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Speaker 1: Hey, welcome to Big Fish Small Pod, the show here

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Speaker 1: on the Fish Drives podcast network where we catch you

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Speaker 1: up on the latest in Marlins Baseball in ten minutes

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Speaker 1: or less. So today on this Friday, December third, really

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Speaker 1: what defined the day is not the Marlins, it's the lockout,

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Speaker 1: so leading up to the deadline this week, really, I

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Speaker 1: want to just dive it here to catch you up

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Speaker 1: real quick if you've not really been following up with it.

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Speaker 1: It's just like two out of swords. There's so many

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Speaker 1: just like parties involved. I just want to like take

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Speaker 1: a moment to like really break it down the way

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Speaker 1: it's played out. There was a meeting on the first

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Speaker 1: players the players union speaking with the Commissioner's office. Travis

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Speaker 1: Satchik of the Score wrote at this meeting that the

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Speaker 1: owners proposed reduced funding for the players, and the meeting

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Speaker 1: ended early before the lockout was formerly announced. Basically, the

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Speaker 1: owners pulled out the pensions for the players. Not a

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Speaker 1: thing that's even close to the ground level results that

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Speaker 1: the players are looking to get out of this negotiation.

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Speaker 1: This morning, Zach Popp on Instagram a photo was circulating

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Speaker 1: a statement from the Major League Baseball Players Association I

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Speaker 1: pulled it from Zach Popps Instagram, but really I could

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Speaker 1: have taken it from any number of players. It's said

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Speaker 1: that Major League Baseball has announced a lockout of players,

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Speaker 1: shutting down our industry. This shutdown is a dramatic measure,

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Speaker 1: regardless of the timing. It is not required by law

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Speaker 1: or for any other reason. It was the owner's choice,

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Speaker 1: plain and simple, specifically calculated to pressure players into relinquishing

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Speaker 1: and benefits and abandoning good faith bargaining proposals that would

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Speaker 1: benefit not just players, but the game and industry as

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Speaker 1: a whole. These tactics are not new. We have been

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Speaker 1: here before, and players have risen the occasion time and again,

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Speaker 1: guided by a solidarity that has been forged over generations.

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Speaker 1: We will do so again here. We remain determined to

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Speaker 1: return to the field under the terms of a negotiated

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Speaker 1: collective bargaining agreement that is fair to all parties and

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Speaker 1: provides fans with the best version of the game we

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Speaker 1: all love. Advocating for the fan on the sport and

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Speaker 1: focusing on baseball, drawing the sport front and center has

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Speaker 1: been like the tactic of the players. Max Scherzer conducted

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Speaker 1: interviews yesterday, telling Yahoo that he signed early ahead of

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Speaker 1: the lockout to remove the risk of a limited free

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Speaker 1: agency in February, a potential pinch point that owners could

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Speaker 1: use to leverage the players ahead of a twenty twenty

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Speaker 1: two season. He also went forward and spoke of a

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Speaker 1: war chest that hopefully they don't have to use to

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Speaker 1: benefit players just like offer like subsistence, or to fund

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Speaker 1: pr efforts, depending on how this lockdown plays out. This

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Speaker 1: was seen as a likely outcome, and the players' union

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Speaker 1: has prepared for it such that is consistent with what's

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Speaker 1: been put forward before that they want to support all

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Speaker 1: of their players pretty just like shocking optics to see

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Speaker 1: Max Scherzer, who seems destined for the Hall of Fame

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Speaker 1: and his role now as like the highest paid player

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Speaker 1: sticking up for those lesser paid players teammates and friends

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Speaker 1: who he's critically at indicating for the lens of hindsight,

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Speaker 1: is totally on that Hall of Fame player as that

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Speaker 1: elevated person who's actually really exhibiting a sort of solidarity

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Speaker 1: that's only more deserving of something like that. The stage

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Speaker 1: does seem totally set. The owners are acting through the

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Speaker 1: Commissioner's office and the Commissioner's office has declared a lockout

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Speaker 1: on all of their behalf. The players are organized around

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Speaker 1: their union and the Athletic has reported their demands, as

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Speaker 1: defined by Rob Manfred to be a desire to raise

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Speaker 1: the luxury tax thresholds to shorten the length of time

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Speaker 1: it takes players to reach free agency, as well as

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Speaker 1: a plan to reduce the amount of money that flows

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Speaker 1: between owners via revenue sharing. Players believe that clubs can

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Speaker 1: too easily make money without having to invest in their

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Speaker 1: on field product and want to reduce revenue sharing. The

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Speaker 1: demands from the players has been noted prior to the

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Speaker 1: lockout via the Athletic talking about earlier compensation and maintaining

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Speaker 1: like a competitive balance in the league ending tanking. MLB

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Speaker 1: in the past has countered with expanded playoffs, while what

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Speaker 1: the players are really demanding is more investment from the

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Speaker 1: owners and putting forth a better competitive environment with more

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Speaker 1: support in place for the developing player that has committed

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Speaker 1: to a livelihood in the sport that might not be found.

