” pro-rated salaries levels.

In short, it’s time for somebody to be the adult in the room.

That might still not sway the owners, but it would at least make it look like one side finally gave up something that they wanted… that one side finally yielded some territory rather than continuing to mark it.

Face it, MLBPA:  you’ve lost and you need to concede that.  Right now the only territory you’re marking is the ground under your own wet feet.

So it’s time for a change in style… to stop trying to win every battle and remember the fun.  Do it in Atlanta Braves style.  But for the love of the game, just get it done already.