It’s been another slow winter for baseball’s veteran free agents, writes ESPN’s Buster Olney. Only six free agents have secured deals with more than two years fully guaranteed, none of whom have been over the age of 32, and there are over 200 unsigned free agents still seeking employment for the 2019 season. ESPN obtained a memo written by player agent Jeff Berry outlining some ideas on how to improve the troubling conditions that have developed in this labor market. Berry writes, “As advocates, our job is to fight for and protect player rights, and when necessary, try and help create solutions — not pointing fingers of blame and hoping things get better. And I wholeheartedly believe there are viable solutions to the core labor issues facing the game that can be remedied to the benefit of players, clubs and fans.” Take a look at the top remaining free agents available here, or track the market as a whole with MLBTR’s free agent tracker. For now, let’s take a look at a few of the specifics covered in Olney’s article, as well as some news from around the (slow-moving) winter market…
- Refining or reforming current practices regarding service time manipulation and player arbitration are two of the most-often disputed topics, per Olney, but there are other issues at hand as well, including how some people within the industry are unhappy about the way teams use the disabled list. This issue also encompasses the promotion/demotion process termed “portfolio management,” or the process wherein teams shuffle their rosters for particular series matchups throughout the season. While these in-season roster moves make sense from a strategic baseball standpoint, players lose money as a result, often to no fault of their own. For instance, a reliever whose option has already been used in a season might be vulnerable to demotion if unavailable due to overuse (say, if he pitched in three consecutive days). Even if said player is brought back to the big leagues after a couple of days, he still loses a significant amount of major league pay during that span. Thus, such a player loses money – not despite performing effectively – but because he performed effectively. Obviously, given the complexity of even the single above circumstance, there is no shortage of issues for the players’ union to focus their attentions in advance of December 1, 2021 – the date the current CBA expires.
- Turning to rumblings about player movement, it’s unlikely the Arizona Diamondbacks bring A.J. Pollock back to the desert even if his free agency drags on longer than expected. Given the flexibility of their roster, however, the Dbacks have options to replace him, writes the Athletic’s Zach Buchanan. The in-house alternatives may not be enough to call off the rebuild, but the number of roster iterations available gives GM Mike Hazen the time to make judicious decisions on the trade market. For example, Ketel Marte could move to center, with his spot at the keystone, then, filled by one of the attainable free agent second baseman on the market (DJ LeMahieu, Brian Dozier, Josh Harrison, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jed Lowrie). Alternatively, Eduardo Escobar could fill Marte’s spot at second should the Diamondbacks acquire a new third baseman (Jake Lamb would be expected to handle first, as is probably the case regardless). Given the absolute dearth of starting options available in free agency, if Marte stays at second, a center field replacement would likely come via trade. The Diamondbacks are unlikely to surrender much in the way of prospects at this stage of their rebuild, which makes finding a trade partner tricky, though not impossible. Their best bet might be to target a young veteran who may still have some upside. Specifically, Michael A. Taylor of the Nationals would be an intriguing player to see given 500 at bats, as might Keon Broxton of the Brewers.
Buster Olney always tries to sell the narrative these players are victims
If teams are only going to pay for future performance in free agency, I can certainly understand why players want to reach free agency sooner or be more fairly compensated while they’re under mandatory team control.
Millionaires being mad at billionaires for taking more than 50% of the industry revenues? Grrrr let’s rip on the millionaire because we’re ignorant!
Funny stuff. It’s not like the owners are not the ones with ALL the financial stake, of course that cannot to be explained to anyone who doesn’t understand (nor want to) how a capitalist society works.. You know.. That same capitalist society which made this country the undisputed #1 in the world for 2 centuries…
Word
Uh, undisputed isn’t quite right.
First of all, the only time in history where America was the “undisputed” leading power in the world was after the Cold War when the Soviet Union fell apart. And they’re certainly not the undisputed leading power anymore, now that USA education, health care, and infrastructure are so poor.
Second of all, the owners knew what they were getting into when they bought a MLB franchise. These owners don’t take all the risk either, since taxpayers pay for, and support the stadiums.
Leave and go live in your perceived #1 then. Very simple.
And what’s the common theme there Matt? Government got their hands in all of that.
How is free agency at an earlier point good for fans? Anyone old enough to recall pre-free agency days will remember what it was like to root for a team and not just a uniform. Team’s today will pay for current success but no longer want to pay for dead wood. What’s wrong with that? Borax expects the best of both worlds, compensation at today’s rate along with guaranteed years of the past.
*Teams and Boras
The only victims are the fans who have to sit and watch incompetent fo… field a team that has no chance of competing and still charging as if they were a pennant contender. There are your victims.
fans are not victims in that case. they are fools!
Either way…
But no one makes me buy a ticket.
Nope. They don’t HAVE to watch anything.
Yeah, because the billionaire owners are the real victims…
There are no victims. Only Caveat Emptor
Veni vidi vici!
You don’t agree that players losing money because they played well is a problem?
I usually see the reliever who got hammered being the odd man out.
