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The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Murky Future of the MLB With Jeff Passan

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Ringer

Sports

4.813.9K Ratings

🗓️ 19 May 2020

⏱️ 65 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Russillo shares his thoughts on Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Blake Snell's comments regarding the possibility of players taking a pay-cut for a shortened MLB season (0:55), before he is joined by ESPN's Jeff Passan to discuss the issues surrounding proposed changes to the MLB revenue split in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, health and safety protocols, Baseball's opportunity to gain a new audience, and potential consequences of not reaching an agreement in time (19:40). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Today's episode of the Ryan Russell podcast on the Ringer podcast network is brought to you by State Farm. Just like sports, the game of life is unpredictable. Talk to a State Farm agent and get you a teammate who can help you navigate the unexpected.

0:23.0

Like players in baseball saying, I may not even want to play, bro. I'm going to get to that here in a second. Jeff Passon also is going to spend about 45 minutes with us talking baseball. Is this going to happen this year?

0:38.0

Some days it feels good. Some days it doesn't feel so great. So get a teammate who can help you just play a little long toss with get ready spring training. Maybe right around the corner. Get a teammate who can help you navigate the unexpected. Talk to a State Farm agent today.

0:52.0

Looked their bike in the background. Never hurt anybody. So Blake's now really good picture for the race really good a couple years ago was on Twitter. Excuse me, not Twitter. Twitch is like what everybody's getting caught with these comments, which I would admit, like that part kind of sucks that you're just sort of on the stream and you should know better.

1:08.0

I get it. But like sometimes there's these moments where it feels less formal and you're just flying off the cuff and snale who again a month or so ago had said that coronavirus is no worse than the flu. He's been getting trash. I mean, like there's almost no one taking a side except for Bryce Harper and as soon as I heard Harper's comments, I was like, man, I feel even better criticizing Blake smell and then Bauer who you know is just out there when it comes to some of this stuff. And then I thought Aaron Otto made the most sense and it's hard to tell guys like, hey, I'm going to get a fight.

1:37.0

It's hard to tell guys like, hey, you know what? Actually, you just wasn't take a loss here. I know that if I had signed a multi million dollar contract that it would suck to go, hey, you know what? Like, I'm going to lose some of this money. And snale said quote, I got to get my money. I'm not playing unless I get mine. Okay.

1:52.0

You got all you all got to understand man for me to go for me to take a pay cut. It's not happened because the risk is through the roof. So now he's either changes mine or I don't know if it's some sort of negotiation. And that's what he's doing. And he's saying these things where he just letting it know like, hey, it's not just even about the union.

2:06.0

It's about my money here. Well, here's the simplest thing like he cannot play and I make any money. All right, cool done. And if you want to go ahead and do that because he thinks the risk is too great. Then go ahead. He could do that. But yes, it's not going to play well. And then for Bryce Harper, who his comments being often really surprised me a ton with Bryce Harper, but Harper saying, hey, needed to be said, bro, you know what? There's tons of stuff that actually doesn't need to be said. And this was one of them. Yes, I'm sure every single player you would like to keep all of your money. I would want to do the same thing.

2:35.0

But would I read the room a little bit better? I'd like to think I would. Maybe that's just being a little bit more. I'm not going to say educated. I think it's just being around a little bit longer. I think sometimes you're so rich and you're so successful, you can kind of be isolated from reality of like, hey, I might think I'm right. But to say it needed to be said, needed to be said, bro. Yes, no, definitely in the middle of one of the highest unemployment surges ever, you definitely needed a pitcher saying, I'm not going to say that I'm not going to be able to do that.

3:05.0

I need my full salary. And I'm not even against how I would probably feel at that moment. Like I wish I could keep my full salary, but I would know I would be smart enough to not say it publicly and then have other guys time to chime in because it's like, all right, I understand it baseball.

3:20.0

Your battle with the ownership over decades prior to any of these guys are even talking about this stuff. Their animosity, their lack of trust, all those things that we're going to talk about with passing. Like I get it. But what then happens, which I think is a huge mistake. Wow, look how vocal snow is look at Harper having his back, look at power, look at some of these other players. These guys really don't want to play.

3:41.0

Like what about all the what if scenarios, I was reading a piece on the athletic from stark, where it was okay, what if a player says he doesn't want to come back and play because he feels like he's at risk.

3:51.0

Can he get excused because of pre existing conditions and therefore still get his pro rated salary. And then you start thinking like, wait a minute.

3:59.0

Is that the first thing that you should be worried about. And then if it's real or is it another guy that maybe just doesn't want to play or doesn't want to play with that team.

4:06.0

And he wants to get the service time, get paid and then not have to resign with that team and become a free agent and let the year count.

4:12.0

Wait a minute. Does that make any sense? Like all of these little things and they start realizing like some of these solutions are as if the entire world is worried about a peanut allergy.

4:22.0

And I'm not saying that coronavirus is the same as peanut allergy. But what I'm saying is that we've all had those moments right. We were on the plane. You're traveling and you go, hey, there's somebody. Maybe it's a child. A lot of times it's a child. You go, there's a peanut allergy here. So no peanuts for less the plane.

4:34.0

You're like, all right, that's cool. I'm in the air for a few hours. I can handle not getting a little satchel of peanuts. But if you're starting to look at these things on a much grander scale, whether it's baseball basketball football coming back and saying, okay, like Sean do little who I like a lot reliever.

4:51.0

And he's like, look, my wife has all of these health conditions that I'm concerned with. So if I'm exposing myself by going back out there and playing, I could be putting her at risk. It's hard to tell Sean do little like, hey, no one would say you're wrong. But what you'd say is, yeah, that's, that's tough. That's really tough. And something that you're going to have to make a really tough decision on. But because of that concern, which is valid, no one is suggesting it isn't.

5:20.0

We can't make that decision based on your soul circumstance, like Larry and Ants Jr. with Cleveland Cavaliers. He's got Crohn's disease. And he said, you know, I hope they would think about me when they want to start this up again.

5:33.0

I think there's a nice way to say yes, the NBA is thinking about you. And then there was even some studies when I started reading about this and the medication that he takes where some doctors are saying actually it helps your immune system to a point where he would be fine. Anyway, I don't know. I just read it. It was online. Doesn't mean it's true. But I read it.

5:47.0

But I think the NBA would go, yes, those are valid concerns. But your team is not going to be in the playoffs. And your season is going to be over if you even have any remaining part of the season.

...

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