The fact that third baseman Mike Moustakas had to settle for a $6.5MM guarantee in free agency is the latest sign that the owners defeated the players in winter 2016 CBA negotiations, J.J. Cooper of Baseball America opines. In accepting the Royals’ offer, reportedly the only one he received from any team in his four months on the open market, Moustakas took a pay cut from his 2017 salary ($8.7MM) after belting 38 home runs and accounting for 2.2 fWAR. He also ended up with far less than he’d have gotten had he said yes to the Royals’ $17.4MM qualifying offer in November. In December, long before Moustakas signed, now-Angels right-hander/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani emigrated from Japan. In order to join the Angels, the two-way sensation had to take a relatively inexpensive bonus and agree to be under team control for six years. That was yet another result of a CBA that Cooper sees as clearly being in the owners’ favor. The CBA isn’t due to expire until December 2021, meaning the owners could be in the catbird seat for a while longer, but Cooper argues that they should make some good-faith concessions to improve their relationship with the union. For one, they should do away with making clubs give up draft picks to sign qualified free agents (Moustakas was a victim of that), Cooper contends.
- As you’d expect, Moustakas’ rep, Scott Boras, isn’t pleased with how free agency unfolded for his client. Boras told reporters, including Rustin Dodd of The Athletic (subscription required), on Saturday: “Our system has failed. We always want demand for the best. This is about players, players who are excellent, players who are All-Stars, and Moose has delivered in all.” The high-powered agent added that “it’s become something other than the best players playing baseball at the highest level for the best teams.” The past few months have been a mixed bag for Boras, who arguably hasn’t worked quite as much magic as usual. Clients Eric Hosmer (eight years, $144MM) and J.D. Martinez (five years, $110MM) have landed two of the three biggest contracts since last season ended, but Moustakas, Carlos Gonzalez (one year, $8MM) and Carlos Gomez (one year, $4MM) didn’t sign for nearly as much as hoped. What’s more, Jake Arrieta and Greg Holland continue to languish in free agency as the regular season nears.
- Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy is progressing in his recovery from October knee surgery, though it’s not yet clear whether he’ll be ready for Opening Day, per Jamal Collier of MLB.com. Murphy took batting practice for the first time this year on Saturday, after which he said he didn’t experience any discomfort. The 32-year-old also fielded 15 to 20 ground balls Saturday, but “he has not graduated to lateral movements,” Collier writes, and has only run on a treadmill to this point. Overall, though, Murphy believes he’s “responding really well.”
- Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun’s attempt to play first base this spring isn’t going all that smoothly, even though it has been “enjoyable,” he explained Saturday (via the Associated Press). “I definitely don’t feel comfortable at all,” the 34-year-old admitted. “I’m doing the best I can with it. Guys have to make sacrifices. I think ultimately if we want to get to where we want to get as a team, based on the roster we’ve put together, it obviously helps make us a better team if I’m able to play multiple positions.” Interestingly, Braun added that because of the bending and squatting that are required for playing first, his new position has been “a lot harder” on his back than lining up in the outfield. Braun’s back issued contributed to his abbreviated campaign in 2017 (104 games), and with Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich now on hand in the Brewers’ outfield, playing first could help get him and other Brewers outfielders more at-bats this year. That’s if he’s able to hold up from a health standpoint, of course.
Aww poor Braun. Maybe your back wouldn’t be fudged up if you didn’t cheat and eat steroids for your entire career. Brewsh Bag.
Hi Troll,
The PEDs he took were drugs that helped with muscle recovery for injuries, thus expediting the process in which healing takes place. Most PED users don’t use steroids as heavily as the players of the 1980s and 90s.
Ya, I agree his post was a bit on the troll side. But, if there is one player that doesn’t deserve people to defend him it’s Braun. A-Rod, Bonds, Clemens, etc…are more deserving than Braun and his “I’m so innocent” routine while throwing other people, regular working class people, under the bus to uphold his lie. In my opinion, he is the worst of the PED users, not because he claimed his innocence, but because he thinks that he is so special that he justified an attempt to destroy a mans career to cover up his cheating.
You forgetting the honest person that Braun had fired? You forgetting the interview where he lied to everyone?? He was taking a test booster. Stop acting like you know the guy. He went to the U. Home of biogenesis. Stop being naive. Go take a look at who else was at that school when he was. All juice heads. Stop defending a cheating liar.
I fully agree. This guy should have had some suspension that was equal to the harm he caused
He should have given a year of his salary to the guy whose life he ruined. Better yet, a percentage of all his earnings.
Agreed. He is scum.
