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NFL Players Need to Learn Lesson from MLB Counterparts: They Are at “War”

Posted by William J. at 3:00 pm 26 Responses »
Jan 282011

(The following is being syndicated from The Captain’s Blog).

They have chosen to start the war. They have fired the gun.” – MLBPA Executive Director Marvin Miller, quoted by AP, February 20, 1981

“We are at war!” – NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith, quoted by The New York Times, January 22, 2011

As the NFL and the NFLPA careen toward what seems like an inevitable work stoppage, both the commissioner and players’ representative have engaged in a bout of public relations saber rattling. Meanwhile, major league baseball is expected to quickly come to an agreement on a new CBA when the current one expires in December 2011.

Not surprisingly, the NFLPA’s acquiescence to a salary cap has not mollified the owners’ voracious appetite for a larger piece of the financial pie. As a result, the lords of the NFL now stand poised to lock the players out if they do not once again capitulate to a series of adverse demands. If new NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith has anything to say about the process, however, things won’t be as pleasant for Roger Goodell and his band of profit takers this time around. The economics support the players’ position, so all that is needed is steadfast leadership.

Unlike past executive director Gene Upshaw, whose background was as a player, Smith is a bonafide litigator with 10 years experience in the U.S. Attorney’s office. Although he doesn’t have the labor background that Marvin Miller did when he took over control of the baseball union, Smith does seem to be cut out of the same cloth. Despite being criticized for his tough talk, he has not waivered in his public discourse. Ultimately, Smith will have to maintain unity among the rank and file, just as Miller did with his constituency, but if he can achieve that end, the NFLPA could emerge as a partner instead of an underling in the NFL’s financial structure.

The economic issues at hand are much different, and the relative size of the football union adds a greater challenge, but there are still lessons that Smith can learn from Miller. The chief among these, however, is the most basic. If the NFLPA is going to final win what is essentially a financial war, it can not be timid, and most certainly can not be accommodating. Even though the owners possess a massive war chest, their greed still makes them vulnerable. As much as the NFL chieftains would like to take a larger portion of revenues, they certainly do not want to relinquish the large sums of money that would be forfeited in a prolonged work stoppage. If the owners shut the game down for an extended period of time, they’ll be cutting off their nose to spite their face, and as much as greed can be a motivator for stupidity, multi-millionaires don’t get that way by turning off a steady steam of cash flow.

When it comes to this job, [Miller] remains my idol. He walks into a union that did not have a significant amount of information coming to the players, he had a very hostile reception from management, and what he brought to the players was the meat and potatoes of what organized labor unions do.” – NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith, quoted by The New York Times, January 22, 2011

As baseball’s labor history has shown, owners’ resolve can wear thin quickly. What’s more, their veiled negotiating tactics are usually looked upon unfavorably by the courts and relevant government agencies. There has already been a crack in the union ranks, and some have criticized Smith’s reference to being at “war”, but the answer to that is to push forward with even greater resolve. Smith can not be afraid of a lockout. Marvin Miller never was. Whether it’s a war of words in the media or a war of ideas at the negotiating table, Smith needs to be on the front line fighting. He can’t worry about the harsh words that are likely to follow. Those same criticisms were levied at Miller, and now most people believe he merits inclusion in the Hall of Fame.

With selfishness being a natural human tendency, and so many players already “getting theirs”, most people, including the sport’s owners, expect that a lockout will be too costly for the players. The greater cost, however, will come from capitulating to a bad CBA. That’s the lesson the NFLPA has to learn, and that’s the challenge facing Smith. What would Marvin Miller do if he was leading the charge? He’d prepare for war…and that’s what Smith should be doing too.

Pinstriped Bible Statement On YES Issue

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 1:37 pm 3 Responses »
Jan 282011

Yesterday, RAB provided a statement about our YES censorship story. Steve Goldman of Pinstriped Bible just did the same:

In all that time, I have never been asked to alter the tone or substance of my commentary. The day that happens is the day we part company, though I don’t expect such a thing to come to pass, because the YESmen understand as well as I do that our readership is looking for honesty, not propaganda.

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Throw Enough At The Wall......

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 1:00 pm 5 Responses »
Jan 282011

The reaction among some Yankees fans to the Bartolo Colon signing was odd. A fairly sizable portion of the fanbase took issue with the signing, suggesting that bringing in retreads like Colon is embarrassing for the franchise and should be avoided. I’ve ranted about this on Twitter before, but one comment from @Heartbeatbronx struck me as particularly on-point on this subject:

Yankees should bring in Garcia and Duscherer to join Prior and Colon in spring training. Don’t understand why everyone is so upset. (Cont.)

(Cont.) I’m sure everyone was so excited about Shawn Chacon, Aaron Small, Dustin Moseley, Alfredo Aceves, and Jon Lieber too. This can work.

We all wish that Cliff Lee had signed with the Yankees and Andy Pettitte was returning for another season. However, being that Lee is in Philadelphia and Pettitte is still undecided, the Yankees have two rotation spots open and only one young pitcher (Ivan Nova) who is actually ready for MLB action. Furthermore, Nova is far from a sure thing, and the Yankees only veteran option, Sergio Mitre, is not the most palatable of rotation options.

