Trevor Bauer: Problematic negotiations are doing ‘irreparable damage’ to baseball
Trevor Bauer rarely is one to hold back when it comes to sharing his thoughts, and Monday was no exception.
The Cincinnati Reds pitcher tweeted about the labor situation in baseball. Bauer says that he believes most players and owners want a season, and he seemed exasperated over the inability of the sides to reach a deal.
implement a season due to the believe that any further proposals would simply be wasting time. Instead of implementing a season, MLB made another proposal. So, neither side is really right or wrong here. This is just a separate conversation. Hope that clears some things up!
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) June 22, 2020
Now, to voice my personal opinion, and in no way am I speaking on behalf of any other players or the union as a whole, I believe there is a deal to be had here that is beneficial for everyone involved and I’m honestly not sure what the hold up is. What’s the exasperated emoji??
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) June 22, 2020
Fans want baseball. The vast majority of players want baseball. Most owners want baseball. Seems like everyone is in agreement yet we have no agreement and no baseball. How?!
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) June 22, 2020
Bauer then said it was “absolute death” to the industry to allow the conflict over the 2020 season to continue.
It’s absolute death for this industry to keep acting as it has been. Both sides. We’re driving the bus straight off a cliff. How is this good for anyone involved? Covid 19 already presented a lose lose lose situation and we’ve somehow found a way to make it worse. Incredible.
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) June 22, 2020
He also said that now was not the time to have the greater fight between the sides since there is more of a rush now to get a season underway compared to in 2021 when the Collective Bargaining Agreement needs to be negotiated. He said the negotiation delays were causing “irreparable damage” to the sport.
If there’s going to be a fight the time for that fight is after the ‘21 season when a new CBA is negotiated. 5 years of potential change. We’re doing irreparable damage to our industry right now over rules that last AT MOST 16 months. WTF kind of sense does that make?
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) June 22, 2020
I have so much more I want to say about this whole thing but out of respect to my fellow players I’m going to continue holding my tongue. If any of you would like to talk about it please hit me up privately.
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) June 22, 2020
Bauer previously called out MLB for what he perceived to be stall tactics by the owners. He also has pointed his finger at superagent Scott Boras. Boras represents many highly-paid players who would most adversely be affected by a pay cut on top of the prorated season. The belief is that this group of players — led by Boras — are most strongly against taking anything less than their full prorated amount.
The owners’ insistence that they only have so much money to spend on player salaries this year due to the lack of fan attendance/revenue, and the players’ insistence of not taking a pay cut beyond prorated pay, has led to the inability of the sides to come to a deal.