Muscle recover for injuries…? At age 23,24,25?!? Nobody needs it at that age!!!!!!!
Hitting more homeruns at age 23 than you do at age 28,29,30. Yea he definitely wasn’t cheating. You’re an idiot @saintidiot
Hi saintchristafa (aka deepindenial)
Braun admitted to using a cream and lozenge. The cream that Biogenesis supplied was synthetic testosterone, the lozenges the Bosch supplied were also synthetic testosterone. Anabolic-androgenic steroids are……..guess what…..yep synthetic variations of testosterone.
The only drug Bosch had his “clients” take that would have “helped with muscle recovery for injuries, thus expediting the process in which healing takes place.” would be HGH which is injected and not tested for at the time of Braun’s bust, but banned nonetheless. It can only be tested for with a blood sample which the MLBPA refused to allow until after the embarrassment of Biogenesis. Not only does HGH aid in recovery, it also (as studies in Australia showed) “lowered” the Testosterone to Epistestosterone ratio which was the antiquated standard used to trigger a fail at the time Braun was caught (and then lied his way out of). The ridiculous standard was a 4:1 T:E ratio. Braun’s test was more than twice as high as any other ever recorded because he wanted bigger, faster.
He didn’t do it to recover from injury, he did it to cheat…wise up.
So to go off your logic Cat Mando Braun’s test was twice as high as anyone ever recorded so he could get bigger/faster. Can you explain why he’s only 6’1” 210 then? Why he never bulked up whatsoever? Yes of course he cheated but all of you who say he’s been doing it forever don’t understand steroids work. There is no doubt if he was “juicing” for years that he would’ve added a lot more muscle. Not to mention after he got busted he still had an all star year so clearly has the talent. Did he cheat? Yes. Has he been using for years? No.
Steroids do not directly correlate to “bulking up” it merely makes it much easier to bulk up. Some guys are just smaller/don’t lift as much, therefore don’t necessarily balloon.
You still have to lift A lot
and train hard to get huge gains! But you have to do it slowly
and in cycles! The muscles grow
and get stronger much faster than the tendons
and ligaments do and it causes injuries to them if not taken right!
Brewcrew…Would you have liked it more if I said stronger? Testosterone is a key to adding muscle mass, and yes along with exercise. That muscle mass adds power. Yes there has to be some skill, it’s not a miracle formula but muscle mass adds power. Power turns soft liners to short into singles, fly outs into doubles off the wall etc. Someday check the works of Physicist Roger Tobin as well as Alan M. Nathan to understand more.
As to Braun using for years, nothing sways me from believing he didn’t before he was busted. Everything from his friendship with A-Rod when he was still at the U of Miami (aka PED U) to U of M’s long history of cheaters. Here is a little light reading for you if you like..
miaminewtimes.com/news/steroids-long-history-at-th…
Braun is a sad specimen of a ball player, cheater, denier and not worth talking about as any kind of “Star”. Would never ask my kid to solicit an autograph from him- that’s the defining point folks !
It was testosterone. And he cost a man his job with his lies. He is a scumbag
it was a side job… no one’s making a living shipping urine sample. besides that, that guy didn’t do his job correctly (did not ship right away and kept the sample at his own residence) so who’s to say he wouldn’t’ve been relieved of his duties for not following protocol? brain cheated, got caught, served his suspension, and is back to playing – get over it. shit happens, but hold on to that anger because that will surely help your life
Boras: “Our system has failed”
….No Boras, YOU Failed…….
The Rockies offered Greg Holland the exact deal Wade Davis accepted … Whether it was Boras or Holland that rejected it … it was to be the absolute biggest mistake made this offseason … Wade Davis had the sense to accept and Holland not only isn’t closing … he’s not even pitching … terrible market read by Holland and you’d have to assume terrible advice by Boras probably assuring Holland the market would correct itself
Based on all the articles that have come out, BorAss and his clients made several massive mistakes this offseason.
“…No Boras, YOU Failed…… “
How, exactly, did Boras fail, xabial? Would his clients have done better were they represented by a different agent? Look at the projected contracts posted at this site, everybody expected his clients—and the other players—to receive offers consistent with offers made to FAs in the past. Obviously that didn’t happen. Have Boras clients been hurt more than clients of other agents?
We don’t and may never know whether the owners got together and agreed to cut salaries or independently decided to change their approach to free agency itself. But the result, as we’ve seen, has been a surprise to most. Not sure why you’re singling Boras out for criticism. Spare a clue?
I would say Boras failed by totally mis-reading the market for his client. He knew next years FA class was going to be unprecedented and that teams have been wary of signing FA with the QO attached to them.
