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Originally Posted by Sal Giaco
Jiggy,
When it comes down to it, it's all about the almighty dollar. Umpires are an expense, not an investment to MiLB. Why should they dump any more money than they have to - afterall, they are not the ones that reap the benefits of umpire development.
I think they have made it pretty clear as to where umpires are on the priority list (MiLB said they have the money but don't want to spend it on umpiring). I think they crunched the numbers and figured out that they could cut down on expenses by busting the union and then rehiring them as independent contractors. They can also save money by getting rid of PBUC and letting MLB worry about ultimately developing umpires for the big leagues.
Will the quality of officiating suffer by "outsourcing" the umpiring in MiLB? Absolutely. But you know what... they probably don't care as long as they're saving money, not adversely effecting the game and of course, not losing any fans in the seats.
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I agree that there are dollars and sense at work here, I disagree that MiLB doesn't care at all about the quality of umpires they put on their fields long term. They care because the players care, the managers care, and most importantly the Farm Directors care. This is the very essence of the ambiguous relationship between MLB and MiLB. It could be argued that MiLB is holding out and allowing this circus of scabs not just to break the AMLU but also MLB, a sort of backdoor way to press the issue of funding from MLB for umpire development. (for all of you who will want to chime in and give a history of the UDP and MLB's funding of it, please don't. I am well aware, that's my point.) If MLB again began dumping money into umpire development, MiLB and more specifically PBUC and the AMLU wouldn't seem so far opposed.