NYCTK

I truly don't think they are. They'll pretend to be up until late February.

The owners should drop their threats of killing a season of baseball in order to get an unnecessary labor restriction. The players are under no obligation to consider any proposal that requires a salary cap, something they've been adamant about rejecting forever. Until the greedy scum billionaire owners accept that, there will not be baseball.

They'd play in the publicly funded stadiums we all built for the welfare queen billionaires.

I think, from a baseball standpoint, the salary deferral are a complete non issue. A lot of fans upset about them don't understand them. Ohtani, although he's getting paid $2 million, is for the purposes of payroll getting paid $46 million. However you make a great point. It's all about salary tax for the players. If he's getting that money when he's retired and residing in Florida or whatever tax haven, California is losing out on that tax revenue. I'd be fine buttoning it up for that reason. As for a max three year deal, that's such a ridiculous anti-player proposal I have to assume you're an owner. Except even the owners themselves aren't that anti-player.

You don't seem to understand the proposals then. What have the players gained in the owners proposals that is commensurate with their forfeiting the salary cap bargaining chip? Something they canceled a World Series to preserve, and something there is no actual need for?

We saw a long drawn out dispute 30 years ago, and the players held strong, and were right to do so. They will continue to do so now that the league is in an even healthier position. Why the owners think the players should budge now is beyond me. There's literally no reason for the players union to accept a salary cap, and the owners keep insisting on one is nothing but bad faith negotiation.

If one side of a negotiation is adamant that there is one very specific poison pill that they refuse to accept, then any proposal including that poison pill is by definition in bad faith.