How did he not fail?
Moustakas – advised a mediocre player to turn down 17 mil QO.
Davis- advises to turn down Col offer in a market flooded with good relievers.
JD – almost loses the only team in market which was making a strong offer.
Arrieta – issued demand so high no one even wants to discuss anything for him.
Everyone knows the writers on this site are MLBPA favored. Don’t overlook that.
Baseball would be better w/o Scott Boras
First, you have no idea what he advised his clients, unless you’ve got him wiretapped. Second, you present JD as a failure when he got a DH $110M guaranteed that he can convert into a 2/50 and go back into the market if conditions are better (plus 2 more opt outs). Your “almost loses only team” is really a “gets an awesome, creative contract out of team without any competition.” Third, got an historic overpay for Hosmer, who you conveniently neglect to mention.
He or Holland made a gigantic mistake — clearly the biggest and most obvious at the time — not taking the Rockies’ offer, but we have no idea whether Boras advised Holland to take it or not. Maybe Holland wanted more, or wanted out of Colorado, like almost all pitchers do. It was a colossal financial mistake, but stop pretending like you know why it happened.
As far as turning down the QO, almost every free agent, every year does that, regardless of who their agent is. They all did this year too. I thought that was the wrong choice for Holland, but obviously it was the right choice if he got offered the Wade Davis deal. You really think anyone, including Moustakas, would have considered him taking the QO after hitting 38 homers? Too bad he didn’t, but you can’t blame him or his agent for missing that one when everyone else would have too.
He didn’t save ALL of his clients from the bad market, but neither did any other agent. That’s just the way it goes, so stop vilifying the guy and get some balance.
Probably shouldn’t even give credence to albearrrr’s theory, but the writers on this site are most definitely not biased one way or the other. We communicate with agents, players, reporters and MLB folk, and do not favor any of those parties more than any other. Any suggestion to the opposite is misguided speculation, and to suggest that “everyone knows it” is a wild conspiracy theory.
My favorite part is where you went to refute Albearrrr and ended up refuting JJ Cooper’s points
Hey, he’s praised for securing ridiculous long-term contracts, so he should be vilified for advising his clients to take the road to less money. Can’t have it both ways!
Sorry but anyone with half a brain and knows how supply and demand works saw this coming. With more and more teams tanking the only free agents who will cash in are going to be the super star players. The rest will be left fighting for a smaller maeket share because a full thirs of the league is trying to lose. Add in the analytic equivalent of agism and players 32 and older are getting nothing on the market.
The players are partly to blame in that they should have argued for anti tanking rules in the last negotiation. Instead they focused on more on the job perks.
All these people down on Moose only getting 6.5mm… come on, he declined 17.4mm. He’ll get his paid next time since he can’t be given a QO again, although, it’ll be interesting to see what next offseason holds for him with those other 3Bs hitting the market…
Or he’ll revert back to his career numbers and show why he didn’t get paid like a star this offseason.
True true true
The problem for bad players is that these days GM positions are filled by Ivy League graduates aren’t fooled by one dimensional players who can’t field or have high OBP.
Players are getting such big money in arbitration there is less money left for free agents. Donaldson and Mmachado got insane arbitration awards. Maybe players should have all salaries decided by arbitration and eliminate free agency.
A strike is coming.
If the players strike, they’ll be killing the sport. Fans don’t care whether they get paid or not. In fact, most would prefer shorter-term deals or even non-guaranteed contracts like football has, so one or two bad decisions don’t send their favorite franchises into a half-decade long rebuild. If these guys think they’ll be sympathetic figures against the big, bad owners in a work-stoppage, they’re morons. And this time, they won’t have a few roided freaks to bring disgruntled and disenchanted fans back to the ballpark/their TV sets.
Exactly
Nah. There’s no actual reason to. They are perfectly aware why they’re not getting paid the way they want. They can’t just say it.
Baseball players can’t legally strike while they have a collective bargaining agreement. Even if they could MLB wouldn’t renegotiate knowing that the players don’t view an agreement as something they need to live by. The current CBA doesn’t expire for 4 more years. The circumstances in the game will change more than once in that time. Players won’t strike in 2022 because Mike Moustakas didn’t get well paid in 2018. They might strike if players are in the same spot then as they are now, but no one knows if they will be.
Or … they’ll wise up and realize signing early locks in a multi-year offer that likely won’t be there later in the offseason. And that the days of six- to 10-year deals for 30-year-old players are over. The agents won’t like hearing that, but they’d be wise to stop whining about it and instead start pushing for higher AAVs on shorter-term deals.
