quote:Originally posted by Matt13:
It's not the union, it's more on MLB's part.
If umpires were to be able to be demoted, the already small pool of candidates who attend school and go through the minors for a pittance would dry up. For most, the idea of potentially having a fairly good guaranteed paycheck is what motivates them through the system.
For demotion to work, MLB would need to up the payscale in the minors, and have apolitical and impartial evaluators in both MiLB and MLB. That costs money.
Thus, it is more on the part of MLB that the current system is the way it is--they spend relatively little and get a result with which they are comfortable and willing to accept.
If you want a little perspective, I've done the math on what I make doing baseball here vs. AA. I make between $70-$105 a game. If my wife would allow it, I could realistically make about $2400 (and potentially even more) a month, about the same as a second-year AA umpire. Plus, I can have my own career (which pays better than MiLB) and I can sleep in my own bed (or couch, depending on her mood) every night. From a strictly cost-benefit analysis, there is no incentive for someone like me to umpire anywhere else but locally.
More intangibly, I can umpire on (generally) my own terms. I don't need to umpire to feed myself (or my family.) If I get burned out, I can take some time off. If, and this happens to everyone, the time comes where I am no longer an asset, I can hang up the mask with no worries.
Keep in mind, this is all under the current system. Why would anyone in their right mind even try to become a professional umpire without an incentive of a guaranteed job at the top?
The chances of making it to the majors is ridiculously slim. Like starting out in the mailroom at GM and making it to CEO in 15 years (ok maybe that's a bad example).
I don't think the movement policy suggested by bsb would deter new candidates very much, if at all. They know they will make jack squat money for a long time and VERY likely never make it to the bigs. But if they do, I bet all of them would have the attitude: "There's no way I'll ever be in the bottom 20."
The bottom line is, the union would ever agree to it.