MLB 17-18 Offseason: The Giants are preparing for EYBS' return
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Uh ... 2.1 fWAR / 1.4 bWAR last season, so it could be worse? (I mean, he's still a million years old and dead, but...)
I guess it could be worse, they could re-sign Bautista.
In today's news...
-- A great, if long, article by Jeff Passan about what's driving the slow offseason (and how Tony Clark got taken to the cleaners in last year's negotiations; basically, he chose the beer keg over the dental plan).
-- The MLBPA has rejected MLB's pace-of-play proposals. Originally the league proposed a pitch clock that would not be in effect if runners were on base, a limit to six mound visits per game and 35 seconds between batters. The union rejected that, and as a result the league has come back with far harsher rules: 20-second pitch clock, period, one mound visit per inning and 30 seconds between batters. The union has no recourse for this, because as a result of Tony Clark being a fucking idiot, the union signed a CBA that allows the commissioner to unilaterally impose rules of play.
-- The Dodgers are in financial hell right now due to their debt situation (and it won't get any better when their TV deal implodes, which will be sooner rather than later).
-- lolmets
-- A great, if long, article by Jeff Passan about what's driving the slow offseason (and how Tony Clark got taken to the cleaners in last year's negotiations; basically, he chose the beer keg over the dental plan).
-- The MLBPA has rejected MLB's pace-of-play proposals. Originally the league proposed a pitch clock that would not be in effect if runners were on base, a limit to six mound visits per game and 35 seconds between batters. The union rejected that, and as a result the league has come back with far harsher rules: 20-second pitch clock, period, one mound visit per inning and 30 seconds between batters. The union has no recourse for this, because as a result of Tony Clark being a fucking idiot, the union signed a CBA that allows the commissioner to unilaterally impose rules of play.
-- The Dodgers are in financial hell right now due to their debt situation (and it won't get any better when their TV deal implodes, which will be sooner rather than later).
-- lolmets
Side note: Who (or what) is "EYBS"? 
Side note: Who (or what) is "EYBS"?
Even-Year Bullshit.
I saw a article on MLB Trade Rumors (I think), that part of the problem is front offices are no longer willing to pay for what a player has done. They're using statistical projections for offers. Someone like JD Martinez simply won't be worth $30 million a year during his age 38 season.
I saw a article on MLB Trade Rumors (I think), that part of the problem is front offices are no longer willing to pay for what a player has done. They're using statistical projections for offers. Someone like JD Martinez simply won't be worth $30 million a year during his age 38 season.
I've been thinking that MLB should adopt a free agency system similar to the NHL's (without the onus of restricted free agency, which is just a bad joke). Say you cap rookie contracts at three years, then then a player goes to arbitration. Team control for players on the 40-man lasts for ... I don't know, let's call it six years or age 27, whichever comes first, then they're a free agent.
That's what they should be doing with older players. Obviously you can't predict the future but for older players, they should not pay based on past performance. It's a different story with younger players, although there is obvious risk there as well.I saw a article on MLB Trade Rumors (I think), that part of the problem is front offices are no longer willing to pay for what a player has done. They're using statistical projections for offers. Someone like JD Martinez simply won't be worth $30 million a year during his age 38 season.
To a certain extent, yes, but labor shouldn't be treated like cattle.
If paying me tens of millions of dollars to play baseball for a living is treating me like cattle, well I say "moo" to that.
Problem is more with the pay on the front end. Players want to get 30M at age 40 because they got paid peanuts at age 25 when they were still good. Owners are getting smarter about not paying max contracts years after the player became washed up.
To really fix things, gotta drastically raise the arbitration pay, or take most of those years into FA instead. Without steroids (as much), people are just about washed up before they hit FA half the time, and then are shocked that the payday doesn't come.
and then maybe not pay the minor leagues slave wages, but that's not exactly the same issue...
To really fix things, gotta drastically raise the arbitration pay, or take most of those years into FA instead. Without steroids (as much), people are just about washed up before they hit FA half the time, and then are shocked that the payday doesn't come.
and then maybe not pay the minor leagues slave wages, but that's not exactly the same issue...
God, the mealy-mouthed equivocating from Clark on that issue is nauseating.
Seems an easy fix if you're trying to get more money from the owners into the system without screwing with the MLB wages too much. Just set the miLB minimums higher. Doesn't even have to be crazy, but they're making like 1500-2k/month, and only during the season. that just doesn't work. Make it at least a living wage, and something like (random numbers) 30k for A ball or lower, 40k for AA, 50k for AAA. All minimums, can pay more as you like. Know I just recommended spending tons more money, and at the lower end that's a LOT of players to pay and not a lot to live off of, but it's a ton better than now. If the MLB owners were responsible for the delta between today's pay and new pay, it wouldn't kill the miLB owners trying to make money off of $5 tickets, either.
Baseball's "problem" is the high flameout rate. Way too many wash out, so they don't want to pay tons upfront until you know they're going to make it. NFL players can be stars right out of the gate, MLB player may not make the Show for 5-6 years normally.
At the end, know it's owners screwing the players over, but gotta be a way to smooth that out some. Problem being that they are negotiating with the MLB PA, not the minors or even really the younger MLB players. Too many of them are vested in getting THEIR money, and are already through the minors. Screw the kids, they sacrificed and made it for the promise of money later, pay up. So nothing changes, but now the owners aren't paying on the back end...
Baseball's "problem" is the high flameout rate. Way too many wash out, so they don't want to pay tons upfront until you know they're going to make it. NFL players can be stars right out of the gate, MLB player may not make the Show for 5-6 years normally.
At the end, know it's owners screwing the players over, but gotta be a way to smooth that out some. Problem being that they are negotiating with the MLB PA, not the minors or even really the younger MLB players. Too many of them are vested in getting THEIR money, and are already through the minors. Screw the kids, they sacrificed and made it for the promise of money later, pay up. So nothing changes, but now the owners aren't paying on the back end...
That's the difference between the MLBPA of years past and the MLBPA of today. When the MLBPA went on strike in 1981, after initially having a united front, some of the older players began to fray (this is when Bob Boone started back-channel negotiations with Lee MacPhail), particularly Robin Yount, who went to Marvin Miller and said, "We've gotten our pensions, we've gotten our salaries hiked, we've even got free agency; why are we on strike to hold the line on free agent compensation? Can't we just let them have that?" Despite repeated meetings with the executive board, Miller still sensed that the union wasn't completely buying in.
So Miller brought out the big guns. He called a meeting of the union membership, with a few hundred players in attendance, and Miller didn't speak: Robin Roberts, who had been in baseball since 1948 and witnessed the birth of the MLBPA, came out and addressed the players, and he told them in no uncertain terms: "You aren't doing this for yourselves. You're doing this for the people who come after you, and the generation after them." Afterwards, a vote was taken of the full membership to see if the strike should continue, and it was unanimously in favor.
Today's MLBPA is essentially run by the high-priced veterans. They had Michael Weiner's ear (that's how abominable bullshit like the qualifying offer came around, selling mid-tier players up the river), and they have Clark's (negotiating in the CBA for bullshit like a team chef in the clubhouse, or two seats on the bus, as opposed to real issues).
Considering they make literal billions for their bosses, I don't see an issue with players being paid tens of millions of dollars. What I do have an issue with is ownership's rather transparent desire to cast aside guys once they're over 30 and pay them relative peanuts.
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