Owners and players alike who are highly compensated should be grateful for the money they make. The argument you make would elude to the need for a work stoppage. Millionaires and billionaires arguing over money. If they haven’t figured it out from the last strike, the next one will screw them all for a long time.
Except these aren’t millionaires we’re talking about. Players with options rarely make above league minimum.
A ten day stay in the minors would cost someone making the league minimum around $25 K.
You don’t think that players hitting a big payday and then when the motivation is gone they return to who they really are is a problem?
No that’s not a problem. That’s life, human nature, and age. What the story talks about is a structural problem causing perverse incentives.
The only players that are any where close to being a victim are the contact hitters with very little power who always make contact. If they dont even become in with the special body type or physic, they won’t even come close to the majors unless they come close to hitting 400. For every Altuve I’m guessing there is probably 200 true ball players that have heart that dont get a chance. I get Gallo has power but he should be embarrassed having more homeruns than singles. What happened to being ashamed of the number of strikeouts.
That’s on the owners, GM’s and scouts who sign that player. It’s their job to know the “make up” of players and who to give big contracts and who not to.
the 40 man minimum salary is 100k. Mlb minimum is 500k. They could double the 40 man minimum to offsite some of the manipulation. I remember heath Hembree got sent down after pitching 5 or six innings in a extra inning game.
I not sure how to change free agency. If you give the owners one less year of control that could potentional flood the market and drive prices down, but it also might cause teams to offer longer term higher salaries to younger players. big changes would probably only happen with a player strike.
Where are players losing money? Players for the most part declined prior offers for free agency. Risk goes both ways. Teams have learned that some players are not worth the arbitration awarded contracts they will get or the cost of picking up an option. Moreover they also realized while there is a risk of letting a good but not superstar to become a free agent, the more out there tends to lower costs since options exist.
hey, why billionaires should get richer and don’t even let the wealth trickle down???
no wonder yankees are going to have $50 million payroll every year!
50 Million ??? Do you watch baseball at all ?
Xabial — This isn’t about victims and victors. It is about fairness. By your ignorant comment you are simply defending the owners of the sport, the same owners that sneered and laughed at players until Curt Flood sacrificed his career (and probably his life) in order to end the reserve clause.
xabial – all writers will side with the players. Nobody wants to read articles about the owners.
Um. Go back to 1994 and read articles about the strike and get back to me about how many articles were in FAVOR of the players. Thanks.
I dunno about victims… But they’re the ones doing the hard work to make it a billion dollar industry, so I can’t see why anyone would ever paint them as the bad guys…
and players just smoke cheap cigars to make millions?
I’m defending the players. Without them working their butts off, there is no baseball. So why anyone would take the owners side is beyond me
The issue is no matter who is right or wrong, they better figure it out, they cant bank on steroids to save them again.
don’t worry. hgh use are said to be rampant.
Ever own a company?
Petrie. BS. There will always be new players to replace current ones. The more compensation, the more competition. Problem is the cost of taking a family to games has priced many out. Owners take the risk. Reminds me of the dot com bubble. Not happening in the short term but it will only take one or two teams to go belly up to change things. Almost happened ten years ago in LA and NY but cable TV and the league saved the Dodgers and Mets. It took the league years earlier to move and save the Expos as well as the Marlins ownerships. In the process, the anti-trust exemption allowed John Henry to take over Boston.
I agree petrie — The players do the work. The owners put up the money, and these days they don’t even have to put in cent one for a new stadium. The taxpayers do it for them. I think owners do their thing, but I will always side with the players over the owners. Always.
@ trillaryhump16;
First off, “….the owners that sneered and laughed at players until Curt Flood sacrificed his career (and probably his life) in order to end the reserve clause…..” have pretty much been gone for over 50 years.
As for the arguments – when a player is sent down and “loses money”, another player is called up and makes that money. Same trade-offs on all complaints.
Lost in all of this are the fans of teams. Not the fantasy league players that love player movement – the fans of teams that can’t keep track of who’s on theirs, and heaven forbid they like a player because even if he sticks on their team for a few years there are constant rumors about him being traded literally every month.
FO’s manipulating service time? Funny how when players agents manipulate the system with opt-out clauses – guaranteeing the player an astronomical salary for years if he gets injured or goes downhill but making the player a free agent if he’s doing well and wants even more money, no one writes how that’s unfair….to the fans of the team that are left with a limited team because their team got stuck with a bad long-term contract – or said player does well and leaves……not even pretending anymore that they give a hoot about the local fans (their agent takes a full page ad out in the local paper thanking the fans, and writing the expense off).
Where there are large concentrations of money. we find lawyers buzzing around like flies on poop. Just look at Washington, DC. Everyone wants their share off the top – claiming they’re fighting the good fight for the oppressed.
MLB is already losing millennials. The pace and length of games are bad enough; while the legalese in players contracts are impossible for the average fan to keep track of – even if a law-degreed sports writer explains it to them. Then there are the screwball rules on free agency, drafting players, signing players domestic and foreign. etc. Add in silly things like spin rate and pitch framing, and the client base become front-runners – caring about their team when it’s winning, having a life when it isn’t.
mr. manfred? considering mlb is losing millennials, if it is realy losing, to other sports including basketball and football where contracts are generally guaranteed, mlb should follow suit and guarantee all contracts?
