Ron Robinsons Beard

MLBPA taking a vote today to decide if they want to accept MLB's 60-game proposal. To me, if they vote against it, it really makes that "when and where" stuff look like lip service.

Exactly. Every time I try to say anything about the owners not deserving all the blame in this, some Twitter idiot calls me a bootlicker. Here I thought most people were smart enough to know that in situations of this magnitude, "right" and "wrong" is never, ever clear cut.

Yep ... at this point it's a simple pissing match. I think several national writers jumped the gun yesterday declaring that an agreement was in place, but it did seem like it was a foregone conclusion. I didn't think there was any way that Rob Manfred could come out of this looking better than Tony Clark, but here we are.

I completely forgot that the Brewers had Ryon Healy as well. The roster is literally chok full of potential DH candidates for this season.

I dunno ... concern over having a couple more logos on a uniform seems trivial to me, considering everything else happening (or not happening) with MLB so far this year.

Everyone: "Too many teams make the playoffs in the NBA, making the regular season irrelevant." MLB: "What a novel, interesting concept!"

Owners are getting their expanded playoffs as well. I expect MLBPA will counter asking for 65-70 games.

That is a true story. Haven't watched a single down since I made that commitment, it wasn't an empty threat. Saying you will probably stop going to games is exactly that, an empty threat, and you know it. Sure it is... We REALLY need baseball back soon to argue about on this board.

Jon Heyman @JonHeyman · 9m Breaking: MLB and players union are closing in on an agreement to play the 2020 season, via players. Deal expected to be for prorated pay and include expanded playoffs. Hope springs attorney???

Here, here I don't get the people that are exonerating the players completely in this mess, while vilifying the owners. It is far from a black and white situation. Like you said, there is plenty of blame to go around on both sides.

I have a tough time understanding this line of thinking. Whether they have any sort of season this year will likely have no bearing on next year, so why not play in 2020? The game being played on the field is still gonna be baseball, and any baseball this summer would be better than none in my opinion.

His upside is probably Jody Reed. Perez is not an apt comparison, as in addition to the terrible plate discipline, Perez always had more power potential.

When it comes to profile, Hart instantly jumped into my head. Size, power, arm, and speed fit great. Not sure what Hart’s scouting report was coming out of high school as 11th rounder but based on results, think Hart had less contact concerns. He pretty much hit right away. Dominated AA & think won MVP that year. So not sure if his bat had the hole Wiemer does but Hart potential is def there! I've seen a few Rob Deer comparisons for Wiemer.

Turang is listed at 6', 173 lbs compared to 6' 3", 204 lbs for Mitchell. Garrett has a much better frame & more raw power, so I'm not sure Brice is the best comp. And Yelich is listed at 6'3", 195. The size and frame of the player really doesn't have a ton to do with how much power they can generate with their bat, at least not anymore. The biggest difference between Yelich and Mitchell is that Yelich definitely showed more raw power in high school, while Mitchell brings more speed and defensive talent to the table. Other than that, their upbringing, frame and demeanor are very similar. I have the feeling the Brewers will tinker with Mitchell's swing in an attempt to capitalize on more of that raw power he apparently shows in BP, but I doubt they ever try to turn him into a "power hitter".

The difference between the two is the Brewers discovered Covey’s diabetes as part of his physical after the draft and it was a shock to Covey and something he needed to learn to manage for the first time. Mitchell has managed his diabetes since he was 9 years old and seemingly has full control of caring for himself. Agreed. I have about a dozen diabetic students each year. Nearly all are pretty good about learning to manage their diabetes. However, I've had a few that weren't able to recognize their own highs and lows, leading to major challenges at times. I'm not worried about his diabetes. Sounds like he knows how to manage it, and he'll have his trainers and team dietitians on speed dial at all times. I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 13 years old, and while I was nowhere near the athlete Mitchell is, my diabetes didn't stop me from playing three sports in high school and playing Division III college football. And that was 20+ years ago. The medical technology has come a long way, to the point there they can determine the optimum blood sugar a diabetic athlete needs to register before and throughout competition. I personally have an electronic device that allows me to monitor blood sugar almost constantly, and all I do is middle-aged dad sports (youth baseball and football coaching, playing with the kids in the yard, and jogging). It sounds like Mitchell has his diabetes 100% under control, and I have absolutely no qualms about it stopping him from being able to fulfill his potential. Being a Type 1 myself, Mitchell may already have his biggest fan in the Brewers' fanbase Plus my oldest son's name is Garrett (he's 11, and also a speedy outfielder), and he was pretty stoked as we watched the pick last night.

