Happy Saturday!

Bring It On!

The dog and pony show has officially begun.

This week, MLB owners and players finally exchanged proposals on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

Yes, the battle lines are drawn.

The headline?

Owners are demanding a salary cap.

They last tried for a cap in 1994. It led to the cancellation of the World Series. So yeah—the stakes are higher than a Coors Field home run.

And while the owners are obsessed with capping big spenders like the Dodgers, the players had a completely different target: the cheap seats.

They’re calling for a "Competitive Integrity Tax."

Translation: Any team that doesn't spend at least $150 million on payroll faces a penalty.

This is aimed squarely at owners that are pocketing revenue-sharing checks and not spending on players.

Owners are pushing for a hard spending cap at $245 million—but in a surprise, they also threw in a salary floor of $172 million.

Hmmm. Why on earth would the owners propose a floor higher than the players?

We won't get bogged down in the nerdy financial weeds here, but it's fair to say the gap between the two sides is Grand Canyon wide.

If anyone thought this was gonna be a quick negotiation, you just lost that bet.

The two sides aren't even in the same stratosphere.

Over the next few months, the buzzword will be "competitive balance."

The owners say small-market teams can't possibly compete with the big boys.

It’s a beautiful narrative. But right now, the standings tell a different story.

Look at some of the current division leaders:

And the low-budget Athletics are not far back in the AL West.

While those big-spending New York Mets? Dead last in the NL East.

Another inconvenient truth for the owners.

The small-market San Diego Padres just sold for a record-shattering $3.9 billion.

That hardly paints a picture of a league in financial distress.

Look if winning was purely about burning cash, the Mets would have a dynasty by now.

Is the 2027 season in jeopardy? Let’s not go full drama queen just yet.

But imagine this scenario on December 1st:

MLB regular-season TV ratings up nearly 50%.

And coming off back-to-back massive World Series thrillers.

Are owners still gonna shut it all down?

Good luck selling that one to the fans, baseball.

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Sit down for this one.

Last week, the Johnsons showed up at Chase Field for a Giants-Diamondbacks game. They scanned their tickets at the gate.

Beep. Nothing.

Turns out? Wrong night. Their tickets were actually for the following evening.

Since they were already at the ballpark, they decided to stay anyway and grabbed a pair of cheap seats for that night's game.

Left field.

Second inning.

Giants shortstop Willy Adames launches a rocket to left field. And yes... the ball lands directly in AJ Johnson’s glove.

Great story, right?

Wait.

It gets better.

The Johnsons returned the next night with their original tickets.

Again in left field.

Second inning.

Adames comes to the plate and goes deep to left.

Another home run.

The ball ricochets off the bullpen wall... and somehow, AJ Johnson ends up holding the baseball. Again.

If I’m the Johnsons? I’m skipping the rest of the baseball season and heading straight to Vegas. ⚾🎰

Pirates rookie Esmerlyn Valdez hit his first career home run this week.

Huge moment for sure.

There’s only one first home run.

His teammates immediately went on a mission to track down the baseball, and quickly spotted the fan who caught it: an 11-year-old boy.

Pirates reliever Justin Lawrence saw the boy and thought: “Thank goodness it’s a kid. This should be easy.”

Not so much.

When asked for the ball, he looked Lawrence dead in the eye and said, “I think I’m gonna keep it.”

Outstanding.

Suddenly, the Pirates bullpen transformed into a front office at the trade deadline. High-stakes negotiations commenced.

The young fan held the line, refused to blink, and finally agreed to terms:

The kid absolutely worked 'em. A masterclass in leverage that would have made Scott Boras proud.

Gotta give it to Minor League Baseball.

They try everything imaginable.

Providing fun family entertainment.

Many of them are huge successes.

This week?

Not so much.

The Tulsa Drillers — Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers — have suspended their bat dog program after top prospect Kendall George injured his knee trying to avoid one of the dogs running onto the field.

Yes.

A bat dog injury.

Only in Minor League Baseball could "dog retrieving bats" somehow become a workplace hazard.

The Drillers have used bat dogs for five seasons during Friday home games, holidays, and special events.

George suffered the injury on Memorial Day.

Bat dogs have become a staple across the minors. Last year, even the Washington Nationals promoted their bat dog, Bruce, from Triple-A for an MLB appearance.

And look, these promotions are part of what makes Minor League Baseball great.

But.

It’s all fun and games until somebody gets hurt.

Watch Video

It’s good to be Joey Votto.

The former Reds superstar retired from baseball in 2024 and immediately became the most interesting guy at your dinner party.

Since leaving the game, Votto has:

Oh…

and now he’ll work as a baseball analyst for NBC Sports.

Geez.

This sounds less like retirement and more like the plot of a Netflix travel series.

Meanwhile, the rest of us are arguing with customer service over a broken dishwasher.

Guess it helps when you’ve made $250 million playing baseball.

Good for Joey Votto. Annoying for the rest of us. 😂😂

—Box

Have a great weekend.
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