Thread by @FlannyMLB

I feel like a rant about the MLB/players union negotiations but I don’t think the players or most national ball scribes will appreciate my perspective.

Ok. I will get bombarded with stats about payroll vs. wins, but the truth is only one small-revenue team (the Royals) has won a title in baseball in the last 30 years. Teams with massive local TV revenue have an unfair advantage. That is a broken system. (1)

It was about 30 years ago this month that Mr. K told me baseball was headed toward doom because he felt small markets would no longer be able to compete without overspending, which he did in his final years because he wanted to bring one more title to KC before he died. (2)

David Glass understood this predicament and fought hard for a level playing field during the ‘94 work stoppage. His efforts fell through because the big-revenue owners back then were short sighted, not realizing, as the NFL did, that when the tide goes up, all boats go up. (3)

Mr. K was a shrewd businessman and he knew exactly where MLB was headed — as local TV revenue grew, small markets would get dusted. Seriously, how can the Royals’ $48 million TV deal compete with the Dodgers, Yankees, Cubs, Rangers and others who get $200-300 million? (4)

Mr. K would have thought a “luxury tax” on the big markets would be laughable. That tax to those owners is simply the cost of business, trying to buy a title. A hard ceiling, a hard floor, and serious TV revenue sharing is the only answer for competitive balance.

You love the Chiefs, you love the NFL. I support the Chiefs but am a die-hard Packers fan, grew up 30 minutes south of Lambeau. I, like you, believe every year can be a Super Bowl year. I never think about small market or payroll. Best organization wins, regardless of money.

That is the beauty of the NFL — we almost never talk about payroll, other than what every team’s capologists have to do. It is a level playing field. The Chiefs, Packers, Bengals, Steelers and Bucs can stick it to the Jets and Giants and Bears and Cowboys every year.

Meanwhile, the big issues in MLB we hear about right now are player salaries from years 0-6. Yes, while very important, this sort of misses the big picture. And rather than increasing the number of playoff teams to build fan interest, why not just level the playing field?

Then again, what the hell do I know. I am retired.

And another thing, as @rustindodd brought up, how would Chiefs fans feel if Mahomes had to walk like Lorenzo Cain or Hoz or others? In MLB, Favre and Rodgers never would have stayed in Green Bay.