What's a Billion or Two Between Friends?

You're going to be asked to choose sides. And each side is going to give you a dozen reasons why you should choose theirs.

Don't buy the bovine feces. Because that's all it is. Every last word of it.

I'm talking about the upcoming war for the 2027 baseball season. Owners are already rattling their sword in favor of a lockout and players rattling right back about a strike.

Sounds like it's time for bradley to sit the kids down and spell this out.

It doesn't matter whose side you take or who you sympathize with. When you're the adult in the house, none of that matters. Here's what's important.

Last year, major league baseball made between a reported 11 to 13 billion dollars as an industry, depending on your source. That's roughly $400 million per team, give or take a few simoleons here and there. The minimum players salary, although there are exceptions - is $780,000 per season, or $4,193 per day, all according to Mr Google.

And - SEVEN MONTHS IN ADVANCE OF THE NEW COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT - grown men, are saying we're going to have trouble figuring this one out. Let that sink in.

Roughly $400 million in revenue per team (of course, teams like the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets and Red Sox do better while Twins, Royals and similar do a little worse but it's all pretty close when the ink dries). 

Roughly $780,000 per player MINIMUM salary. 

These are the sides in the struggle, each trying to prove the other guys are too greedy. So these putz start their PR campaign with threats and nonsense information because they can't be honest, and just say hey - there's enough here to keep everyone happy - isn't there?

It's time to take some folks to the woodshed for a meeting with mister two by four.

Here's a second thing to consider. There's a reason we call this little impromptu gathering of ours, the sucker at the table. It's designed to make you think, to give you a common sense and honest perspective on things just like this. That's something lacking in much of the media. 

Don't get me wrong - daddy and mommy have to pay the bills. You do what keeps those simoleons coming in. I'm not here to trash anyone - just questioning incentives. Many get a little massage from the teams they cover. Others develop relationships with players and look at life through their eyes. That means perspective,  isn't always objective

Me? I couldn't care less. It just pisses me off when people get on the whiney train because they don't feel like they're getting their fair share. $11 to $13 billion dollars. $780,000 minimum salary. Show of hands - how many reading this right now make that kind of green and can relate? 

Not getting your fair share? Oh boo-hoo.  I have an idea - how about we bus you over to the local veterans hospital and rehab facility for a quick humility tour - maybe that will sober you up a bit.

Most times I like the people I deal with in sports. Most are decent enough. But I have no intention of becoming part of the 'inner circle' or 'posse'. I prefer to buy my own seats, stay away from where the players play and drink when they're not on the field and just stick with the dudes who I can sit back, enjoy a libation or two with and swap lies while we laugh till we cry.  Don't get me wrong - coming up the ranks, I did a lot of the jock sniffing work to try to get ahead. I had to - but I'm just older, a bit more surly and frankly a full time resident in 'I don't really Care-ville.'

So when the war starts, sit back and think about what they're fighting over. And then, instead of taking sides, think. Be your own advocate and ask them - when are my prices to watch your games, going to become a bit more realistic for the average family not working in an $11 to $13 billion industry or making $780,000 per year? 

Maybe that's where the negotiations should begin. 

I'm bradley - and it's my job to keep you from becoming the sucker at the table.