I wonder if this won’t lead to more players signing long term deals during their arbitration years. It will be easier for them to get the money they are looking for if it covers their prime years rather their decline years.
And if the deal goes south the team sends them down to the minors and slips them an “edible” and they test positive for weed and get banned in the minors, somehow nullifying their “guaranteed” contract. See: Jonathan Singleton.
Probably locking in arb + one or two FA years unless the free agent change leads to lower arb awards moving forward. I haven’t read that possibility but can see that correction coming as well.
You dare question the almighty outinleftfield?
How dare they question a guy who’s got a 2% proven record and provides such accurate facts.
Coast1, you must have been born after 1994 because that is exactly what happened then…striked durin the season while under contract.
If the players strike people will find something else to do with their time.
The commissioner is trying to shorten games and increase the action because younger fans already find the game boring and too slow, so if players go on strike they may do more damage to their long term futures by giving younger fans even more of a reason not to watch.
If the players strike for half a season they”ll cost themselves collectively over 2 billion dollars, and the owners will still have their private jets.
Ya, and that’s the problem. I don’t watch games to see the camera pan to the owners. I agree that salaries are an issue, but I don’t blame the players for being irate about not getting compensated for what they are worth compared to the profits of owners. I’m hoping that the next negotiations drastically increase the league minimum salaries and give teams only four years of control once a player is in the bigs.
How do you know worth? I thought it was mostly supply and demand. That draft pick is the main reason at this time and that is in the contract. Teams do not want to overpay, whatever that is on a long term contract that ends up as dead money. ,.
Moose is a career .305 on base guy with subpar defense and horrible base running.
Hard to say he’s worth a 5 year 8 digit contract just because he’s a free agent.
I agree with this. Only thing that’s happened is owners are realizing it’s not smart to extend huge long term contracts to veterans and the players are upset they aren’t worth what they think. There’s been a huge push with young prospects coming up and handling MLB roles moreso than any time in history. Why commit millions of dollars to Moose when you likely have someone younger and cheaper who can come up and perform similarly? Like others have said it comes down to supply and demand and these FA’s are not in demand the way they think they are. There’s no colluding and no grounds to strike at all. They need to readjust their perspective and stop trying to handcuff their employers financially for their services and they’ll have better luck getting some offers.
People don’t watch the game to see individual players, either. They watch to watch a TEAM. Players on teams continue to change. So no, players don’t deserve more. They’re already getting their fair share. Owners take all the risk. Players aren’t employing a crap load of people, owners are.
A strike is the only answer. Has not happened in so long there are no players that know what a strike is. As a fan though I want everything fixed, which means no more “Seven Years a Slave”, no draft pick compensation (there isn’t one fan who could pass a serious test on the free agent compensation), ditch the arbitration system for a $4 million minimum salary. A $4 million minimum salary creates a $100 million floor so owners that want to tank have to pay for those draft picks. The small market bloodsuckers have to spend $100 million on payroll every year as does John Middleton the big market bloodsucker who loves to perpetually torture Phillies fans with his ten year rebuilds wherein he swallows all the TV revenue.
It’s been too long without a strike. Embrace the strike, and demand that everything be fixed with a clean, easy to understand set of rules.
I love it. Players want their way so a strike is threatened. Owners want their way and its collusion.
Ha to boras who always used metrics to value his players! Now that it is coming back on him he doesn’t like it. Facts are facts. Boris get your players $$ when younger! U of all should not be outraged by this because u were one that brought metrics to owners forefront years ago!
only the metrics boras wanted to hi-light. You never heard about strike outs and age, etc.
No one should be paid for what they have done in twighlight of career. That would be like me (a cook ) saying last ten years I did this so I’m worth this but as my ability declines do I go to boss and say I’ll take pay cut because I can’t do what I did before? Who was last player anyone can remember saying that?
Gil Meche retired with a bunch of money remaining on his contract. But that’s about the only case I can think of off the top of my head.
Michael Cuddyer retired recently with a good amount left.
Ryan Dempster forfeited one-year $13.25M to retire, always comes to my mind.
Mark McGwire had also agreed to a 2 year/$30M contract extension with the Cardinals and then retired. Probably more money left on the table than any of the other guys listed…
Yup. I don’t like the guy. Ho early I can’t stand him on a personal level, but he’s generally great at his job. People are jealous. That tends to be the problem.
He creates a clown show and bad-mouthes a sport for his own personal gain when he fails to deliver.
I think aaron boone didn’t except pay for poor performance at the tail end of his career
Stan Musial took a self-imposed pay cut from 100k to 80K after batting .255 late in his career, because that was below his standard!
