In the latest example of player frustration over the stagnant free-agent market, Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen illustrated that it’s not only unsigned players that are unhappy with how the offseason has played out. “Maybe we have to go on strike, to be honest with you,” Jansen told reporters at the team’s Fan Fest over the weekend (link via Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times). “…That is something we might have to address, so you don’t have a lot of Miami Marlins doing this. Maybe it’s an adjustment for us, as the players’ union.” Certainly, Jansen’s comments don’t speak for all players, but it’s nonetheless notable that the unrest has reached the point where such a prominent name is even suggesting it as a hypothetical. Jansen adds that he plans to speak with the union about his concerns. It’s likely, too, that he’ll have others who share his sentiment against the backdrop of the slowest free-agent market in MLB history. Of course, the current collective bargaining agreement runs through 2021, decreasing the chances of any near-term action being taken.
More out of Los Angeles…
- In his latest Dodgers mailbag, Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times writes that Yu Darvish has “made it clear” that he’d like to return to the Dodgers, which is part of the reason that his market hasn’t moved forward. Darvish, according to McCullough, has been waiting to see if the Dodgers will be able to shed any money; McCullough notes that they’ve explored dealing from positions of depth by gauging interest in well-compensated veterans such as Yasmani Grandal, Logan Forsythe and Hyun-Jin Ryu, though clearly nothing much has come of those endeavors to date. The fact that he’s waited this long suggests some degree of mutual interest, though the Cubs, Twins and Brewers have been most prominently linked to Darvish in recent weeks.
- McCullough also reports that the chances of Matt Kemp actually making the Dodgers’ roster out of Spring Training are “remote.” While Kemp is in better physical condition than he was in 2017 and will get some at-bats in the left field mix (where he’ll also get a chance to showcase himself for AL clubs), a team official tells McCullough that the reason Kemp wasn’t invited to the Dodgers’ Fan Fest was to avoid putting him in the uncomfortable position of having to answer questions about his future with the team. The Dodgers have Yasiel Puig, Chris Taylor, Joc Pederson, Andrew Toles, Enrique Hernandez and Alex Verdugo all on the depth chart as well.
- MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick also has quotes from GM Farhan Zaidi, manager Dave Roberts and Jansen about Kemp’s return. Zaidi notes that the Dodgers made the trade for Kemp knowing that they may not be able to find another taker and are prepared to hang onto him if he proves he can be an asset in Spring Training. “It’s our responsibility to keep our options open, to let it play out,” said Zaidi. “And if he can help us on the field, that’s what everybody wants.” Roberts, meanwhile, downplayed the previously rocky relationship between Kemp and Puig. “That was three years ago,” said the manager, noting that both players want to win. Both Roberts and Jansen suggested that is a welcome addition back to the clubhouse/roster.
Can they strike in the offseason next year. I want baseball now not a strike
Well the current CBA goes through December 2021. I think if they strike in the interim without some proof the owners are playing dirty then the players will lose the PR war right off the bat and lose.
Players are greedy. Owners are greedy. Boras is greedy.
Owners are willing to spend for the most part. The padres are willing to spend at a fair price. These players want more than they are worth. That’s why the market is so slow.
Btw no one is going to trade for kemp
Again the Agent works for the Player. If for some weird reason you choose to hate Boras remember the true dynamic.
Boras is an easy target. It’s not that I hate boras I just dislike his actions he takes. He is the reason the market is so slow.
The actions he takes is for the betterment of the player he reps. The reason the market is so slow is a variable of things.
As a fan of a small market team – i can honestly say Boras is bad for me. I’m happy trading players in their 30’s for the cheaper model coming up but my team will often try to buy out a couple of years of free agency early on a quality player. Often offering a 1-2 yr player a contract as high as 50mm – nice safe play for a young player but as we all know Boras advices against that move – so my team rarely if ever keeps players signed with Boras even less draft such a player. So for that exclusion and the teams low cost model, which I am fan of since my tickets are 1/3rd of the cost of a major market, I hate Boras!
Felipe Rivero’s sister > Boras.
It’s important to acknowledge that the top 2 highest payroll clubs have only 2 World Series titles in the last 17 years. It can be done for less with good player development And team chemistry. Why pay millions for an d mule getting ready to break Down.
Scott Boras is not the reason the market is so slow. In fact, a number of reasons have been presented over the last few months. Use some common sense.
