I felt like I was reading a bunch of MLBTR comments strung together

Fotball, more than any of the other major sports, it a young man’s game. By the time a player has "proven anything (the line I keep hearing every radio commentator and talking head drop) he’s probably passed his peak if not done outright. If the NFL is going to force its player to play for free (or for a degree which is meaningless to their future career) in college, and refuse to guarantee contracts, asking the players to accept virtually all the risk of injury and failed development which MLB shoulders for its dratees, then they should be forced to fork out huge bonuses to rookies who successfully run the gauntlet.

Barry Zito

Bruce Jenkins is wrong.

Analysis over.

yeah, I’m tired of the players making so much money, I really think it’s the owners that deserve all this money! Let’s do all we can to keep players salaries artificially low so the hard working owners can make more money.

I’m not a Jenkins fan, but I agree with him on this. I also think that most of the posters have misunderstood his point. Nowhere does he state that he wants to reduce the amount of money that players make in pro sports. Instead, he’s decrying how much leverage and power are being given these kids that have never played 1 game of pro ball yet. In baseball and football, these unproven kids are allowed to hold whole teams hostage.

If the drafted players in the MLB and NFL had a negotiated slotting system, then the huge $$$ flowing to the unproven rookies would instead be allocated to signing and extending veterans. You only have to look to the NBA to see how it works. The funny thing is that most pro athletes also agree with Jenkins. In fact, this is the case with almost all labor unions in general. The existing union members get a bigger percentage of the pie (wages, benefits, pensions,…), while new hires get less and less, with each successive contract negotiation. They’re eagerly willing to sell out the new guys (who don’t have a vote yet) to management in order to line their own pockets.

Instead, he’s decrying how much leverage and power are being given these kids that have never played 1 game of pro ball yet. In baseball and football, these unproven kids are allowed to hold whole teams hostage.

I know his position, I just have zero sympathy for the team’s position. As I wrote above, the NFL forces their players into college, where they don’t get paid and assume all the risk of injuries; and, for many positions, the players are only at their maximum value during their first contract, teams know that “veteran” option at many positions are extremely dicey.. Baseball, though it allows players to join out of high school, forces its rookies to play for the minimum salary for three seasons and a severely reduced salary for three more after that. I can’t fault high-level draftees for “holding teams ransom” when the overall scope of the situation is so exploitative of young players. If these sports want to employ slotting, that’s fantastic, but I wouldn’t support it until 1) college footballers are monetarily compensated at some level appropriate to their actual revenue production, and 2) pre-FA MLB players have more earning power.