Some of the points you make are valid. My point simply is that if we simply focus on the players, we lose sight of the owners, the real money-makers (or how about the bigger money makers). Most of the complaints you make are much less annoying than the tactics of owners. A lot of these newer approaches to contracts are in result to approach of the owners. I can get detailed if you like, just ask.
And your comment about owners not sneering or manipulating players for the past 50 years is simply untrue. It isn’t as egregious as it previously was, but it is still there. Do you not remember the collusion scandal in recent times? And what did owners do when free agency became the norm. They refused to sign free agent players. Get a book and read the history. Many fans have no clue about this stuff. And there have been plenty of other acts of collusion that simply haven’t been proven.
And what about owners delaying or demoting players to add a year of control? That is just one of dozens of tactics the owners do that are a little questionable.
MLB has more guaranteed contracts than any of the other major sports
I see you’ve really done some research. Those fully guaranteed NFL contracts. Yeah, IF those baseball contracts were guaranteed, teams might make trades based on the length and amount of money remaining on the players contracts. Weird.
How are opt-out clauses “manipulating the system”? They’re agreed upon by BOTH parties…
I don’t see contracts as having much of anything to do with the sport becoming terribly boring. Contracts don’t stipulate batters to have the following routine:
1. Step out of batters box.
2. Set bat down and re-tighten gloves.
3. Adjust shin guard.
4. Hold up and stare at bat.
5. Take a big deep breath and sigh.
6. Take 3 practice swings.
7. Step back into batters box with hand up calling for time.
8. Dig in feet.
9. Tap 4 corners of plate in pre-swing ritual.
10. Await next pitch while performing half swings.
This happens while the pitcher.
1. Steps off mound.
2. Receives new ball from catcher because the last pitch was wild and in the dirt.
3. Steps back behind the mound.
4. Toss rosin bag.
5. Steps back onto mound.
6. Performs some sort of ritual. Maybe shifting hat up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, back, forth, set.
7. Get into absurd pre-pitch position.
8. Take 3 deep breaths.
9. Start wind up and deliver pitch.
Of course, the fact baseball games are slower than golf now isn’t the only issue. One of the other huge issues is needing to pay $100/mo for a cable contract to watch the games or being subjected to an asinine blackout policy which hasn’t worked in over a decade.
Let’s not forget the fundamental changes to the action of the game. No more stealing. No more bunting. Every batter is now a 3 outcome hitter because pitchers throw every pitch at 100% effort so they can only pitch 4-5 years between elbow surgeries and they couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn from 60 feet, let alone the strike zone. Every hitter swings out of their helmet trying to hit a 8 run homer at every plate appearance. The result? Strikeout, Walk, Home run and no action.
The dedication to the concept that wins are all that matters is a plague on the entertainment value of baseball. Wins do not equal entertainment, but teams cannot be successful without winning. It’s a bit of a catch-22, but MLB needs to do something sooner than later regardless.
Already do.
EXACTLY. It’s like the players forced the owners/GM to sign contracts at gun point! When player buys house and starts charity in city do you think the owners consult them before they trade them or release them??
Well said
The collusion was over 30 years ago. Players agree to a union contract. They can choice which areas to negotiate. Free agent compensation has been changed multiple times to give players an advantage. No one gives up their first round picks anymore. Before 1976 players had very little options. The game has changed greatly to benefit the players.
Flooding the market will drive prices down. Limiting free agents will make the salaries go up.
Xabial, many are victims. Case in point which was clearly stated in the article, more than one Phillies pitcher that was effective was sent down to make room for a temporary starter. Those players lost MLB pay. Unless the teams cheat and pay them under the table, they are being unfairly treated.
Everything you and several others are complaining about are perfectly legal and acceptable..as are the opt out clauses that others have complained about. The owners and the players’union agreed to and signed MLB’s Basic Agreement. It outlines what each side can do, must do, may not do,etc. It’s 373 pages long, so it gets pretty specific. No-one, as they say, held a gun to anyone’s head to make either side sign. If one side or the other is resourceful enough to find ways to use portions of the agreement to their benefit, good for them. If the other side doesn’t like it, they can change it after the 2021 season when the current agreement expires. But either side will have to be ready to trade something away to get something they want. That’s how negotiations work. To say “it’s not fair” when players are optioned or aging players don’t get the contacts they ask for makes no sense. If someone is operating outside the framework of the agreement, there are remedies. If not, your union rep or your negotiating team agreed to the wording that allowed the situation you don’t like to happen. Blame them.
Buster is a bust. He is so overrated.
It’s not just Olney. Every baseball writer needs access to players and if they don’t pander to that “victim narrative”, they get shut out quickly.
How many bad contracts do owners have to give where players don’t perform at the same level before the players start to realize their demands are outrageous. It’s sad.
Agreed, and yet they keep doing it.