It would be irregular if the CBA allowed players to strike, or owners to lock=out players, during the term of the agreement. Strike, or lock-out, could be an unfair labor practice.
To The dodger players stop whining. All we hear is whine, whine,whine.
It’ll even out next year. Reasonable spending this off-season followed by crazy spending next off-season with Kershaw, Harper, Machado available.
If kershaw ops out. It will show even more that players are extremely greedy. He already has enough money for several life times over
It’s not about greed, or affects other players in a ripple.
Plus, it’s not about his AAV, but his years.
Greed dude. That’s what it comes down to. The greed of the pa. They want him to take as much money as possible so the next guy can get more money. They tried to do the same thing with Gwynn and he told them no
It’s called capitalism.
what about the owners who Hall in way more than the players why don’t they take a small salary they are billionaires
It is complete greed.. I would agree with you if those ripples somehow helped the 100’s of minor leaguers who were not early round draft picks and struggle to continue playing while making peanuts.. If these players truly cared about the other players then they would negotiate better terms for the guys toiling in the minors.. Instead they negotiate for better terms for the guys with draft pick compensation attached to them.. Players that would make more than an entire AAA team makes in 3-4 years if they accepted the one year qualifying offer.. The current system leans very heavily in favor of the top superstars..
Anyone that says MLB players are not greedy have become obtuse to the obscene contracts these guys sign for.. Kershaw is a good example.. At his current salary if he manages to pitch a complete season, without injury, he will make about 32 starts.. That will come out to $1,111,607.16 per start.. That is an obscene amount of many for a couple of hours of work.. He could more than double an entire Midwest league team’s payroll, for an entire year, on one game’s pay.. It’s greed man, plain and simple.. Greedy players, greedy owners, and greedy cable companies that charge us way too much to pay the ridiculous contracts they sign the teams too.. My cable bill went up almost $15 after the Mariners signed their new deal in 2013 and I have yet to watch a Mariners game on tv..
It is called stupidity.
I don’t begrudge to the players getting as much money as they can. Id rather them get it, than the owners. But how much is enough ? One of these days, all of these sports salaries are going to implode in on the sports
and cause all kind of problems! The average sports fan will only take so much
and then spend those dollars elsewhere!
Who are you to determine how much money is enough for someone else? Kershaw, like any of us living in this country, is free to seek the best compensation for his skills…whatever the market will bear. In his position only a fool would take less money. He’s not going anywhere, the Dodgers are going to re-sign or extend him first, and his contract will not impact other players, other potential signees, nor ticket or TV prices. They are what they are, and he has every right to seek the best compensation he can.
So, is Tom Brady a fool?
Tom Brady is in a different position, because the NFL has a salary cap which impacts how much a player can be paid and still be on a competitive team. If Brady were to demand a salary of $40M per year, it would hurt his team’s ability, which would prevent him from winning as often as he does, which would lower the amount of money he earns off the field. If Brady played baseball, where there is no cap and the only limitation is what the team can afford to spend, he’d make much more than he does now.
Kershaw’s situation is different. He can go for as much as he wants, and it would be a big, big number before it impacted the Dodgers in their efforts to field a team around him. That’s not the case in the NFL.
But, take Stanton/Marlins for instance, the Marlins had a problem with his enormous contract
He had a big portion of the Marlins payroll and they couldn’t afford it
Are you serious? There is a salary cap in baseball too. The rigidity maybe different but That is why the slow offseason.
Pull your head out.
What fans are quick to gloss over is the fact that the cost of all these inflated contracts is passed on to the fans in the form of rising ticket prices, cable & internet prices, and concession and merchandise prices. $40 for a beer and 2 hot dogs at most parks, and when was the last time you saw a franchise slash any of those prices when a team goes into rebuild mode?
When was the last time an owner lowered prices after a World Series run where they made multiple millions of dollars of extra revenue because of the playoff run? When was the last time an owner lowers costs because their new tv contract promised them a billion dollars? The owners are in it for the money, they charge prices people will pay, whether that is merchandise or in game concessions. If an owner profits, nothing gets trickled down to the fan. Profits go down, you better believe payroll is getting slashed or gam related prices will go up.
Contracts are a sunk cost, they have no effect on ticket prices, concessions, etc.
And what do you think would happen if player salaries remained stagnant? Do you believe the costs of attending/watching a game would remain stagnant too? No, the prices are always going to rise.
