There's been CBA talk out the wazoo lately, and with good reason. The new agreement between Major League Baseball and the players will lead to over 2 decades of continuous labor peace for baseball, which is great news if you're a Yankee fan or a baseball fan in general. And generally I agree with all that's already been said in analyzing the new agreement. I agree that today's players and owners made a sweet deal for themselves while overlooking future players; I agree that the new rules on draft slotting and limits put on international free agent spending are a blow to the Yankees; I agree that the new luxury tax rules that will come work to the Yankees' advantage. All of my colleagues at TYA have already done a fantastic job at breaking down the good and bad in this new deal, and I agree with their points so there's no sense in re-hashing any of that here.
My biggest problem with the new CBA, and the whole labor negotiation process in sports as it's been a big part of the recent NFL and NBA news, is the constant talk about "competitive balance" and the strive for parity amongst the teams that has become the new goal in baseball. In my opinion, that goes against everything that sports is supposed to be about and what life is supposed to be about. In professional baseball, the goal is to win. You get more hits, you score more runs, you make more good pitches and good plays in the field, you win the game. You win more games, you make the playoffs. You win in the playoffs and get a championship. It's similar in life. You use your talents and skill sets to the best of your ability to make a more successful life for yourself, whether it's a better job, more money, a nice house, a family, whatever.
Some people are bigger than others, faster than others, smarter than others, prettier than others, work harder than others, and some people come from backgrounds and family situations that give them greater opportunity to be successful in life. And in the world there are a bunch of winners and a bunch of losers. It's harsh, but it's reality. Baseball is no different. Some teams have better players, better coaches, better scouts, better facilities, and more money and resources to help maximize the opportunity for success for their players as individuals and their organization as a whole. And this constant drive for parity, evening things out so the loser teams can catch up to the winner teams, is flat out unfair to those winner teams.
It's not the Yankees' fault that they have better players on their roster and more money than everybody else to spend on better players, be they high school or college draft picks, international free agents, or high-profile MLB free agents. It's not their fault that the Pirates don't have that much money to spend, or that the Orioles can't develop any of their high draft picks to become "great" players, or that nobody wanted to go watch the Marlins in their crappy old stadium. And the Yankees shouldn't be treated like it is. They already contribute their chunk to revenue sharing every season and to the luxury tax. It's the price they have to pay as a winner and they accept it. But to continue to have their advantages taken away from them and to continue to have to pay more prices in ways that limit their strengths in an attempt to try to turn everybody into a winner is wrong. Whether the new rules help achieve that goal or not is irrelevant. It's the fact that the losers are being given opportunities to be a winner that they didn't earn at the expense of teams, like the Yankees, who have already earned their winner statuses.
Aaron Judge and the center field problem
1 hour ago
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