As many as they can until owners stop extracting tens of millions dollars of value from pre-arb and arb players while paying them peanuts and denying them the ability to sell their services to the highest bidder. Sports is the only business that’s allowed.
Want to stop paying big money to declining players and be more “fair”? Then let them become free agents before they’re 30. Pay them fair value for their prime years instead of this stupid arbitration system.
Agree, but add a RFA “right of first refusal” tender after four years or so. Play out QO if you want UFA.
Extensions would be allowed. Arb is stupid, and allows for service time manipulation (great abused by owners, and terrible for players IMO)
Here is an example of this extreme, great piece by uber for the player rights, Baseball America
“Taken to its extremes, the Blue Jays could decide that they are going to be rebuilding through 2020. If that was the case, they could decide to keep Guerrero in the the minors for another full season even though he is clearly big league ready. It would seem ludicrous, but holding off promoting Guerrero until late April 2020 would ensure that the Blue Jays retained the rights to Guerrero through the 2026 season when he would be a 27-year-old likely at the peak of his career.” (baseballamerica.com/stories/when-it-comes-to-free-…)
Disclaimer: If I’m owner I would do the same! Fix it
Forget all this crap…….
Only allow players one-year contracts. Allow them to become free agents each year. No salary floor or cap.
Have the players union set-up, run, and finance farm systems through union dues.
___
How come I had to pay for my college to learn my discipline? Same with my children and everyone I know.
How come all American businesses like the greedy baseball owners don’t grab kids – pay them a stipend to have them trained by professionals paid for by the greedy owners; pay for their room, board, clothing, and equipment as they’re being trained and developed; and then provide ultra high-paying jobs complete with union protection for those that are superior?
Yeah, those players are real victims.
Free agency demands will be unreal when trout sets the market with his eventual 400+ million dinner contract
How about we wait for that $300mm contract to happen before we just up the ante another 25%?
Stanton already did that, 323 mill to be exact
I was referring to this years predictions for Machado and Harper. Let the market reality set in.
Yankees says they wouldn’t go 300m for Machado, and they’re the “favorites”
The only reason that would prevent machado from getting 300 million is due to the amount of years he will get. The AAV for these big free agents will explode with trout
Where did you read that X? Not that I’m doubting you (I’ve read most of your comments and tend to agree with most) just wondering if I could read the article that mentions the NYY stating their limit? I’ve heard some MLB radio personalities make their predictions that Manny could see a massive AAV for a shorter term, but haven’t heard the numbers from official Yankee staff
@JonHeyman
“Yankees like Manny Machado and will meet with Machado but source says they will not pay $300M for Machado. Phillies, Chisox and mystery teams(?) seen as main competitors.” (mobile.twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/10719130319389…)
Another source: (NJ.com, in Last paragraph)
“The Yankees reportedly don’t want to spend $300 million on Machado, who reportedly grew up a Yankees fan, idolizing Alex.”
(nj.com//sports/2018/12/mlb-rumors-yankees-to-meet-…)
Realize it’s Heyman, but Heymans indefinitely times more reliable than Sherman for Yankees
NJ.com is probably the most credible
Good stuff, I hadn’t seen that, thank you…Heyman gets more right than I do and actually takes home a pay check writing about baseball, I (along with several others) on the other hand do not…so I’ll take his word (and sources word) until proven otherwise…I’d love to see both Manny and Bryce in pinstripes in the new year
he’ll be locked in before he reaches f/a.
Doubt it. Too much demand for him out there for him to stay in Anaheim
So glad we’re in the baseball age we’re in regarding free agents. There’s a nifty little market correction taking place—long overdue. The next step should be to make the deadline for all free agents to sign 12/31 so they can no longer use us to help hype up their market while they in turn bore us to tears.
Bore and bored.
I hope they have a decent minor league pitcher that they could trade for Broxton or Anderson. Thames would be good target too Brewers should use some of these guys to replenish the prospect pool
It’s difficult for me to sum up any pitty. How badly off is Brantley really after taking a lower term contract? Is his children going to go hungry because he isn’t making enough?
I don’t have any love for the billionaire ball club owners either. Really, I can just let them fight among themselves and that’s fine except that the middle man getting the screws is frequently thousandaires.
if that’s the case mlb should pay minor leaguers much more than they are. and reduce team control to 4 years. and then they can under-pay free agents.
Fine with me, but then don’t make contracts guaranteed either. I’d be stoked to lower the free agent years to less and take out the guaranteed contracts. Then it really would be fair.
Pity is not the right metric. Fairness is.
Chris Owings was never the same after being moved to center field. Marte was really coming on toward the end of the season. I’d hate to see his continuing professional development affected by the additional responsibility of a wholly new position. I’d rather keep him where he is comfortable and sign some old guy for the last year or two of his career.
Marte has played center before in the big leagues, not a big stretch for him to do so again.
he was actually not bad in CF
Quite a few of the players who haven’t been signed yet were offered over 17 million dollars a year for one year. I don’t know anybody personally who has earned that in their lifetime.My brother is a dean in a large university and he’ll never come close to earning that in a lifetime.I have no sorrow for major league players.They play a game that must men would agree to play for much less. Great doctors make far less than even mediocre major league baseball players
Only 7 of the over 200 free agents were given QO’s and of that 7, 2 have signed contracts. I get what you are saying, but your comment makes it sound as if lots of free agents got the QO.
