Should AI be tasked with solving MLB's labor peace?

Mel Kiper’s second mock draft dropped today and Mel has Caleb Downs, safety, Ohio State, going the Jets at #2. Long time readers (greater than two weeks) know that Downs has been tabbed the draft’s Best Football Player. For some reason, the positional value of Safety dictates that Downs should never be a top 5 pick, but perhaps that’s changing. And I’m all the way here for it. Downs should follow Nick Emmanwori (2nd round pick but current Rookie of the Year) and Kyle Hamilton (14th pick but also a Rookie of the Year) as an immediate impact defensive game changer. Teams should permanently chuck their positional bias binders in the trash and draft this man. Huge growth from the NFL. Proud.

I had plans to open this piece borrowing the lyrics of mid-90’s alt rock classic “Where Is My Mind” by The Pixies. But, despite the song’s success, the chorus is exclusively “where is my mind.” Typing that out didn’t translate and lucky for you I committed to mansplaining the bit. But why, KMARK, why?

Well have you tried wrapping your noodle around baseball’s pending labor drama? Ain’t easy! That’ll tie you up for a week. Shieeeee…. No one has answers, but a few updates leaked. Let’s tackle a corner or two so you can at least enter my headspace.

“Owners aren’t frustrated with spending, they’re frustrated that franchise values aren’t appreciating at the rate of basketball or football” - Jeff Passan

Yes. Thank you Jeff! Nail on the head. Remember this in context of salary cap conversations. Think of the gulf in valuation between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals. It might be a 4x difference. How? Media rights (almost exclusively). Sure, the economic format of the NFL (hard cap) enables a certain definitive cost structure that can make valuations easier, but the bulk of the difference in franchise value is exclusively driven by the difference in television dollars. Do the players bear any responsibility for the MLB’s lagging TV revenue? No, hardly, but both parties need to create an operating system that delivers the game at its best so it can turn around and be sold to Netflix (and Amazon and NBC and ESPN).

“If I tell you in 25 years, the Dodgers will be going to 10 World Series and winning seven of them, is that an issue? Because that's the Patriots. The Chiefs have been to what, six or seven?” - Chris Bassitt

Union player rep Chris Bassitt tried to defend his party’s position against a salary cap. Owners pitch the cap as a means to generate parity and competitiveness that all teams (and fans) can participate in. As Bassitt notes, it does none of that in the NFL. Truly, ask Cleveland how parity works in the NFL. Unfortunately, Bassitt does callout the Chiefs. Bassitt named a small market dynasty the MLB would love to put on a pedestal, but small market owners are screaming is unachievable for them. Are fans asking for no dynasty’s? Only small market dynasty’s? Can anyone develop a system that achieves that?

Not a quote - but Bruce Meyer is the new head of the Player’s Union. By all reports, Meyer is a litigator. His most recent win? Tarik Skubal’s record arbitration decision against the Tigers. Good? Bad? Both? Probably. As per the counsel of David Samson on Pablo Torre Finds Out, you (the fans) don’t necessarily want a fighter, litigator, trial motivated lead negotiator. That’s Rob Manfried. Meyer’s mirror-shark. At this moment, both parties are lead by stubborn men determined not to move off a negotiating position until the last minute. That’s the opposite of former Union Boss Tony Clark. So objectively, based on the hardened careers of both Bosses, a protracted labor fight seems more likely now than ever.

I’ll close with a disclaimer. As a fan, you absolutely don’t need to choose a side. Owning a regional car-wash chain doesn’t mean you have to side with Steve Cohen and Management. It also doesn’t mean you have to identify with Mookie Betts and push his platform. The only thing fans should hope for is the longest possible agreement that leaves both sides feeling like they gave something valuable up. Then you’ll know we got Progress.