AMEN! I've seen so many people, both here and on other social media platforms, implying that they don't care if baseball comes back because they have moved on, or that a 50-game season would somehow be invalid or illegitimate. That holier than thou traditionalist crap needs to stop. Yeah, it's gonna be a much different season this year. Well guess what, this whole year has been different. You find a way to make it work. Every team is going to be in the same boat.

Why? Every team will be on an even playing field. A 50-game season would still be a legit season, and the playoffs in October would resemble a typical MLB playoff atmosphere. You aren't going to see statisically excellent counting-number seasons, and there will be some anomalies, but for the most part, 50 games I would think would be a large enough sample to rectify that. If anything, you are going to see guys pressing at the plate, knowing that any sort of slump is going to tank their season numbers. But I think fans would take a 50-game schedule seriously. it is going to be a little difficult to determine that, though, as long as no fans are in the stands.

How many privately-owned businesses engage in profit sharing nowadays? I'm guessing it is not many. And if you don't think owners would lose money this season, consider the estimate that 40-50% of total revenue comes from ticket/concession sales.

They want baseball, but are only comfortable taking a loss up to a certain level. Obviously they got together and agreed as a whole that they can afford to take a XXX loss to put a product on the field this season, and have the numbers worked out for different scenarios with the number of games. These guys aren't idiots. They became billionaires by taking calculated risks that have, for the most part, paid off. Even though they all will be taking a big loss, to bring baseball back the financial risk still needs to be mitigated, or it isn't going to happen. I agree that it sucks, but that's the business side of things. That's reality. The owners aren't holding out on bringing baseball back because they don't want to. They are holding out because it doesn't make financial sense not to.

Yep. Really botched handling of this by both sides. NBA was pretty seamless. Or at least they did the work behind the scenes. The optics are terrible, as most publically leaked negotiations are. Both sides look incredibly greedy in a current society where most people have made pretty major sacrifices. I see most people blaming ownership, using the argument of "they're all bilionaires, they can afford to lose money." It's not that black and white, though. Both sides are squarly in the blame crosshairs in this case.

1. Major League 2. Field of Dreams 3. The Sandlot 4. For Love of the Game 5. Mr. Baseball 6. The Rookie 7. 61* (Actually a really good movie) 8. Bull Durham 9. 8 Men Out 10. Rookie of the Year There hasn't been a good baseball movie released in a long time now. Moneyball was ok. I loved the process stuff, but they made it too much about Pitt's Beane character. I suppose when you have a movie propped up by an A-list actor, you have to do that, though. I totally forgot that Chris Pratt plays Scott Hatteberg in that movie. It was his first big role.

I am confused. Is this actually happening? Dont see it reported anywhere. No ... it isn't. The NFL announced that they would no longer punish players for kneeling. That's it.

They don't really need to. The prorated pay per game agreement has already been rectified, so it's a matter of finding that happy medium for total number of games. I'm guessing they end up with an 80-90 game season at roughly 80-85% the agreed upon prorated pay. The owners take a hit financially but end up looking like they saved the season. The players take a hit, but end up looking like they took one for the team to bring baseball back to the masses.

Just scrap this. Like anyone is going to take a 50-game season champion seriously. I would. Any baseball is better than no baseball. It certainly isn't ideal, though. I think they'll end up doing an 81-game season beginning July 4 weekend. Hopefully.

Binged the whole first season of Upload on Amazon Prime over the weekend. I was a pretty big fan of The Good Place during its run, and reading the previews for Upload, I figured it would be somewhat similar. I was wrong, but in a good way. Really interesting show with a lot of laugh out loud moments, but serious undertones. I'm a fan, and am excited for Season 2.