Thanks for your response I thought it was far more. I think you kind of agree with my point though and what I’m saying. Backup second basemen make far more money than people who do really important work
Entertainment is always something people have been willing to pay more of their income towards. The supporting actors in movies in the 30’s probably made far more money than the rest of the population.
You’re just an old man yelling at clouds.
Look I understand entertainment professionals earn outrageous amounts of money and I have no problem with the amount of money teams pay players-after all I’m a Yankee fan.I’m just saying I have a hard time reading an article by Buster Olney about players crying about how they’re not getting enough money when they earn so much already in comparison to other people
So it’s just society in general you have a problem with. Got it.
Hey brewcrew it’s now clear to me you’re just a moron. Nothing that I wrote suggested I have a problem with society.It seems that you just enjoy making snarky comments so enjoy watching you’re Brewers and lets call it a day
Seems I struck a nerve.
You are complaining about a group of people wanting to earn more money. There isn’t a person on the planet that doesn’t want more money. Bill Gates wants more money. YOU want more money Why is it so evil for baseball players to want more money? Just because you don’t think they “help people” as much as others that society has deemed to not be paid as well?
Again, old man yelling at cloud.
Maybe you’re the grumpy old man with grumpy old friends. I know plenty of people who don’t complain about there salary’s me being one of them.Many wealthy people like Buffet Bloomberg and Gates give 10os of millions of dollars to charity.Buffet admitted he should be paying far more taxes. Why don’t you look in the mirror if you don’t know anyone satisfied with what they earn.Maybe you should find new friends
Nobody is stopping anyone from paying more taxes. Anyone, including WB, can simply write a check to the United States Treasury. Make it as enormous as you’d like. But when gasbags say they think they should be paying more taxes, what they are really saying is they think you should be paying more taxes.
So, because you are “satisfied” with what you earn, you don’t want more? That just makes you a dumbass.
And, comfortablydumb, you’re just a dumbfuck.
The QO is working great at this point as far as I’m concerned. Only the very best players are receiving them, they are occasionally excepted, and there are protections against teams abusing the system. The penalty for signing players who decline QO’s are no longer as brutal, either.
There needs to be a service time adjustment so arbitration and free agency can start much earlier. Say at a set number of innings or plate appearances in addition to years.
my sister is a doctor and a billionaire. though most of her wealth is in real estate.
My sister is a housewife and a millionaire, though her wealth is from making cookies and having a rich husband.
Your brother can be replaced by literally thousands of people qualified and capable of doing his work to his ability or better.
You can’t say that for a mlb free agent who is going to make 17+ million a year. And you certainly can’t claim anybody cares to watch your brother work and will pay money to do it.
My brother has a PhD from one of the best university”s in the country and is the boss over a 120 professors with Ph Ds. He has been involved with educational leaders in China and South Africa in developing their educational systems and helping ours. His job could be replaced the same way a minor leaguer could replace an Ivan Nova earning 26 mill over 3 years or a CC Sabbathia earning 8 Million for one year. The only difference is my brother may actually help people with his work
Buy a baseball team and then you can decide. If the billionaires get richer than that’s great. The fact that people think they’re rich so they should pay players more is just dumb to me. Why do we think Harper should get 300 or 400 million? Cause Boras told us so. Just be a fan or don’t.
Why shouldn’t they? Fans are the source of all money in sports and they pay to see players.
Yes, yes, yes! Consumers reject inferior products.
Really.The Boston Red Sox went how many years without winning a World Series and ditto the Chicago Cubs.Boy those franchises really suffered.In NY other than the Yankees and in football the Giants no team in the four major sports ever win and believe me none of them are suffering Watch the Knicks or the Jets and talk to me about talent being required
owners are giving big contracts because they will make more money. if not, why the dodgers and yankees spend so much money?
I could see service time being manipulated being talked about in the next CBA from the players association. For instance how many times players are optioned down or what actually constitutes a year of service time like the whole holding a guy back for a month for fear of wasting a year of service time.
It’s going to be interesting negotiations for the new CBA. Free agency earlier in their careers is a major point for the players. I see them going for after four years of service, and be willing to go on strike for it.
The question becomes what are they willing to give up to get that. I think we’ll see the end of arbitration. League minimum for four years, then free agency.
That would be a disaster, unless minimum salary were at least doubled. I’d like to see years of control measured from a point in the minors (say a guy’s first game in AA). That solves several problems (including service time manipulation) at once.
I would like to hear your reasoning on why it would be a disaster. I’m thinking the players haven’t given up enough.
The only arbitration year being lost is the first year (second for Super Two’s). The money lost would be negated, and often exceeded, by the money earned from entering free agency after that instead of two more arbitration years.
A perfect example is Scooter Gennett. 2017 was his first arbitration year and he earned $2.5 M. Under the new system, he would have been a free agent after that season. With arbitration,he got $5.7 M. I would have to think he would have made much more than that as a free agent. Much more than the less than $2 M he wouldn’t have earned in 2017.
