Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer is 100% correct

Like him or not, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer is going to tell you what he thinks. When it comes to his opposition to MLB’s proposal, he’s right.

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer has made no bones about it – he doesn’t like the new proposal from Major League Baseball that includes a revenue share with the players. The Player’s Association has constantly opposed the idea of revenue sharing and have called the owner’s proposal a “non-starter”.

Trevor Bauer, as he often does, took to Twitter to give his thoughts on MLB’s proposal. Bauer and his agent Rachel Luba sat down to discuss the idea of a 50/50 revenue split, negotiating through the media, service time and other aspects of the recent proposal.

Back in March, the players and Major League Baseball agreed to prorated salary for the 2020 season. With a 162-game season unlikely, the players agreed to essentially be paid 1/162nd for each game they would play. So, if MLB decided to play an 81-game season, Trevor Bauer would receive half of his 2020 salary ($8.75M).

Now, Major League Baseball’s owners are fearful of losing money because there will be no fans in the stands to start the season and fans may not even return at any point this season. Because of lost revenue, the owners are asking the players to agree to a 50/50 revenue split.

Trevor Bauer then took to social media and used the analogy of a painter who’s client is renovating apartments. Bauer laid out several points relating to the situation between MLB and the Player’s Association, using the analogy of a painter who’s work was put on hold due to circumstances outside of his control. To read the full post, click here.

Whether you like Trevor Bauer or not, his point is solid. When it comes to salary for the 2020 season, the players have already agreed to a pay cut. Most players will not receive more than half their salary. I know they’re athletes playing a game, but that’s beside the point.

While most of us will never see the amount of money in our lifetime that some of these athletes see in a year, the principle of these discussions are pretty easy to understand. MLB and the player’s union came to an agreement on salary that included concessions on the player’s side and now the owners are asking for more concessions because their bottomline doesn’t look as good.

No one wins in these arguments, especially in the court of public opinion, where these talks are now playing out. When millionaires are arguing with billionaires in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, no one is winning.

While I tend to agree with Trevor Bauer, baseball cannot blow this opportunity to be a small source of healing for the American public. Fans in the Queen City are waiting and hoping for the Cincinnati Reds to return to the field and play. We sometimes tend to overvalue sports, but given the current state of the country, baseball could be a great source of unity.