Shouldn’t be slashing them due to rebuild, should be slashing them because they are ridiculous regardless of rebuild/contender status.
Cut a guy like Hosmer down from a $150m to a $70m contract (apply this to hundreds of players too obviously) and cut down these fat profits owners are making and we all can save $15 a month on cable bills, $50 a night or whatever every time out at the ballpark, etc. Fans should unionize and strike..would be sort of doable now with the state of communications..en masse ticket buying/game attending boycott, cable teevee cancellations, etc. Could work and save us all some money and we could still get our fix on places like here.
Maybe but whether they rise or not is besides the point. The revenue in the game is based on whatever the fans are prepared to pay to watch it. The debate here is entirely about how that revenue is split up between the owners and the players. To hear some people talk about it, the owners are kind and generous and of course not the least bit greedy, it’s the players who get too large a slice of what we pay to watch them play.
Those who think ownership should have more and the players less ought to pay to watch the owners hold board meetings and take phone calls. Maybe they could watch slo-mo videos of them drinking champagne on their yachts. I’m sure that would be much more interesting than watching a bunch of overpaid crybabies run, throw, hit and catch baseballs.
Kershaw declined a 300 million dollar deal and made the Dodgers give money to his Afrian charity in his first contract. If you think he is greedy you are extremely ignorant
So if you had a work contract that included an opt out, and you knew a rival company was willing to pay you more and also raise the salary bar for others in your profession, you wouldn’t exercise that option? It’s not greed, it’s capitalism. The owners make hand over fist off the blood, sweat, and tears of their laborers. If kershaw sets the new high bar in salary, that will help every pitcher in the industry.
Yes, just like some of the outrageous contracts in the past have helped this year’s free agent crop…
It’s not about the top level guys, it’s about the majority of the players. Look at the market for relievers this offseason vs just a few years ago. Jansen, Chapman and melancon blew the relief market wide open, with prior help from papelbon and Kimbrel. If the best player at his position is maximizing his salary that will have a direct correlation to what his peers receive on the open market. And one off year does not make a trend. Cain just got 80 million and the relief market has been set up. The high end guys are holding out for max deals and the rest of the market is held hostage. I’m willing to bet a pretty penny that once darvish and arrieta sign, Cobb and Lynn won’t be far behind. In some instances it makes more sense to wait and let the big fish sign so it sets the bar and could potentially lead to a bidding war for the teams that miss out. If Cobb/Lynn can get an extra guaranteed year or an extra million to wait it out, then why not. They all have offers on the table they can fall back on. Spring training is still a ways away
How is it that the players are greedy? If someone offered you a 50% pay raise would you say “no thanks, I make plenty now?”
Remember, only the players are greedy.
The owners are generous, because we aren’t told how much they make.
Darvish back would be good but can he not tip his pitches again?
I don’t know that going on strike is going to alleviate anyone’s frustration over this year’s free agent market. Some players being overpaid is a privilege and not a right. Clearly most organizations are weary of albatross contracts that provide little or no value . Jansen got his payday, and for that he should be grateful.
Exactly
There will be a strike when this CBA is up because the players shot themselves in the foot. They need a real leader for their union—a lawyer who is primarily concerned with the bottom line—not a former player who wants every clubhouse to have a chef. MLB instituted hard caps on the draft and international spending, and dramatically increased penalties for luxury tax violations. The players usually get the better deals than this one. Theres likely a work stoppage coming.
And don’t forget the QO and the draft compensation attached when a player turns it down. That’s another factor working against the remaining free agents. Teams have that angle all figured out now so they only extend the QO to players they’re certain will reject it.
I would not move any of the depth to sign Darvish. The depth is what makes the team. When key players are placed on the DL for other teams they replace then w/ replacement level players. When someone like Justin Turner goes down for 2 weeks, you can replace him with quality players like Forsythe or Barnes
Man, this seems like a crazy opp for Eppler to see if I can keep Darvish in California on a reasonable deal.
With this current crop, I don’t believe whoever signs any of these high priced free agents is going to get a “reasonable” deal. They are all going to be overpaid. And each contact will turn into another albatross.
Mr Jansen, going on strike with millionaires fighting nearly killed baseball last time. The steroid and homerun outputs with the likes of Sosa and McGwire saved baseball. Striking is pointless for MLB or players. If you don’t like your job, go work Wal-Mart for a week.
