Apparently the MLBPA has had it’s fill when it comes to the lack of spending this offseason and has taken aim at four different Major League teams for sitting on cash.
According to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, the Players Association has filed grievances against the Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, Oakland Athletics and the Pittsburgh Pirates for not spending their revenue sharing money which is in violation against the current collective bargaining agreement.
Teams are required to spend their revenue-sharing money to improve the on-field product, according to terms of the collective bargaining agreement, though not necessarily on their major-league payroll.
The Rays are considered one of the biggest revenue-sharing recipients, getting what is believed to be about $45-million a year.
MLB responded with a statement to the Times: “We have received the grievance and believe it has no merit.”
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It is not clear what the result of the grievance could be even if the teams were found to be in the wrong, as the union wants some form of compensation for players that were not signed.
The MLBPA has always been weary of the Marlins and it’s noted that the team back in 2010 signed pitcher Josh Johnson to a four-year, $38 million dollar extension in order to alleviate some of the pressure from the Union to spend. Likewise, the MLB surely shares some responsibility in this given their knowledge of the new ownership group in south Florida headed by Bruce Sherman and Derek Jeter wanting to further slash payroll.
As far as the other teams mentioned go, the Rays are clearly in a rebuild while Billy Beane has always pinched pennies with the seemingly persistent cash strapped Athletics. Meanwhile Pittsburgh hasn’t signed a single free agent this offseason after trading away Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole which has surely garnered the attention from the Players Association.
Also to put everything in black and white terms, here’s the 2017 payrolls of each of these four teams compared to where they’re currently at heading into this upcoming season. The difference is pretty staggering.
Finally it’s not like the MLB is in any sort of financial crisis. Max Axisa of CBS Sports writes that all 30 clubs will receive a $50 million dollar check after a majority stake of the MLB’s digital arm, BAMTech was sold to Disney last year. Additionally, revenue is higher than ever while Axisa notes that ticket prices in MLB cities aren’t going down.
Plus you have to figure this pisses big market teams that spend a shit ton of money towards their payroll.
Take the Yankees (who I’m not trying to make anyone feel sorry for) but back in 2015, team president Randy Levine said the Bombers shelled out roughly $90 million in revenue sharing which is suppose to help smaller market clubs be more competitive and not necessarily further line the pockets of their owners. So you can certainly see why the MLBPA is a little pissed off over something like this.