Checking in on a few American League franchises…
- White Sox first-round pick Garrett Crochet will arrive in Chicago sometime this week for a physical, Scott Merkin of MLB.com tweets. Crochet fully intends to sign with the club. “After we get the contract all buttoned up, I should be signing. Yeah, it’s not completely official, but should be here in a few days’ time,” said Crochet, a left-hander from Tennessee whom the White Sox chose 11th overall. His pick carries a recommended slot value of $4,547,500.
- The Red Sox turned to one of their most valuable players to help lure an undrafted free agent, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com details. In an effort to land St. Joseph’s University right-hander Jordan DiValerio, Boston enlisted the help of ace Chris Sale. DiValerio told Cotillo he received a text Sunday from his agent, who said, ‘”Hey, expect a call from Chris Sale.’ I was like, ‘No way. Are you serious?’ And then, he told me if I got a call from a random number, to pick it up.” While DiValerio was already leaning toward the Red Sox at that point, the call from Sale only helped the club’s cause. “He said it’s one of the best, if not the best organization in baseball,” DiValerio stated. “He said once you get in, the family environment is really just incredible. He’s so happy to be a part of it. He told me I’m going to be happy to be in it as well.”
- Owner Jim Crane informed Astros employees Tuesday that the team will not lay off or furlough anyone through the end of October, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic tweets. However, any member of the staff who makes $100K or more will have to take a pay cut.
- The Yankees, meanwhile, have told their staff that they’ll continue with the status quo in terms of employment and pay, per James Wagner of the New York Times. The team had previously only committed to them through June 15.
Staff who make over $100k will have to take a paycut… too bad the players can’t understand that.
Can’t believe I’m going to respond but here goes. Does the staff directly drive the revenue of the organization like the players do?
I would say they play a big part in it. If that staff isn’t making proper evaluations or decisions then the wrong players are on the field. Bad decisions mean a bad product which means less money coming in for management and players. Staff is very important.
@parkdav
In these times, the players do not directly drive the revenue of the organization like the players usually do. That’s the point.
Not as much, but thats why they dont make as much. Many things happen to make life easier for the players. From washing the uniforms to fixing the field. Id like to see kershaw do his own laundry or schedule flights to cities and book hotel rooms.
No need to be jealous just because you can’t get a job at that compensation level.
Those employees may not be the attraction, but they play important business and operational roles. Without a medical, accounting, travel, logistics staff a team can’t function and as a result a player can’t perform and get paid.
Umm yeah. If staff didn’t create, sell, and execute the sponsorships, ads, food, and merchandise, “baseball player” wouldn’t even be a job, let alone one where you can make millions.
Too bad you can’t throw 100 mph or hit a ball 400 ft. So ppl would spend their money to watch you.
They play a game and get paid to entertain. I don’t know why it is so hard for people to understand that and continue to compare athletes to regular jobs.
Also these workers are getting paid and most don’t have to work for it. Players are not getting paid except minor leaguers who are getting their stipend.
Exactly…players make this kind of money because people are willing to shell out good money to watch them.
If you don’t like them making that kind of money, vote with your wallet, stay home and don’t watch on TV.
Odd how the owners don’t seem to understand this either…
Owners have contracts with revenue streams guaranteed. Yes there are lost revenues but outside of a few stars with marketing streams, players have to remember their lost funds are lost whereas owners will make it back in subsequent seasons. Assume next year there’s a cure, players contracts will still be less than expected to make up for 2020. If there’s still no cure, there will be no sports as we know it and players will have to go back to school…obviously no one wants there to be no baseball but the owners have the bucks invested so of course they are balking with uncertainty.
Actors get paid to entertain too. Not many film studios are looking to pay full price when theatres are closed though. Movies that have been made already, are.being pushed back to when they might make a profit. This is no different.
The owners had a deal with the players for this season, they do not want to stick to the deal they made. That’s all on the owners. They can all survive if baseball never came back and they still would make billions doing that. The big market teams can survive on tv rights, he small market teams depend on the big market teams financing them by paying the luxury tax. The Pirates payroll is 20m their owner makes all of their money on big market teams and doesn’t give a crap if the Pirates win 70 games let alone compete.
I can.. When i take steroids and listen to a trash can beat
Nice…the Astros for one are cheaters, and now they are cheap.