I don’t know about the current CBA but past ones have been limited to playing time. Basically just plate appearances, games started, etc. If the Union thinks its lost ground already they’ll never allow those.
Moose is a low-OBP pretty one dimensional guy
CarGo is 31 coming off a year where he hit .262 with 14 HR in Coors
Jake Arrieta wants 6 years when hes already 32
Holland was terrible in the second half
Cobb doesn’t get swings and misses
Lynn has high HR and walk rates
Lucroy has red flags on defense
LoMo/Duda and friends are 1B/DH who aren’t elite bats
Theres a reason no one wants to give huge commitments to these guys anymore.
Happy Belated birthday Jake Arrieta Lol (32, 5 days ago)
But CarGo is also 32 (32, 5 months ago)
Poor players you get paid to play a game. You strike and you know what I will just find something else to do with my time maybe even get up off the couch or computer lol.
It’s more about egos that an extra million or two on a mammoth contract.
those players you mentioned are simply asking for more than what they are worth as well. Moose was crazy to think that he could have gotten a big payday this offseason.
It depends on what we consider a big payday. We know Moustakas could have gotten $17-plus million for this season because he turned down a qualifying offer. And I’m sure there were solid multi-year deals available early in the winter. But when you overvalue yourself to the point that you alienate the clubs you’re negotiating with, you end up learning a hard lesson in opportunity cost.
Tyler Chatwood and Mike Minor — and their agents — look like the smartest guys in baseball right now. I’m guessing the four or five guys that have settled for bad one-year deals in recent days are wishing they’d followed their lead.
Boras and/or his players misread the market and over valued themselves. Holland especially.
But that doesn’t mean his angst about a third of the league rebuilding/tanking is without merit. I can see a push for a higher minimum wage and/or salary floor if this is the new Mlb norm. And owners should pay the young guys if they’ve wisened up to paying the old ones.
There is already a salary floor. It is $13,625,000. That is a 25 man roster at league minimum ($545,000).
HHJJ, I think we’re beginning to see a shift to that, but it won’t happen in a year or two. There is always a bit of disruption when things like that happen, and the players are not happy with the current disruption.
Why do so many of you hate Scott Boras? Because he’s the best agent the sport has ever seen? Because he owns the most valuable single-sport agency in the world? In what way does Scott Boras affect your life, and why do you find the need to have such a negative opinion on the man?
Is that you Heyman?
sure
The reason is that most of America has bought into billionaire worship, which seeps into sports too. Many buy the narrative that collective bargaining is the demon seed of communism, but don’t know or understand that without it there would be 80 hour work weeks with no overtime, child labor, no breaks, and other things we take for granted.
I think you are wrong. History is history and early on collective bargaining and pressure from the working man got us those improvements. Those improvements are here to stay with or without collective bargaining. The unions today and in the past made many bargaining mistakes for their members as they did not insist on retraining as improvements in the operations were made. They just concentrated on the hourly pay, time off, and supporting some workers who did not want to work. (the company was forced to keep these nonproductive on the payroll time and time again) .This still happens today as some people can not get out of bed on Monday morning an the unions protects their job..
Look at the share economy and other changes. Look at what’s happening in states rolling back rights of workers. Too many take their rights for granted and are sleepwalking as they get chipped away.
You are out of your mind if you believe any owners of any jobs are going to just provide you with anything. 40 hour work weeks, OT pay, vacation time, health benefits, sick days, safety protocols, child labor laws, pensions. All this came from unions and it’s all so much a part of society now ppl don’t even realize where it all came from. You don’t see the disappearance of the middle class and not realize it comes with the breakdown of unions in this country. There was a time when every production job in this country had a union and that was a time when this country flourished. Great cities like Detroit Michigan,Paterson NJ & Gary Indiana thrived. Ppl were able to work 1 job and support a family in a middle class environment. Now the good paying production jobs a sent overseas because owners of these companies don’t want to share in the wealth that the workers blood sweat & tears provide.