I don’t think he was complaining about the job he does. I do think he should blame Tony Clark for the bad contract he negociated.
Each team has player rep and they signed off on it.
Exactly.
Clark has shown he is inept
5yr/80M is being inept? If he Jansen doesn’t opt out he will make well over 56M the last 3 years of his deal. Which is 4M more than Wade Davis just got. Jansen should keep quite and enjoy the nearly 20M per he will be making for 75 appearances a year.
Agree! People forget that last strike! It was horrible & baseball fans where staying away! Sosa & McGwire saved Baseball! What ever who was doing what, they both deserve to be in the HOF! MLB are hypocrites when it comes to this issue! They knew & didn’t care until there was an uproar over Bonds! Bonds has scumbag & a Giant, but still deserves to be in the Hall! Still gotta hit the ball!
Why do so many people have such a huge problem with what the Marlins are doing? What did people honestly expect when he new owners took over?
Every Marlins fan knew in their heart of hearts that the Stanton contract was unsustainable in that market. I think the average fan is upset at the way it’s been handled. Jeter has come off as disconnected, unprepared, unqualified, and arrogant at every turn. Rebuilding is a necessary evil, but it’s unnecessary to shove everyone’s face in it with such blatant disregard.
If your not a Marlins fan how does any of this effect you. I’m so tired of people like you getting on here bashing Jeter like they know anything about the inner workings of the Marlins or their long term business model. With a post like this you’re the one coming off as “unqualified” and just petty.
I am a Marlins fan, and that’s my opinion for which I won’t apologize. If you have some insight about the inner workings of the organization please share. I can only base my opinion on the actions of new ownership which I’ve found to be erratic and thoughtless.
I couldn’t care less how the owners or their plan are being perceived by fans. I really only care about the results, and realistically, I think it’s going to be a few years before anyone can honestly say whether they’ve done a good job or not.
Jansen is a chump.
Kemp got in to really good shape last offseason too. We’ve seen this before.
Yup. I don’t want this guy anywhere near the team come spring training.
I agree 200%! Being a Dodger fan, I’ve taken a ride on the Kemp train! Not interested in a return trip
Hey Jansen! How about you tell Yu to go sign somewhere else? He is why none of the best starters are signed..
How is that?
Because at least 3 teams are waiting for him before they go to plan B or C, maybe even D.
Wow! People on here don’t get that when he gets signed the others will soon follow. Nobody on here wants starters to sign I guess. Kemp is not getting traded. LA is not keeping you YU.
I like how they said they didn’t invite Kemp so he wouldn’t feel uncomfortable when they could have invited him and let him decided if he felt comfortable or not lol.
Players calling for a strike is absurd. I’m all for them making their money but they should only be paid what they are worth. Part of a players value is current market. Unjon or not, no team is obligated to employ any of these guys. On another note we tend to see a slow to develop market until the big guys sign then it’s a domino effect. This year is no different other than the hold up is usually taken care of by Christmas or so. Darvish himself is quoted as saying he’s waiting on the Dodgers. Once he signs it sets the market for every other pitcher and possibly even some of the position players. These guys need to quit whining. I’ve read about offers being made to players this winter and obviously only a portion have signed.
They should be paid what they’re worth, when they’re worth it? I’m ok with that, but neither teams nor players would be. Small market clubs won’t be on board, their competitive model is built around taking advantage of vastly underpaid controllable talent. Players won’t be on board, they want the old system with the longer term security they’re accustomed to. If vets won’t get paid, there will be drama in the next CBA negotiation, that’s for sure.
I can’t see the Dodgers bringing Darvish back. If they pay him 25M per even after shedding contracts and Kershaw opts our they are in a tough spot to keep him.
I agree. The Dodgers are being more fiscally responsible this winter for that reason PLUS the fact that they want to be able to retain their young core (Seager, Taylor, Bellinger, Barnes, Urias, Buehler, etc when they start hitting arbitration down the road. Darvish is going to be expensive for sure, and I might be able to look past that were it not for those 2 horrific WS starts. I’m not so quick to write those off as an aberration.
How are they in a tough spot to keep him? Its already a 30 million AAV for him. To re sign him you wont have to add any more than 10 million to that. They are just trying to re set the tax so they can spend big and not be penalized at an enormous rate. Besides they get 22 million off the book in 2 years when Kemp is gone + 24 million when forsythe grandal and puig hit the market
$25 million a year? I hope the Dodgers wouldn’t do that! I hope not! Let’s move on!