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Speaker 1: Manfred has indicated its united front and the commissioner actions

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Speaker 1: have been in support of all thirty clubs so locked out.

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Speaker 1: How it might play out talks could get limited action

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Speaker 1: done around the area of like a forty man rosters,

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Speaker 1: and they could add more team control, possibly dependent on

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Speaker 1: a forty man roster. There's ways to raise the floor

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Speaker 1: a bit for the players and still like give a

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Speaker 1: little bit of control and security to the owners. A

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Speaker 1: Rule five draft, for instance, would like put pressure on

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Speaker 1: that control. So there are like even just like little

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Speaker 1: ways to go about these problems, but like it needs

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Speaker 1: to get addressed. We'll probably see some pace of play

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Speaker 1: rules in place of the NLDH. Next time we see baseball,

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Speaker 1: we might see spending minimums. Maybe could make for an

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Speaker 1: exciting lead up to this twenty twenty two season with

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Speaker 1: more teams contending or with more money to put into

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Speaker 1: free agency, or it could get really dragged out. Players

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Speaker 1: could remain locked out for twenty twenty two and rely

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Speaker 1: on that war chest for subsistence and a pr campaign.

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Speaker 1: I think, like Piatza on Baywatch, maybe we'll see Max

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Speaker 1: Scherzer on an episode of HBO's Succession. Good faith negotiations

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Speaker 1: do dictate that there will be meetings and regular negotiations

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Speaker 1: throughout this time, but it could get drawn out to

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Speaker 1: the point of like a miss twenty twenty two season,

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Speaker 1: which is a big pressure point for players, and a

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Speaker 1: missed World Series, which is a big pressure point for

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Speaker 1: Major League Baseball. Really like drawn out negotiations could include

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Speaker 1: things like future cash flows, talking about like gambling's integration

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Speaker 1: to the game, or fanatics merchandise rights could like really

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Speaker 1: add to an agenda. It'd be hyperbolic, but it could

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Speaker 1: get dragged out to the point that franchise values take

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Speaker 1: a hit. But impatient owners might back out of this block,

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Speaker 1: so might some players. It could get ugly. Even the

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Speaker 1: news this week that Major League Baseball used multiple baseballs

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Speaker 1: during the twenty twenty one season along with a lockout,

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Speaker 1: they seem to speak to like an unculpability. Those counterpoints

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Speaker 1: speak to the anxiety of the player. While the owners

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Speaker 1: are concerned the players want more competitivity, will giving teams

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Speaker 1: less control and less shared revenue as points that wash

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Speaker 1: each other out and keep them from the playing field.

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Speaker 1: The time is seemingly ripe for a new collective understanding

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Speaker 1: and a reinvention of how Major League Baseball is built

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Speaker 1: around the sport, and for now, the conversation is a

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Speaker 1: matter of livelihood and investment, and the players are talking

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Speaker 1: about elevating the owner's investment, and that sounds like a

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Speaker 1: conversation that's worth hearing out. Anyways, on this Friday, not

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Speaker 1: a lot to talk about the Marlins unless you've missed

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Speaker 1: out on the last week. Hard to not just be

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Speaker 1: fully absorbed, but yeah, some rumors are flying around. There's

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Speaker 1: talk that the Marlins have been in touch with the

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Speaker 1: Diamondbacks on Kevil Marte as et. Cedric Mullins also stands

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Speaker 1: out as like a potential target as a quote Craigmish

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Speaker 1: Whale is rumored to be in the Cards potentially, but

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Speaker 1: so could a player like Kyle Schwarber on a free

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Speaker 1: agent deal. I want to just like take a look

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Speaker 1: at how like the Marlins might play with that, and

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Speaker 1: kaya would fit like really well in a DH situation

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Speaker 1: with Cooper, with Aguilar Diez covering first, the infield feels set.

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Speaker 1: Generally Garcia would be in right, Schwarber could see some

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Speaker 1: good amount of time and left, while de la Cruz

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Speaker 1: and Jesus Sanchez push each other for center field, cover

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Speaker 1: left and DH. So it feels like the Marlins have

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Speaker 1: a full roster of batters with solid direction and like

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Speaker 1: there's a real role for everyone to play. So the

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Speaker 1: Marlins have added two bats potentially a third even if

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Speaker 1: you don't consider the defensive first, but still like pretty

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Speaker 1: good bat of Jacob Stallings to be a bat. The

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Speaker 1: offense has definitely taken a stride forward. I'd like to

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Speaker 1: start a rumor I think the Marlins should use this

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Speaker 1: time now during this lockout. This possibly like two and

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Speaker 1: a half months to just like figure out what it

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Speaker 1: would take to get Zach Greenky. But a closer like

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Speaker 1: Kenley Jansen has also been rumored to be of interest

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Speaker 1: to the Marlins. But anyways, I hope you enjoy your weekend.

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Speaker 1: Wish there was more baseball for you, but thank you

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Speaker 1: for listening. I've been at Ardell and this has been

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Speaker 1: big Fish Small Pod for December third