Labor Relations 101

I considered titling this "Owner - Players union relationship" but thought better of it, in part, because it conveyed little.

Stipulation: the players are the product, not employees or labor.

I am confused about just what the owners and their management representative, the commissioner, may do.

If General Motors wants to make new type of car or discontinue a current car, I don't think it needs the permission of the United Auto Workers union.

If the owners wanted to reduce the number of players on the roster, it would need to negotiate that with the players union. I understand that. But if the owners wanted to reduce the number of games from 162 to 154 and pay the players the same, why would that need to be negotiated?

If the owners wanted to improve their product by speeding the pace of play without changing rules, why would they need to negotiate that with the players union? For instance, if Manfred, the A-Rod Slayer, ordered the umpires to actually enforce some existing rules, many think he not only would need permission from the players union but also from the umpires union. Now the umpires are certainly not the product but a necessary set of employees whose jobs are increasingly being automated.

Pace of play improvement policy abandoned? Sunday, May 3, 2015

Baseball Think: keeping time without a clock: "one Mississippi, two Mississippi, ...". Saturday, February 21, 2015

In the warped world where people speak baseball what is it that strikes fear like no other concept?  A clock.  Baseball Think causes baseball people to insist that there is no clock even when they deal with keeping time as in the newest lame attempts to ineffectively bring baseball back from the brink of extinction due it devolving into an unwatchable slow motion mess...

Earth to planet Baseball: only the umpires can call time out! The batter may not step out and implicitly get time out. If Commissioner Rob "Bud Light" Manfred had a pair, he'd inform all parties that he was instructing, dare we say ordering, the umpires to enforce existing rules starting immediately and that, where there is ambiguity, he, Manfred, will clarify in terms of radically speeding up the pace of play.
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Strike Zone too low? Check the rule. And what the heck is the "hollow beneath the kneecap"? Saturday, February 14, 2015

Too many strike outs?  Supposedly the strike zone is lower than ever.  Maybe part of the problem is that even after all these years, the strike zone is not well defined.
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In a normal company the chief executive would clarify such things and inform (order) his workers to work accordingly.

Manfred, the A-Rod slayer, here's simple change of pace stuff you can implement NOW. Monday, February 2, 2015

Here are two simple things, not too radical, that Rob "Bud Light" Manfred can easily implement this season to speed up the pace of play; one impacts pitchers, the other batters.

1. Enforce this:

Selig refuses to enforce existing 12 second rule between pitches!  Wednesday, August 20, 2014

"Allan Huber "Bud" Selig should suspend himself 211 games and self flagellate indefinitely."
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2. Order, yes, order, the umpires to not grant time out to a batter for any reason.

Do I mean just order the umpires to enforce one rule on pitchers and follow a new policy on batters?  Yes.  Without getting permission from the umpires union?  Yes.  Without asking for permission from the players union?  Yes.
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Selig refuses to enforce existing 12 second rule between pitches! Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Allan Huber "Bud" Selig should suspend himself 211 games and self flagellate indefinitely...

Without getting too literal, it seems to me that a rule about time suggests that a clock exists. Baseball is a game with a clock that is ignored but it clearly has a clock.

There are many more things that could be done to quicken the pace of games but for the one person who has the power to actually do something to state publicly that he, on his own personal authority, chooses to ignore a rule that has been on the books for many years is the height of arrogance...

Is baseball a game of rules? Is the commissioner charged with enforcing the rules? Is the commissioner responsible for the entertainment value of baseball?
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There's a post I cannot find, which quotes rules about the catcher staying in the catcher's box and the umpire being directly behind home plate. Those rules are violated on every pitch. Could the commissioner simply order the umpires to enforce the rules?