The current group of free agents seem to want be paid as superstars when none of them are. All have some good points but also glaring issues. So baseball teams should be forced to offer foolish contracts just because former GMs and owners did?
Jansen should be yelling at Boras. Boras is making ridiculous demands and baseball is running out of dumb GMs and owners who fall victim to the PT Barnum (Boras)..
The rest of the market is waiting for things to break, and that’s not going to happen until Boras breaks, which he wont.
The collusion is all on Boras.
And yelling at Tony Clark/union reps. The players saw their share of revenues drop from 56% in 2002 to 40% now. They gave away all that streaming money to the owners – just gave it away. Billions.
Exactly right. I really don’t understand fans who defend Boras and say, “He’s just doing his job for his clients.” To me it’s like sitting on an airline flight that is being hijacked. One passenger says, “Hey, this is wrong, we gotta do something!”, and the guy sitting next to him responds, “Hey, the hijacker is just doing his job! Who are we to criticize him?”
That has got to be the craziest example for a comparison I’ve ever seen. Explain to everyone why you Hate Boras and not the players who hired him.
He doesn’t quietly go about his business like most other agents. He plays the blame game when things don’t go his way, and conveniently leaves the bad contracts (Wieters, etc.) out of his PowerPoint presentations. I don’t hate Boras, I just have no regard for the man, his style, or craft.
Like the slick salesman he is, he doesn’t give a damn about his clients when all is said and done. He does what he does for his agent commission, not the good of baseball. Is he a dirtbag? Hey, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…..
Thanks for covering what a great agent has to do to get the best for his clients. Where did you see his PowerPoint presentations?
Several GMs made references to them in the winter meetings. But I get it – I’ve got you down for a vote to let the hijacker do his job.
Strike based on what grounds exactly?
A few years ago some teams were trying out a system of paying more in the short run in order have the player on a shorter contract. That got teams bidding by adding years without the corresponding salary drop.
Basically more teams have been burned by long expensive contracts to players they know won’t continue to produce at the level of their salaries. Blame the players, owners, even Boras if you want. They all created this thing because it’s a free market. But because it’s also a limited market course corrections automatically happen.
I think the biggest issue the union has itself to blame for is the luxury tax threshold. If not for that can you can be assured the Yankees, Dodgers, Giants, and Nationals would have signed several of the top remaining free agents by now. 50 cents on every dollar beyond $197M is a hefty tax that goes to the small market teams who don’t always turn those dollars into significant free agent signings which is what that system was designed to do.
Paying lousy free agents big bucks? No strike, just commonsense!
Would Ryu just be a salty dump or would they be getting something of value back?
Salary*
A dump not necessarily because he’s making a ridiculous salary, but more because the man just cannot stay healthy.
He’s not worth a ton, no, but he’s worth more than a pure salary dump. Steamer projects him at 1..9 WAR in 2018. That carries some value, especially when you consider his cap hit is only $6M and this is the last year of his contract (minimal risk).
As Colletti mentions in his memoir, MLB owners were found to have colluded in 80s so Jansen has reason to worry in 2018. Why wouldn’t you consider the real possibility/probability that wealthy owners are trying to take more of the baseball pie for themselves?
Or maybe just maybe they realize Hosmer or JDM are not worth a ridiculous deal. Thats plus the much better free agent class next year are easily reasons why the market is slow
Agree those are also contributing factors. But Boras is simply trying to put his clients in a better negotiating position by establishing a high anchor so that teams have to start with that ridiculous number in mind when they send their first counter (whether it will have its intended effect is another issue). Hosmer and JDM won’t get their opening numbers and Boras knows this. His tactics aren’t new – been happening since the advent of free agency and before when cavemen were bartering sharp pointy sticks for a brontosaurus burger. We just live in the 21st century where negotiations are open to public analysis. You know what is made available for public scrutiny? The owners’ books and for good reason: They want the public’s perception of labor unrest to be that players are greedy since their contract numbers are readily available.
Exactly. How much the players make playing the game is very public. How much the owners make owning the game is very much a deep dark secret. Therefore, the players are making ridiculous amounts of money and owners don’t pass Go or collect $200. The bizarre result is most of the fans side with the owners. That’s one neat trick, but not everybody falls for it.