Therefore, as @Heartbeatbronx noted, it behooves the Yankees to bring in as many veteran arms as they can on cheap contracts and non -roster invites to spring training. If you throw enough trash at the wall, eventually you may get lucky and something will stick. The Yankees should bring in plenty of arms that have any sort of slight upside, and hold open competitions for the two rotation spots. If Nova and Hector Noesi win the jobs out of Spring Training, you thank the veterans for their services and cut them loose, incurring little expense in the process. And if you get lucky with one of the “retreads,” you suddenly have a viable rotation option at a minuscule cost. These signings are the very definition of low-risk, high-reward, and anyone who has a serious issue with them due to perception may want to reexamine their priorities.

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Patience Persists

Posted by Matt Imbrogno at 11:00 am 1 Response »
Jan 282011

Chad Jennings had an article chock full of quotes from Brian Cashman yesterday and those quotes furthered the patience mantra we’ve been hearing all season.

Though the Yankee general manager called the team “an unfinished product”, he didn’t indicate that he was going to make any hasty moves.

• Cashman’s quick, to-the-point evaluation of his current situation: “I need starting pitching,” he said. “That’s what I need.”

Snip

• Why hasn’t Cashman added a reliable starting pitcher? “If I could do business and fill my rotation, I’d do it right now” Cashman said. “I just don’t like the choices.”

I cannot stress how great it is to hear him say that. While we want the Yankees to get a starter, Cashman is indicating that the options just aren’t there in his eyes. We may think it simple to offer Justin Duchscherer a low base, incentive laden contract, but it’s clearly not that simple. The Yankees may not like his stuff. They may not like his medicals. They may think the move not worth it. At times like this, it is better to make no moves than to make hasty moves.

The prosaic cliche (is that repetitive?) “haste makes waste” definitely applies here. While the Yankees are a team that can absorb financial hits, that doesn’t mean they should throw money at potentially low upside players and risk setting the team back in the beginning of the season. It’s one thing to take a risk on an outfielder like Andruw Jones (or Randy Winn for that matter), but it’s another to do so for a pitcher who’s essentially guaranteed to appear on the field enough to impact the team.

Brian Cashman is right to be publicly patient. At the same time, I think highly enough of Brian Cashman to believe that behind the scenes, he is working with a controlled fury, searching for the right pieces to finish the product that is the 2011 New York Yankees roster.

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The Yankee Front Office Situation

Posted by Steve S. at 7:00 am 8 Responses »
Jan 282011

We are family, I got all my sistas and me. We are family, get up everybody, sing!

In recent days, fans and columnists have been speculating about Brian Cashman’s future with the organization because of some of the comments he’s recently made and the way he’s very publicly distanced himself from the Soriano signing. Some see this as a form of disloyalty, this sentiment is especially common among those who supported the Soriano deal. Some of these folks conveniently forget the comments he made just a week prior to the signing, which had to be addressed. Further, Brian aired his dissent publicly at the Soriano press conference, right in front of his bosses. Despite this, Hal Steinbrenner was interviewed by Joel Sherman and quoted saying he has no problem with Brian whatsoever:

“[Cashman] and I have a great working relationship.  There is no problem, right now. I think we have had a bunch of drummed-up drama.”

(snip)

“I keep reading about dissension and discord. We are a well-functioning company. The bosses have a decision to make. Sometimes people don’t agree with those decisions. So I told him, ‘You are always honest with the media, be honest now. Tell them what you have to tell them.’ I was already onto the next decision. I told him, ‘You and I are fine. Answer in any way you want.’”

Those aren’t the comments of someone who was just sandbagged at a major press conference. Brian made it known to his bosses he was going to go public with his position on Soriano, and they had no problem with it. But it seems pretty clear there are dissenting views in the Yankee hierarchy, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, unless too many chefs are cooking the roster. One move doesn’t mean Brian has been neutered. Looking at it long term, I think recent events will bolster his authority to make baseball decisions. Personally, I think Brian’s setting himself up to consolidate his power with the Yanks for the next few years and/or when he re-ups with the team on his next contract.

Think about it. We all know multi-year deals are a risky business when it comes to relievers. Brian has had much experience himself in this department, most of it (Karsay/Farnsworth/Quantrill/Marte) bad. By all accounts, Randy Levine is the one who pushed for the Yanks to sign Soriano all winter. Randy Levine is the one who’s sticking his neck out here, and his justification for signing Soriano was the Yanks had to ‘do something’. Which is what most people say before they do something really stupid. I think that’s why YES/Levine has been sensitive about criticism on the deal, because he knows he’s taking a risk here that could blow up in his face.

I think Brian is smart enough and experienced enough in this town to know if you get the Baseball right, everything else takes care of itself. Most of George Steinbrenner’s bad moves were ones made for business reasons, adding star power to sell tickets. That’s what led to some middling teams and very bad trades in the 80s, and the old, overpaid, under performing teams of the mid-2000s with zero roster flexibility or prospects to bring up/make trades with. I think Brian is making a calculated bet here, and odds are he’s going to be the one who the Steinbrenner brothers will be listening to if the Soriano deal doesn’t work out. I’m sure his stock was down after missing out on Lee and doing little else this off season, but if Cashman and Levine were both traded on the NYSE, I’d be buying Brian and selling Randy right now.

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