After whining themselves into the DirecTV deal, Cable suddenly forgot what team it’s playing for.

The technology landscape has changed dramatically since last year’s ill-fated DirecTV-Extra Innings exclusive deal; more and more people have migrated to the web to watch TV shows and download movies, something that’s been traditionally and intrinsically tied to the Television and the cable or satellite set top box.

Ironically, the Extra Innings deal would’ve forced subscribers to switch to the MLB.TV service, where they’d be able to watch most games from their computers at home or work. But due to huge fan outcry and a brief intervention by Congress, MLB New Media Goons, aka, MLB’s Advance Media arm decided to let Cable into the deal.

This time around, however, it’s Cable that’s about to screw us all over. And this time, I doubt there’s anything Selig or his henchmen can do to stop it.

From the AP:

NEW YORK - Time Warner Cable will experiment with a new pricing structure for high-speed Internet access later this year, charging customers based on how much data they download, a company spokesman said Wednesday.

As you all remember, Time Warner is part of that group of affiliates that own and operate In Demand, the system that distributes the MLB Extra Innings package to cable subscribers.

And this new pricing structure that they’re testing for broadband access will undoubtedly add a premium to the luxurious price that those of us who watch TV programming online (IE, baseball games through MLB.TV) already pay.

And what’s the reasoning, you ask?

Now, let’s see — that pricing structure would be really bad news for any Web entity selling downloadable movies and TV shows. Customers of cable company broadband might think twice if the download would bust them through to the next tier of service, forcing them to pay more.

And, hmm, who is most threatened by Web entities selling movies and TV shows? Why — that would be cable companies! How coincidental! By making downloadable video more expensive, cable companies might convince customers to just watch cable TV or get a movie on cable’s pay-per-view. Amazing how that works, huh?

Sure, that this becomes the norm is only speculative, but the Net Neutrality issue has been brewing for a while, with Cable leading the charge that we ought to have a tiered system to pay for broadband.

And so, the fact that Networks are enticing people to watch TV online, and not to mention, the big push for online movie rentals, oh and of course, music downloads, will make broadband internet service providers (IE, Cable) only think of pulling schemes like Time Warner’s out of their digital rear ends.

It took a whopping 3 days into the season for cable to finally quit posturing and start shelling the cash.

The deal, which had already been inked by DirecTV, ends months of acrimony and gives baseball fans the opportunity to renew the package with their local operators rather than switch to the satellite provider. EchoStar Satellite LLC is the lone entity that still hasn’t come to an agreement.

Those cable operators that agree to carry the product would also be required to offer the new MLB Channel on its basic tier when it is launched in 2009.

“Our chief goal throughout the process was to ensure that fans would have access to as many baseball games and as much baseball coverage as possible,” Bob DuPuy, MLB’s president and chief operating officer, said in a release. “With this agreement, the MLB Channel will launch with an unprecedented platform. We are pleased with the launch of the MLB Channel to so many homes coupled with our agreement to extend the distribution of MLB Extra Innings with iN DEMAND.”

MLB and iN DEMAND had been put under increasing pressure from Congress to come to an agreement so that fans without satellite access would still able to view out-of-market games. When the DirecTV deal was announced on Feb. 8, MLB set a deadline of Opening Night this past Sunday for iN DEMAND and EchoStar to match the same terms.

But that deadline was extended Sunday as the parties continued to negotiate.

Bittersweet? Nah, I gotta say this is a victory for all; fans who can’t get DirecTV will be able to watch out-market-games through cable, and MLB’s New Media Goons get their fat wads of cash.

If they can make Echostar AKA Dish Network pony-up the same terms, something that seems inevitable at this point, then they’ll score the Baseball Broadcasting Triple-Play.

I’m glad we all could come to an agreement; even if it exposed how utterly sleazy, greedy, and out-right dumb you Baseball Execs can be.

But hey, all’s well that ends well. Today, I renewed my MLB.TV; and whenever you guys get Dish on board for Extra Innings, we might pony-up the cash then as well.

See? Wasn’t so hard, no was it?

Oh and, by the way, you Bob DuPuy, are a lying snake.

You’re now saying that your “chief goal throughout the process was to ensure that fans would have access to as many baseball games and as much baseball coverage as possible” but not too long ago, you said something along the lines of:

“We cannot put the interests of what we believe are a relatively small minority of fans over what we believe are the best interests of the entire fan base as a whole,” Bob DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating officer, said in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission.

So which is it Bob? All fans? Some fans? No fans?