Well that was the point of the 1994 strike. Bud Selig had lead the owners in a collusion to lower salaries.
Go ahead and sign me up to be a replacement player when they decide to strike.
If players think they should strike because of this off-season it’s obvious why players don’t run teams. It seems like they think teams should just be throwing money at people. It’s pathetic. If players strike they won’t have any support from fans.
Give those poor owners a nice big smooch for all of us, because they totally deserve our thanks and gratitude for their selflessness.
Jansen will have to cry to the executive chef in every clubhouse that was collectively bargained in the last CBA.
What a joke. The MLBPA was the STRONGEST and most effective union on the planet. Was.
Then, for some reason, Tony Clark and the union decided that they needed pampered and to get rid of the first round compensation for qualifying offers because those affected…almost two dozen whole players.
In return, they gave away the farm. It’s like they didn’t even read the rest of the CBA before signing it.
So, whether he knows it or not, what he is saying is “Tony Clark messed up so bad that we might have to strike just to get back into sniffing distance of what we had two years ago.”
I think Jansen needs to shut his mouth. He’s going to make more money than most people in about 10 life times. But let’s complain about a slow market. The only reason it’s slow is next seasons market with Harper, Machado, Blackmon, and potentially kershaw.
They need to fix or eliminate the system that allows teams to control young players, often when they are their most productive, for artificially low salaries. If anything that’s what the MLBPA should strike over
This. Especially now that bonuses are limited with caps on the draft and IFA. Young players are extremely under compensated given their production, and teams are wise to this surplus value. The players should recoup some of this value by demanding a shorter team control window and/or by the very least ridding the contract renewal phase and getting arbitration immediately. If teams don’t want to pay for the decline phase of a player then they should fairly compensate younger players.
Jansen had no problem getting a contract last offseason. If Harper, Machado and Kershaw were free agents this offseason, they’d have no problem getting signed. Darvish, Martinez and Hosmer all have offers made to them and have not accepted them. So why blame the owners for them not being signed?
It’s like going car shopping, and the selection on the lot does not meet your needs and is overpriced. Are you supposed to feel an obligation to buy one any way? This year’s crop consists of good players, but none of them great. Yet teams are expected to pay record-breaking salaries? Boras will end up eating his own words (“The market sets the price.”), so he better learn to take the bad with the good for a change.
Jansen is a jackass who probably isn’t bright enough to realize what a strike would do to the game.
As neoncactus pointed out, he had no trouble getting a contract last year. Hope he winds up – no offense to the former Cardinal, either – like Rick Ankiel and can’t find the plate if it was 6 inches in front of him. Effin jerk.
What a pathetic post. Grow up. Butt hurt he didn’t sign with your fave team huh? Puke.
Sorry Kenley Jansen you have become obsolete.
The overwhelming stupidity of the “players are greedy” bunch of baloney, is that:
1. The players don’t get all the money that the team publicly says its paying them. Taxes, Agency fees, personal management fees. You see “$10M” but its really only $3.5M.
2. This is not a normal job. They cannot make money playing the game past 40. They are NOT being “greedy” they are trying to make as much as they can, because it runs out far more quickly than most other professions.
And, once again, the posters in here siding with owners over players, absolutely disgusts me. You all need to look in the mirror. You have been brainwashed by media, the media that most of the time is owned by same the team owners to make you think players are “greedy” or, even worse “should be grateful” – they’re worked harder to get where they are on a level anyone who would say “they should be grateful” ever have or will in their pathetic lives.
Let me understand Jansen’s comments. He just signed an $80 million contract. He is suggesting the ballplayers might need to strike. Seriously? The available unsigned players with a few obvious exceptions, are average to mediocre. Someone needs to pull Mr. Jansen aside and suggest he shutup and concentrate on baseball. He had a decent not great WS. He might want to concentrate on improving that.
Good God talk about shooting yourself?f in the foot
I couldn’t care less how the owners or their plan are being perceived by fans. I really only care about the results, and realistically, I think it’s going to be a few years before anyone can honestly say whether they’ve done a good job or not.
This collusion talk is wrong every one of these players have flaws not one is worth beyond 5 years. The market is bearing the talent of the players.
We’re the stupid ones. What’s of more value in this equation than our attention – whether it be viewership or attendance? And yet, we’re the ones paying them, and not the other way around.