With that said the fix in baseball is easy and in this case I️ believe the players and it’s reps are short sighted and stupid. The NBA & NFL base their salary cap off the prior years revenue and I believe that is split 50/50. Baseball has for years not wanting a salary cap because they feel it would limit the salaries from the top but not realizing that it will give owners the options of not spending anything. I believe salaries are at their top point now and forcing a salary cap will force all the owners to spend equally. And it will force teams to open books to see actually what would quantify a small market team. All attendance numbers, tv & radio contracts National as well as local all thrown into a pot and all negotiated by representatives of mlb as well as the players and split equally by all the teams. 50 % of all contracts go to the owners of the teams and the other half goes into the pool that is set for the salary cap. It forces cheap owners to spend money. Ppl don’t come out to watch owners they pay their hard earned money to watch the players. NFL does it as well as the NBA it’s about time MLB does it as well. Players can talk all they want bout not wanting a ceiling on how much they make but everyone knows damn well there is no owner in baseball passing along 50% of its profits along to the whole group of players. That settles all revenue sharing its shared by all teams
You mean those Right to Work states? The ones that actually have economies in which businesses (not to mention taxes) that attract big companies to invest in them and not forced to throw money after dead weight and burdensome over regulations those same states you are mentioning are loaded with?
Some seem to be getting the message of late the last few years and have realized how much those regulations and unions have gouged them over the years and NOW are basically right to work themselves..
What planet are YOU living on? Oh, you must be a billionaire!
Your post champions a position that seems to defy logic but gives no reason or evidence why. The basic realities of our political system cause it to develop in certain ways. Unions came into being because as a group people organized so that they had some say in working conditions.
What in the world would lead you to believe that unions suddenly don’t make any difference? I get that unions can have a ton of downside but you don’t advance the discussion or the solutions by pretending that the system has changed in some way that would allow unions to disappear without their gains disappearing. The reality is the system is probably worse how because while there is a minimum wage and some legal protection for workers there are no longer any jobs in this country that are considered lifetime jobs. Incomes haven’t increased anywhere near as much as housing, food, shelter and healthcare.
Are you drunk, stupid or both?
There are good and bad regulations.
Why do people like you care so much about the tiny bit of money wasted on food stamp fraud, welfare fraud and union employees getting “overpaid” while excusing or even supporting the outright theft and corp tax cuts that cost many times as much?
Your math couldn’t possibly be so bad which leaves me to believe you’re lying for some reason. What makes someone champion a system that hurts the country and most of the people in it? Is it because this supports people who support another issue you care about? Because you’re paid (or gain somehow) to promote a self destructive cause? Because you’ve been tricked into being self destructive and not thinking about the issue enough to understand how bad it is?
“Right to Work” and “Death Tax” , 2 great examples of how the Republicans misname/mischaracterize something and their followers are fooled.
Bull. All those were federally regulated and have nothing to do with unions.
Puleeezae… Unions didn’t create the 40 hr work week.
Need?
As in why do you have such a desperate need to whitewash his reputation that you would pretend you don’t even know why people dislike him?
Are those really the only reasons you could come up with?
Pretty lame.
If the MLBPA is ready to negotiate other provisions, it would be good for baseball if the owners would consider changes prior to the expiration of the current contract. Owners though shouldn’t be expected to make changes that increase overall player’s costs (which have increased at ridiculous levels in the recent past – you can’t just look at the present) but rather affect distribution. Moustakas after having one career year was looking for too much money in both avg and years but he would easily have scored more if he went to arb. That said, he did decline over $17m. Maybe the answer in part is doing away with all free agent compensation and the international draft/money allotment. Bonus money on all minor league contracts should then count on the luxury tax three years after it’s paid or sooner if the person makes the majors. Also the Rusney Castillo grandfathheting rule needs to be fixed. He should not be stuck in the minors when last year he deserved a call up. Boston signed him to that contract so they shouldn’t benefit from a rule that was not thought of when the contract was signed. It’s hard to feel sorry for him given the money he makes but he deserves another shot and the only reason he won’t likely get it now is his contract.
I think the players have to sit down and decide how they want their piece of the pie divided.
Do the players want 20+ percent of the total allocated for dead money?
Do they want most of the total money going to the most or the fewest players?
I don’t think they should cap salaries on cheaper players while refusing to cap the price of expensive players. Not only is it unfair it’s really just stupid on every level except for owners and agents who gain a lot of power and money with that set up.
I think the key is for players to look at the issue from the perspective of the total amount of payroll being theirs to divide among the players each year. How would they divide that money? Would they chose to give Ellsbury the deal he got while a player like Judge could be the best player in the game, get injured at 30 and have career earnings comparable to what Ells will make this year?
Instead of preserving the right of an owner to be really stupid/desperate and give one player a massive overpay they should realize that the overpay comes out of their other members pockets. In the case of Ellsbury, the 100 mil overpay is 100 mil that the Yankees are not spending on other players. The cost of Ellsbury’s contract is Moose’s contract. Thinking that any individual salary is an issue between the owners and players is a mistake. The CBA should be about how the total dollars are divided and if they players were smart they would work with the owners to eliminate stupid deals or maybe even encourage more contingencies in contracts in exchange for an equal or greater % of revenue being paid but having performance determine where some of those currently wasted dollars are going.
