3 reasons to support the Milwaukee Brewers players in the lockout

The players are not innocent parties in this dispute.

The players contributed to the current state of the lockout by focusing on making sure the salaries of the top stars continued to grow. It allowed the owners to exploit the players union focus on their one percent that the players just now realized the rest of their membership was getting screwed.

The MLBPA also focused on things like making sure they never had to wear monitoring technology so they rolled over on certain issues just to avoid an imagined negotiation tactic teams would use to not pay players their market worth.

The players were too focused on never having a salary cap that they forgot to fight for a salary floor. It was almost like they believed George Steinbrenner would live forever and continue to give out huge paydays to anyone wanting to come to the New York Yankees.

It never occurred to the MLBPA that one day George’s sons would take over the team and show some financial restraint because teams built on free agents do not always win the World Series.

The NHL, NFL, NBA players associations all made sure they got salary floors. It at least forces ownership to spend some money.

The players were naive to think the old system of being paid for a past performance would last forever. When general managers got smart and realized it was not a good business model to hand over big contracts to players in their decline, baseball’s middle-class players got squeezed.

Also, it is hard for fans of small-market teams to have some empathy when they see their beloved players bolt for big paydays once they hit free agency.

It was hard to see Prince Fielder leave Milwaukee, but he made it clear from the moment the Brewers renewed him for the league minimum after his rookie year that he was going to leave for a big-money contract.

In a way, the players are asking for loyalty, yet once they get a chance to hit free agency, they are off to the best deal possible. It can be hard for Brewers fans or Oakland fans, or Reds fans to sympathize with players when they know the moment free agency comes; their favorite players are most likely gone.

That also leads to smaller competitive windows. The players would like teams to avoid taking. The Milwaukee Brewers are a prime example of the only way to be competitive is to have a few bad seasons, get top prospects, have them come up to the big leagues on cheaper pay, and hope for winning outcomes. Once they near free agency, trade the player off for prospects (or, in Fielder’s case, take the compensatory draft pick) and repeat the cycle all over again.

It is a slippery slope and a fine line the players walk.

Remember, Major League Baseball players are the best of the best. Before you go off saying I will spend my dollars on Minor League Baseball or the Independent League instead of the Majors, just think you will not be watching the best the game has to offer.

The Milwaukee Brewers have a pretty good product to offer. Too bad Mark Attanasio’s fellow owners are keeping him from showcasing it.