The New MLB Draft

We are mere moments into the MLB Amateur draft and the Houston Astros with the first overall pick have already made headlines with their surprise first pick in Puerto Rico Baseball Academy's SS Carlos Corea. Is due to the new CBA?  Most reporters had pegged the Astros choice coming down to Byron Buxton and Mark Appel.   This is an interesting draft as it will be the first time that the draft pool bonus cap is utilized.  WEEI's Alex Speier wrote a great primer on the new draft rules. Let's take a look at those rules below the fold. 

Realignment and It Feels so Good Pt. 2: "Cold as Ice"

In part 1 of my realignment series, I discussed Major League Baseball's future realignment, where the Houston Astros will move from the National League Central Division to the American League Western Division.  Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association agreed to this as part of their newly ratified collective bargaining agreement.

Like Major League Baseball,  the National Hockey League wanted to realign their divisions for the 2012-2013 season.  In December, the NHL's Board of Governors were forced to realign due to the Atlanta Thrashers move to Winnipeg.  It did not make much sense to keep the Canadian team in the Southeast division so they did a one-for-one swap moving the Jets into the Western Conference.  Moreover, the NHL Board of Governors also voted on a complete overhaul plan that made even more sense in their eyes.  The plan was to realign the league into a 4-conference setup where the top four teams in each conference would make the playoffs and the initial two playoff rounds would consist of inter-conference match-ups.  However, much to the chagrin of the NHL's Board of Governors, the proposal was rebuffed by the National Hockey League Player Association and their new executive director, Donald Fehr.

I've fallen and I can't get up...

Kidding... But really, it has been a long while since I last posted.  A lot has happened since I left last---as I predicted, the NBA followed MLB's lead in signing new collective bargaining agreements and we were treated to a Christmas miracle with a NBA tip off (even if David Stern was the Grinch that stole CP3 from the Lakers).  I do apologize for my lack of action regarding these events, but unfortunately the holidays, my victorious march in the Constitutional Daily Fantasy Football League, and that crazy thing called "life" took up too much of my precious spare time.   I have said Kaddish and sat shivah for the loss of my beloved Green Bay Packers and I am ready to keep you up to date on all sports labor and employment law developments.  Happy New Year!  

On deck: "Realignment and It Feels so good..."

edit: it is with great irony, and also unintentional, that I decided to resurrect this blawg on the eve of SOPA blackout day...

Professional Athletes' Workers' Compensation? NOT IN MY HOUSE (California)!

One of the little discussed, but increasingly important NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) issue in professional sports law is matters relating to professional athletes' workers' compensation claims. A disagreement has arose because numerous professional athletes have decided to choose California as the jurisdiction in which to file their workers' compensation claims, even if he had never played a game for a California home-team due to the belief that when it comes to Workers' Compensation Claims, California has plaintiff favored policies when it comes to work injuries that result from playing professional sports. This strategy was employed  much to the chagrin of the players' out-of-state employer who think that their players (employees) should be required to file their workers' compensation claims in the employers' home-state and have begun including contract provisions that preclude the players from bringing such injury related claims under California law.

However, even though this is an emerging and important issue within professional sports, the NFLPA and Owners punted on this issue, and decided to ratify the CBA and commence the football season  with this issue unresolved.  Nonetheless, both sides agreed to continue to negotiate in good faith regarding these emerging workers' compensation issues.  CBA Article 41 § (5)-(6) states that a joint committee will be formed to negotiate a possible California Workers' Compensation Alternative Dispute Resolution program on a trial basis.  This was agreed to with the big caveat that both sides retain their respective positions with respect to all current pending litigation. An example of such pending litigation was the case of the Chicago Bears versus three of their former players in The Chicago Bears Football Club Inc., et al. v. Michael Haynes, et al. No. 11 C 2668.  In her decision, U.S.  District Judge Elaine Bucklo affirmed an arbitrator's decision that the former Bears players were required to file their workers' compensation claims with the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission instead of in California because their player contracts' required them to.

But why would a Chicago Bear  file his workers' compensation claim in California anyways?  For that answer, allow me to turn over the floor to Attorney Greg Grinberg; a Northern California Workers' Compensation Attorney who writes the blog wcdefenseca, a blog dedicated to California Workers' Compensation issues. 

No-no-no: David Stern Channels his Inner "Mutombo" to Preemptively Block NBPA

On Tuesday, Commissioner Stern ran up the "court" where he grabbed the first "Board"; National Labor Relations Board to be exact, to "block" the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) from de-certifying as a Union. But enough for the flagrant foul worthy puns and onto what's going on in NBA Lockout Land. Stern decided to brush off his litigious rust that he fostered early on as the youngest Partner at Proskauer Rose, a white shoe law firm that has a significant sports law practice group, and preemptively strike and prevent the NBPA from decertifying. It seems as Stern learned from NFL Commissioner's Roger Goodell's cautious attitude toward the NFLPA decertification and wanted to stop it before it started. Goodell probably had a good understanding that it would take decertification in order to get the players back to the table. Goodell was rightfully optimistic that a deal would get done before risking any missed regular seasons games. You see, unlike the NBA, all of the NFL Franchises have been profitable. The lockout was just a way to reorganize how profitable the NFL could be and put the owners in a place where they could maximize profits for the longterm (i.e. 10 year deal.) In comparison, the NBA is not in great shape. Many teams have been taking losses the last few year to a point where almost half of the teams requested a credit extension from the League. That is not a good situation to be in when facing possible anti-trust litigation. Where as the NFL tweaked their salary cap structure, it seems that NBA Owners want to completely blow up their soft cap and start over again. This would be no easy fix in anti-trust violation settlement discussions. David Stern knew this and decided to nip it in the bud.

Are you ready for some football?!?!?! For realz!

It's over, it's over. The 136 day lockout is finito! Once again, it holds true that football does not really start until end of July! However, just as I predicted it was one hell of a roller-coaster ride to get to this point, from the Owners' vote last Thursday (gratuitous link due to this very bLawg getting cited) to today, but I do not think it is premature to say that the lockout is over and there should be football in the near future!