I understand that players make a lot of money. And all of us working class schlubs (myself included) would love to have the talent to have made it in the majors and raked in millions of dollars. Sometimes it does seem silly that people defend these rich millionaires. But here is the thing that we often leave out. When you are not defending the players, these incredibly rich players, you are usually, wittingly or unwittingly, defending the billionaire owners. I don’t know about you guys, but I’d rather pick the players over the owners, especially since many of the players are raised in poverty or have working class parents.
take trout. he has working class parents. by the time he retires he will become a billionaire. but he still goes back to their parents’ basement during the offseason.
In 1988, thirty years ago, the league minimum was $62,500.
In 2018, the league minimum was $545,000.
Based on inflation, $62,500 equals to just under $133,000 in 2018 dollars.
A $3-mil player in 1988 would equal over $6.3-million dollars.
Players are well compensated. Top to bottom. Owners, players and agents all take different risks with their money. The last few years has seen a shift toward younger talent. That doesn’t help the 30+ year olds trying to stay in and get paid. There are other factors (injuries, future team payrolls, league rules…etc).
TV deals play a role in revenue, but so do every single employee top to bottom. Whether its the concessions workers taking care of fans or scouts looking for the next big thing or the communications department in-charge of keeping fans in the know. They all play a role and for the players to think they are entitled to as much as they get right now is absurd.
How much money was baseball worth in 1988? What was its revenue? What is its revenue now?
aret moreno bought the angels for $184 million. it is worth over $2 billion now. what did he do to get that richer? he brought in expensive players to bring more fans in.
Fans helped. Maybe they should stop?
fans go to games because they want to see those big name players.
Why? Because some guy they never met is making more money than they like to be a ridiculous amount of money into the pocket of some already rich guy they’ve also never met?
That’s not the sole reason. Venues are much better in every way. Hell, even Wrigley decided to join the 21st century. More owners now own the ballparks and adjacent real estate and businesses. The mega tv deals are yet another reason teams are worth more. All these things, and more, are intertwined as to why franchises have skyrocketed in value.
^Vizionaire – so you hate the lower and middle class? They’d have more chances to go to games if costs were lowered across the board.
Lower class is not into baseball. That has been a problem for 25 years at least.
Playing the class warfare card already just betrays how incredibly weak your argument is…
Your initial statement was basically arguing those less well off should just be happy that they’re bosses pay them what they do… Now you’re the champion of ‘the little guy’… Yeah, doesn’t quite wash
Well shucks Petriedish, I didn’t realize being paid over half a million to $40-million is chump change. I also didn’t know Owners were such bad human beings for paying the players that kind of money.
So long as the salaries rise so will the price for fans. That is a fact. I don’t have to champion the little guy to point that out.
There’s a lot you clearly don’t know, like how to make a coherent and consistent argument…
Ticket prices don’t ever go down, even when teams are tanking. If the owners didn’t have salary as an excuse they’d come up with something else, until the found the point where it stops being profitable
But yeah, let’s blame the guys actually putting on the show you want to see for that… Brilliant
fox sports paid extra billion dollars for signing pujols. and most generally believe that stayed in arte’s pocket.
I’m sorry what evidence do you have that the lower class isn’t into baseball.The Yankees play in the Bronx a county made up of primarily lower class people and the Bronx LOVES the Yankees.I’m willing to bet it’s true of other successful teams like the Cubs and the Red Sox also.
Vizionaire, do you really think that most fans go to games to see a specific player???? I’d argue that why seeing a certain player is icing, the reason most fans go to a game is to see their favorite team. I’ve been to games since the 70’s and I assure you that I still support the same team but hundreds of players have worn the uniform.
really? was that really that hard? baseball team is not made up of single player. fans still go to games in droves when pujols come close to certain achievements. fox also paid extra billion for signing pujols.
That is because the fan wants to feel that they are a part of history.
why care for players’ history if the players are really the enemy of fans? it’s not as cut and dry as you and others are making out to be. owners will do everything possible to wring the last penny out of fans. players, of course, trying to get the maximum they can get but not to the point of ruining the game. that’s why they want open books every cba was reached on sacrifices of both sides.
After trading Santana, I really doubt the Brewers are gonna trade Bronxton now. Not so sure about Taylor either, but perhaps the D-Backs can swing a deal with Minnesota for Jake Cave, maybe Tyler Austin too if they don’t trust Lamb, Walker, and Cron.
The fact is, banning PEDs has in some ways attributed to older FA’s no longer getting mega deals. The owners, FO’s, managers, coaches all knew lots of players were juicing and it was extending their careers into, in some cases, their early 40’s. A 35 year old playing like he was 25 was a safe-ish bet to spend money on. Now, with the ban, and even though there are still juicers, it’s not as equitable to spend money on aged veterans. At least not at the same level as before.