So there’s a below average FA class that has been slowed by Stanton, then Ohtani, then the top hitter/JDM has had his market limited to Boston and now stated in this article the top pitcher/Darvish wants to go to LAD and he is waiting to see if they can shed $$$. Neither guys has a QO so they more or less will set the market.
There is a secular change in the industry in player evaluation and it’s had spill over effect into allocation of payroll $’s current & future. There are multiple older players in 2018 at/near the end of long term contracts that were in hindsight an overpay and that is now taking $ out of available payroll this particular season.
Front offices are all run by MBA’s who minor in baseball, past years markets have always relied on “the one dumb owner” to set the market and that owner doesn’t seem to exist anymore. Stars will continue to get paid but unless the MLBPA does something to raise the minimum wage fo 1-3yr players they provide teams with cheap replacement labor which is destroying the MLB middle class.
Agreed. Great points.
As a practicing capitalist, I typically side with the business owner, assuming that they operate in good faith with respect to their employees and customers. This usually makes me anti-union in most cases because I believe they have outlived their usefulness and actually exploit the workers for the benefit of their leaders.
Baseball, to me, is a different animal. As a student of the history of the game, I know that the owners have been trying to put the screws to the players since the very beginning. Whether it was the Reserve Clause, lack of support for injured players, or the collusion episodes, the owners have simply proven to not be trustworthy with their dealings with players.
I believe a player should be able to earn whatever he is worth on the open market, within the confines of the current rules. If the rules seriously hinder this, then the MLBPA needs to harden its stance and regain some lost ground. If the owners are found to have colluded AGAIN, then they’ll get the book thrown at them AGAIN in court.
It will be interesting to see what happens next.
Jansen needs to quiet up. Overpaid baby isn’t even a FA. I absolutely love the sport of baseball but most of these guys are overpaid. Now, to expect teams to be handing out 25/year for 7-10 for every 28+ year old FA who can hit the ball out of the park or run a little bit is ridiculous.
Yep!
There need to be adjustments to the CBA in 2021, but I’m not sure it would speed up this offseason. Seems to me this offseason is the result of the last couple of offseasons when a couple of teams got bargains by outwaiting the others, fantasy auction-style. Now, since front offices are 90% followers, EVERYONE is trying to outwait. But I think they will find that it doesn’t work when everyone does it. It likely will just mean there will be a) a huge time crunch/rush at some point, or b) a bunch of guys getting their $$, but not a full camp. I don’t think truncated Springs for top players will benefit the teams, so it won’t go down like this in the future.
Unless, of course, the players freak out, sign terrible deals, and ownership decides they’ve found a new way to suppress salaries. Obviously, players & their agents should avoid incentivizing this behavior.
How are the owners trying to suppress salaries. They are offering AAV as high as before. Its just the length of deals. 7 year deals rarely work out. It not salary suppression at all. Its shorter deals and let the player perform and earn his next contract
Haven’t heard anyone suggest Angels as a landing spot for free agents lately and I think they are lurking as a big spender, they are like $40m under the tax line and known for going right up to it.
Darvish makes sense for them or one of the other starters, or maybe a reliever or two and some luxury depth pieces like Dyson or Utley.
Question to Dodger fans: If Darvish is open to a 1-2 year pillow contract with LAD, should Dodgers package a quality prospect (Ruiz, Yadi,) with Kemp in order to get most/all of Kemp’s salary off their 2018 books–and then sign Darvish?
No, no, and no.
yes, that’s my thinking too. I was just curious what some of the people here might be thinking. Ruiz and Alvarez, obviously, are not the only guys who could be packaged in order to get Kemp’s contract off the books. Still, I’m just not sold on Yu as a front end guy–even if its just for a year or two. I think the FO is clearly in agreement with our thinking, so I don’t see this scenario being very likely at all.
Now that a new generation of GMs is starting to take over MLB teams, they aren’t as quick to pull the trigger on horrible contracts and players are getting uncomfortable. This is hilarious. Borass is one of the most vocal yet he is the single reason why prices went through the roof and continue to be ridiculous. If these millionaires were not out for insane amounts of money even if they only had one good year, this wouldn’t be a problem. For example, 6 or 7 years at 25 to 30 per for Arrieta is too damn much. Enough with the greed of the players and owners. How ’bout making the game affordable for the fans again? (yes, I know this is a pipe dream and will not happen)