FanPost

A Strike Against the Strike

According to St. Louis Cardinals star hurler Adam Wainwright, the rank and file in the Major League Baseball Players’ Association (MLBPA)-- the union representing today’s current ballplayers -- might have to authorize a strike unless the club owners start signing free agents.
Let them walk.
I am so tired of hearing about entitled millennials who believe that they are due $300 million contracts over ten seasons, or whatever absurd amount talented players like Bryce Harper and Manny Machado have reportedly turned down.
According to the latest figures available from the United States Census Bureau, the real median household income in this country as of 2016 was $59,039. So considering the average Major League Baseball (MLB) player earns in excess of $4 million, and the 25th man on the roster is due to make a minimum of $555,000 this season, Mr. Wainwright isn’t going to score a lot of brownie points with me.
MLB players only have a finite time to make their money and set themselves up for life. But where are the guys like former Redbird Larry Walker, who once said, after signing a five- year deal with the Colorado Rockies, that he turned down more lucrative offers because he "couldn’t spend the millions he was making now?"
Atlanta Braves outfielder Nick Markakis said much the same thing earlier this year after resigning with Atlanta for $6 million. "I play a kids’ game and get paid a lot of money," he said. "How can I be disappointed with that?"
Don’t get me wrong. I understand where Wainwright is coming from. In mid-November 2018, it was widely reported that MLB and Fox Sports extended their national television rights agreement through the 2028 season. The seven-year deal was for $5.1 billion – a significant hike from the $4.2 billion deal withb the network that expires after the 2021 season.
MLB also has media rights deals with Facebook, ESPN ($4.6 billion) and Turner Sports (worth $2.6 billion). The league also struck a new three-year deal for a reported $300 million with DAZN, an international sports streaming service that starts this season.
So Wainwright isn’t wrong. The national pastime is a reported $11.5 billion industry because of Commissioner Rob Manfred’s shrewd business moves. Team owners are rolling in dough and shouldn’t be reluctant to sign free agents.
But it’s not like the union is dirt poor. The players’ pensions and welfare benefits fund is worth more than $3.5 billion. The players have license agreements with Topps and VF Knitwear that have helped the union grow its asset base 27 percent from 2015 to 2016. For that period, license fees were up a staggering $51.2 million, an increase of 16 percent.
How come Wainwright doesn’t tell you that?
My problem is that MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark doesn’t want to share any of the union’s wealth with the retired men without MLB pensions who grew the game, who stood on picket lines and endured labor stoppages all so that free agency could occur. Men like former Cardinals outfielder Don Taussig, who turns 87-years-old on Tuesday, February 19.
In 1961, Taussig appeared in 98 games for the Cardinals. In 188 plate appearances, he collected 54 hits, including 14 doubles and two home runs. He scored 27 times and drove in 25 runs.
Granted, those aren’t Hall of Fame statistics. Those aren’t even Harper or Machado numbers. But because he played before 1980, when the vesting rules changed, Taussig doesn’t receive an MLB pension. In fact, you could get called up to the Cardinals this August 15, stay on the team’s active roster through October 1, and just ride the pines and when you turn 62-years-old, you know how much you’d get? A guaranteed pension of $3,589 that can be passed on to your loved ones.
Adam Wainwright ought to count his blessings.

Douglas J. Gladstone (ExtraInnings2019) is the author of "A Bitter Cup of Coffee; How MLB & The Players' Association Threw 874 Retirees a Curve."