So, with that factoring in, along with other things, the average age of rosters are dropping. The elite players and certain pitchers, will still get their money, but the 1 skill veterans are going to be cast aside. We see that just by the low number of teams in the AL who have, or are in the process, of going away from full time DH’s. The number of veterans that will have to take a minors contract with an ST invite is going to keep rising. There will be a lot of very familiar names that will have to settle for this route, this coming season.
When the CBA rolls around, it’s going to be nasty. Players are going to want fewer control years with higher salaries during those control years. To get that, they are going to have to give up something pretty substantial. I think the owners will want a contract void clause. Things like DV and PED suspensions would fall under that voiding clause.
I fully expect a strike or lockout over the next CBA
Arizona Diamendbacks will suck in 2019,, worse than in 2018. They only won 82 games and will be less than 500 team in 2019 with no Corbin, Goldy, and Polluck . I see 15 more loses in 2019 probably in fort place ahead od only San diego
Does anyone think $545,000.00 dollars isn’t a lot of money? I think that is a big chunk of change for playing a sport. I also think that there isn’t any player worth 400 million. That is generational money, not just life changing money. Not one of us fans will ever make that type of money, ever!!
Owner-haters think players are entitled to that money.
owners agreed to the amount because they can make much more.
many players toil in minor leagues for years playing for peanuts.
True, many of them need a 2nd job.
owners Would argue that the minors are for development and not designed to make it a career.
There are quite a few famous faces in the stands for just about every Dodger game, many of which have far exceeded that number in their careers. Or do those fans not count? The fact of the matter is that player pay is based upon supply and demand. The supply of Trout-like talent is extremely low, thus the demand for that talent is high, driving the price.
$545,000 is a lot of money, until you factor in how much revenue baseball is actually bringing in.
I think obsessing over the straight dollar figure I making a lot of people miss the point.
If you were doing a good job for your employer, and he suddenly decided that because you were working hard, he was going to take you off the schedule for a week without pay because he wanted you to rest… Would you be happy about it?
I see your point Petrie000, and I agree with you. That isn’t t fair no matter how much you make, your job is your job and you should want to be the best you can no matter what it is you are doing and you should be compensated for it accordingly
If you are referring to players with options being sent down, your analogy is not quite accurate.
It would be if you were doing such a good job for your employer, you were sent to work in another store at about 20% of the pay you would normally receive.
That would be more accurate, yes. Though I still highly suspect that would not be acceptable practices for any other employer.
But the store you work at has 1/100th the revenues. One way to change things is to raise the 40man salary. Currently the 40 man is 100k. Double that to 200k. Players get demoted for multiple reasons. Most of the time it’s preformance of a better player is signed or coming of the DL.
Supply, demand, outrageous contracts, there are no victims . There are ceilings and anything can get to the point of being out of reach for people.
Just because Harper and his agent want 400 million over 10 to 13 years doesn’t matter to many clubs. When something gets to expensive you do without, find alternatives or move on.
The biggest concern is that in sports the haves continue to spend and the have nots just flounder and their fans know the season ends after a month for their clubs.
There is no guarantee these spend cycles last forever, you can see baseball has become younger, players over 30 are to costly and are risk long term.
Perhaps, owners are tired of paying very average players millions of dollars. No way does Harper deserve $300 + he is not a superstar as hyped by the sports media. Pu;jols was a superstar his 1st 1o years. Mike Trout is a superstar. Harper is not even close.
Older players who want to keep playing but dont have the same skillset they used to., should have saved their money so they can retire.
Some player who hits .240-.250 year after year doesnt deserve few million to be barely average.
So you want players to be paid fairly for what they bring to the table? Then why is it ok for them to be paid so little in their first handful of years? Your argument about “saving their money” would be logical if they were paid fairly before reaching free agency.
doc holliday reportedly lost all of his wealth and resorted to robbing a stage coach. i don’t know if 99% of population should resort to the crimes.
Pretty tired of the rich guys that own everything milking the people that do. The work. The Yanks used to spend over 50% of revenue on players payroll. Now around 29%. Players should have the service time decrease to 4 years or free agency at 26 period.
They already put more money in thier pockets with having a cap on the international players. Revenue has increased while they always trying to come up with ways to take a bigger piece of the pie.
Does flooding the market help the players? Will it bring salaries up? Team continuity is important. Not the bottom line but it plays a role in fans following a team.
i don’t know how many people really like the fact that well-paying jobs are disappearing and many minimum wage jobs are created. even in this economy billionaires became richer by billions and well, workers are…… you know the answer.
I would argue increase you skills. I went back to school and increased my value as a employee. Supply and demand. That’s why the average wage of a big leaguer is 4m. There’s only 750 players on a big league roster and 7 billion people. Increasing you skills equals more money.
Big salaries of players says more about the priorities of our culture than anything else. While I too think that 17 million dollars a year is outrageous, have people checked the profits the owners make from the game? We should stop comparing our income to a players income. It just makes us angry and upset and lets owners off the hook.