This article is just such a tragic statement on the education system in this country. It’s like everyone who writes about sports somehow avoided ever taking a class about economics, math, logic or even basic science.
Nothing just goes straight up forever. If you ever find yourself expecting that to happen you should have something in your brain that stops and goes “Hey! This isn’t natural and isn’t even possible.” You should be placing bets on when it will turns instead of being surprised when reality kicks in.
Expectations for players salaries never being subject to supply and demand or that owners would never learn any lessons from their mistakes aren’t about the CBA. They are about expectations with no basis in reality.
It drives me crazy reading people quote player salaries before taxes! And then have GALL to say how greedy they are. Their take home pay is 40% of that magical dollar value that everyone quotes. A $10M contract means the player gets $4ish million, combine that with taxes, fees, agent cut, manager cut, etc etc.
Baseball fans and sports fans are the easily the worst possible people to talk about sports economics. I personally don’t care at all about how much these guys are getting paid – the way the game is set up is to screw over the player while they have their best years – but no one ever talks about THAT, huh?
justin-turner overdrive, do you state your salary or take home pay when asked?
My take is Boras is at fault for most of this. How many big contracts has he negotiated that haven’t fared well for teams in the long run? MLB owners aren’t an ATM. Moustakas, while a quality MLB 3rd baseman has his warts. Just because one reaches FA doesn’t mean they are guaranteed a 6 or 7 year contract. Moustakas is just another player that should have taken the QO. Hellickson took the QO last year and made enough money to retire and live well on the rest of his life.
Sure, MLB is flush with money from TV deals. Who knows how long that lasts. We need the Players Assoc and the Agents to start getting the minor leaguers paid more fairly. That’s what the real problem in MLB is today… the MiLB guys are paid peanuts to keep the development process rolling.
The agent’s job, first and foremost, is to judge the market, and advise his client what the landscape is. That’s not a static thing–he has to adapt as he sees things evolve. Boras may rage here, and he’s got a point about teams refusing to field a competitive product, but he needs to be telling his clients to adjust if need be.
excellent usage of “emigrated vs. immigrated.” Just solid.
The sport is healthy, everyone’s making a lot of money, let the games begin. All MLB teams are making more than 200 million a year, so they are doing well and the QA was 17.3 not too shabby. To keep things in perspective, most families would be set for life with 17 million dollars.
Boras has failed ,players greed has caused this. owners has caused this by handing out bad contracts over the years that that pays a player way past his prime, now things are where they are now, look at Jose Bautista, he could have signed a nice contract for i believe 3- years at the time but i guess through his agents he demanded a 5 year $150 million contract, dont you thinks teams see this and say why should i pay a aging player,in other free agents this year or a player 1 year removed from TJ surgery,or a guy who has declinded from where he was 2 years ago, or a guy who has one good year before becoming a free agent, or a gut who can run but can just hit hr,s with a bad on bass %, to many teams get handcuffed trying to get rid bad contracts or waiting for them to come off the books.
Boras , No the system is not failed, you ,the players and owners have failed by thinking paying player outrageous contracts past players prime and expected that to be the norm. yes something has failed but its not the system
Nope, it’s not “players greed”, its Boras’s greed.
Can Domingo Santana play first?
Can David Stearns do his damn job, and build a contender by trading him for a SP?
The Brewers literally have Wade Miley in their rotation – they are never contending with this team unless they get 1 and maybe 2 more SP.
I just don’t understand why it’s the unions fault 1/3 of the teams in the league are trying to lose. Fans and writers need to look in the mirror with respect to encouraging and accepting this tanking.
It’s simply supply and demand for these FA, moose is better than 20 teams’ 3B but at least a dozen of those teams are trying to lose so he has no market.
My proposal is if a team loses 100 games or 90+ for 3 straight years, mlb sells your club. Obviously with Manfred approving the Marlins fire sale new owners this isn’t the direction they’re going but they need to find a way to make teams compete.
Here’s a thought, lottery for draft order where everybody gets 1 ball. Discourage the race to the bottom.
“moose is better than 20 teams’ 3B”
No he isn’t. Moose is a roughly average 3b. That is his problem.
fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=3b&stats=bat&#…
“I just don’t understand why it’s the unions fault 1/3 of the teams in the league are trying to lose.”
While I disagree that 1/3 of the teams are trying to lose, I will respond to the first portion of your question. It is the unions fault because they refuse to fight for higher salaries for those young players. This refusal has lead to those younger players being far more attractive alternatives to their older free agent players.
I agree with Chester 100%. As I said in my post this is a 25 team roster. No one is going to pay a guy 4 / 5 years when they have someone already there for a lot cheaper. Supply and demand. I don’t think anyone trying to lose, that stupid talk. But you also have to look at it as a BUSINESS. If I’m an owner and my team is pretty much a 500 team or even less, and I’m looking at the Houston, NY, Clev, Boston and I’m the A’s or Rangers, why would put MY MONEY for a player that won’t make a difference anyway. Waste of time, waste of money.
Supply and Demand. Blame the Player who didn’t scope out his market.
You have to find 1 teams that need you. 2 Teams that can afford and will pay you. and 3 teams that you will make a fit. Add those 3 together and you really can’t come up with much HU.
Not for what money they are talking anyway.
Might as well propose that teams that lose 100 games have to ride a unicorn to the moon.
No one is going to agree to have their billion dollar business confiscated from them.
They need a draft lottery. The NHL just redid theirs so that any team that misses the playoffs has a shot (albeit a smaller one) at the top 3 picks. Last year, none of the bottom 5 teams got a top 3 pick. So, any tanking went for naught.
“As you’d expect, Moustakas’ rep, Scott Boras, isn’t pleased with how free agency unfolded for his client. Boras told reporters, including Rustin Dodd of The Athletic (subscription required), on Saturday: “Our system has failed. We always want demand for the best. This is about players, players who are excellent, players who are All-Stars, and Moose has delivered in all.””
People always ask why so much hate for Scott Boras? After all, he’s just doing his job, right?
Well, sure, but…all of the other agents seem to manage to do the same job without being a braying jackhole in public and, more importantly, without constantly making intellectually dishonest arguments.
Moose is one the best? Do a deep dive on his numbers, he’s a slightly better version of Chris Carter.
He made comments about the Pirates earlier this year where he said the Pirates make X and spend Y on their payroll so therefore X – Y = pure “profit” right into Nutting’s wallet.
Boras is smart enough to know that teams have expenses beyond MLB payroll but he knows many of the fans in Pittsburgh are not so he rabble roused them to try to shame the Pirates into signing one of his landmines or lemons.
So, it’s not the part where he “does his job” that annoys people. It’s the part where he’s smarmy, dishonest and thinks everyone else is stupid.
Fans sure aren’t connecting the dots that Boras gets a % of every contract he gets, and give this phony “He works for the players” line – he’s always, 100% been in it for himself and has more money than almost all players.
He has, however, failed this offseason when he lost players money by playing the waiting game when he should have read the market better and jumped on the first deal.
Larry Reynolds knew, Scott Boras didn’t.
Kind of gross talking about Moustakas “deserving” a ton of money when Neil Walker is literally twice as good as player as him and has zero teams after him.
That’s a stretch. Walker has missed 50 games in each of the last 2 seasons. Moose at least takes the field and has a lot more power and better defense and his average has been better than Walkers in recent years. Maybe your point would be true 5 years ago.
Speaking of absolutely insane things: Brett Lawrie still has a higher career WAR than Eric Hosmer, a guy drafted in the same round as him. The guy with the higher WAR can’t get a job while Hosmer gets $100+M. Wild.
Also, Lawrie has more WAR than Lance Lynn, Gerrit Cole, Logan Forsythe, Jason Castro, Jake Odorizzi and Yonder Alonso.
The only player from the 2008 draft with more WAR than Lawrie is Buster Posey.
Fact: He would have been better off waiting until after the draft and signing a multi-year deal with any team.
Boras’s system of having teams overpay for mediocre players is what failed. 90% of deals over 4 years are horrible value and those are for players much more talented than Moose. Teams can only pay so much, middle relievers are getting the same deals starters got 10 years ago. That’s unsustainable for teams other than the Yankees and maybe LAD and Boston who can afford to have multiple albatross contracts on the books. Pittsburgh can’t afford to carry $23m a year for a 5th outfielder like Ellsbury like the Yanks do. And those situations happen because of stupid teams and agents like Boras. Teams seem to be getting wise to it and Boras is playing the same old game.
The problem isn’t the draft picks it’s the luxury tax or not having a true salary cap.
To all of you crying about Braun and steroids. Have you ever stopped and thought about why are steroids even banned from professional sports? If players want to use performance enhancing substances I don’t see why they shouldent beable too. Banning them was a terrible move! Steroids can be safe if used correctly, education on the safe use of steroids should have been the answer to steroids, not a ban!