People should understand that owners make crazy amounts in profits. Especially now with TV deals, naming rights, etc. The budget of a team is determined by the owner. Almost all teams make a huge profit. A lot of times owners cry foul or act all helpless by the salaries of players, when in reality it simply means that some owners may make slightly less in profits by paying the big salaries. Really what an owner does is determine how MUCH in profits they wish to make. And even on the rare occasion where a team might lose money (which is hard to do today), they can usually use that as a business write-off on their other investments.
of all the owners, arte morreno claimed he lost money in ’17. total bull!
I want to be clear, profits are determined before a fiscal year begins, and that is what determines a team’s budget. An owner can choose to cut into profits, but rarely do they do so.
Ha ha ha! Why did two people downvote some easily provable facts (profits are set before the season begins and preset potential profits determine budget)? That’s funny because it is easy to look up. I am laughing pretty hard about this. People just downvote based on grudges on this site don’t they? Life is too short people. I like downvotes, but I prefer conversation, especially thought out disagreement.
Just do away with arbitration. 3 years at or around the minimum, then free agency. Not a perfect solution but its a starting point
You got it. That (within certain parameters) is EXACTLY what’s going to happen.
Seventy years ago, Charlie Finley and Bill Veck (the only two owners who actually knew what they doing) told other owners not to worry about Free Agency; that arbitration was the real mistake. It was.
Increased Free Agency would flood the market, thus actually suppressing salaries. So Harper/Machado will get 350M….they’d get a whole lot less if there were other FAs of similar ilk (Betts, Trout, etc.). That’s why Marvin Miller fought for LONGER FA requirements, not shorter.
And fans have surrendered the notion of one player/ one team. In fact, fans expect certain movement, and would actually like more. Consider the mere existence of this website (and a zillion others).
As Charlie said, “MAKE ‘EM ALL FREE AGENTS….EVERY YEAR!”, You’d also get increased performance, and eliminate the “coasters” who sign multi-year deals and mail it in for the majority of their lengths. And that describes MOST players.
Miller was brilliant in his calculation of limiting free agency. Still keep most stars with their teams but provide a limited number of talented players to be available every year. Keeps the salaries up.
I’m laughing now (well chuckling more), but how about a “universal income” for players? Everyone makes 5 million a year. And owners have to pay for their own stadiums and donate more money to the cities they operate out of. Or better yet, municipalities get to own their teams.
Joan Kroc tried to sell the Padres to the city of San Diego (or maybe even donate them, I can’t remember), but MLB denied the deal for obvious reasons.
DBacks also will have Dyson, who could be very valuable if healthy
I could see the players asking for fewer years before arbitration but they are going to have to give something up. I see the owners asking for non guaranteed FA contracts. If players want to hit free agency earlier then owners should be able to get out of underwater contracts.
I think its “what the market will bear”. The league is finding a new star everyday out of the draft, minors, or international investment. I.E. Rookie Cy Young in the American League. No business wants to be exposed to dead money (I.E. Albert Pujols or Josh Hamilton). Supply and Demand says don’t buy Harper or Machado. The next is coming and they are cheaper and good enough to move the needle. Now lower the ticket and beer prices for average dude (me)…times have changed
Agreed. 20 dollar tall cans at petco is kind of ridiculous..
None of this would be an issue if there was a salary cap. You wouldn’t have the big market teams spending all the money and agents throwing out such ludicrous dollar amounts. You also wouldn’t have so many teams going into tank mode. The balance of power between the owners/gm and player’s union wouldn’t be as much of an issue either.
Only a few teams go over the luxury tax now. Why would you limit what players could make? If the owners are willing to spend and that’s their business modelthey should do it. What would be better is a salary floor. Teams would have to spend money and limit tanking.
another example of the baseball bourgeoisie exploiting the players’ labor and skill.
Players of the world, unite!
C’mon man, Bryce Harper turned down a 300 million dollar contract. Please tell me more about how these players are victims.
Here’s how: Bryce Harper was signed and was immediately under team control for NINE YEARS.
Here’s how much he’s made:
2010 – 1.25M
2011 – 1.75M
2012 – 1.75M
2013 – 2.50M ( including $500k in service time bonus incentives)
2014 – 2.15M
2015 – 1.00M
2016 – 5.00M
2017 – 13.63M
2018 – 21.65M
Total = $50.675M.
He’s produced over 30 WAR over that period so his surplus value to the Nationals has been stunning, and Harper is an absolutely ultra-best case scenario for any MLB draft choice.
Most draft choices get a signing bonus of a lot of money. More than enough to meet their needs over their minor league careers, but some don’t. Even for those who do get a pretty large signing bonus, they’re often in the majors by age 23 and play 3 years while earning the league minimum salary while often producing at a high level. Then, they play another 2-3 years in their PRIME while having annual 1 year contracts which pay them dramatically lower than market rates for their services. Then the player enters free agency with only 2-4 years left in their prime which limits their free agency value.
Historically, teams have gotten more and more aggressive with the free agency contract lengths and dollar figures, but more recently, savvy front offices have realized what the aging curves typically look like and pulled back (AS THEY SHOULD), but the balance of power has been shifted. Right now, teams have too much power.
I don’t fault the teams for making sound business decisions and I don’t fault the players for trying to get all they can for the ONE single time they’ll hit free agency in their prime.