Crane lost me when he fired AJ. Over reacted.
Sorry but I disagree. I love AJ as much as the next guy, but if you don’t have the balls to tell everyone in the locker room to knock it off and stop the cheating, AFTER the league gave everyone a written warning, I can’t trust you to make critical decisions. Love AJ, but he had to go.
right on the money. Hinch, of the 4 main guys fired from the 3 affected teams, was probably the best at his job respectively. took a bit more guts to get rid of him, and it kinda had to be done.
AJ threw everyone, Cora,n all under the bus. Sorry but Cora is the best of the group. AJ blatantly allowed them to bang on trash cans during games, not good. He’s no angel.
@pasha2k Let’s not sweep under the carpet the fact that Alex Cora was the mastermind behind the disgusting cheating scandals that disgraced two franchises, resulting in the theft of two world series titles and multiple individual awards. “Best of the bunch?” Without disgusting cheating, Cora is nothing but an obscure bench player. His accomplishments in coaching and management are all tarnished and so unreliable that it is as if they never happened.
Wow, I basically agree with the ultimate Yankee homer. I just feel Cora will get another chance and as I bite my lip, I can see the Red Sox should they not win again by the end of 22.
Beltran was the mastermind. Cora just allowed him to do his thing in Houston. What Beltran was up to from 2014 thru last year will eventually come out.
Hate to rain on your parade, but no MLB teams are saints. Your Yankees got busted and if the league ever investigated I’ll wager every single team has fractured a league rule. No exceptions.
You are having a day!
None of the Coras are any good.
Xactly Bruce.
@bruce Actually Beltran was never in Boston. The mastermind is the common thread between the two scandals and that’s Cora
Beltran brought the idea form the Yankees to the Astros so chill the eff out ya yankee blow hard.
Crane was right but then immediately thereafter he looked pathetic trying to absolve his players when they failed miserably at initially owning what they did. Boston players have claimed there was nothing to the 2018 allegations. Hopefully they were honest because they will look as bad or worse if more comes out.
@uhbob Hinch should have been banned for life along with anyone else involved in systematically stealing a world series. You disgust me.
Check out the revenue and attendance numbers last time the players didn’t play. That was due to a strike, and it took 4 or 5 years to return to the #s they were doing before the strike.
Teams with uncertain revenue projections will have a tough time signing the higher priced FAs..
Mookie Betts for example.
All prices have come down. How low will salaries go to? Timing is everything. Those who signed long deals last year like Cole will obviously be fine. Mookie will take a hit but has already done just fine by going year to year. Those non superstars will take a beating however.
If they were operating with urgency, like folks who are here for BASEBALL – not the kids feigning every step of the way, who’ve never seemingly been to an actual MLB game, you know who you are, we’d have the framework for a season by now. Manfred lacks the fortitude to draw an actual line.
The league MUST dictate the start, length and finances for a season NOW, as they have the power to do, and come up with some concessions during the next CBA that eventually keep all sides happy in the long term. The apparent “WOKE” virus has weakened and the death rate is extremely low, on par with a bad flu season, and we don’t CANCEL baseball for the flu!
Allow the terrified woke child mob, like Snell, to stay home and play PS4 while the rest of the country deals with a virus that wasn’t mentioned once during rioting, looting, and burning down the country. PLAY BALL!!
So much stupidity. Seek help.
Lol so much
Just because of this dude, I hope the cancel the season! I wonder what kind of deranged tantrum he will go on when that happens? Don’t play ball!!
I am sick of the players are all of the game. While I agree they are a huge part of it, so is the uniform and the tradition. This is not the NBA where people root for Lebron regardless of what team he plays for. In my case, I root for who is wearing the pinstripes. My favorite on the team? Zack Britton. Is he the best? Hardly. But when he could have left as a free agent, he told Scott Boras he wants to be a Yankee and stayed. I appreciated that.
I’m a Yankee fan and I root for Mike Trout and Max Scherzer and all kinds of players who make it fun to watch.
I certainly rooted for Scherzer and the Nationals against Houston, and rooted for the Cubs when they won, and always against Boston, but for me it is the uniform ( just like ASU football (especially against U of A and USC)).
PAC 12 football is trash.
Exactly. The uni matters more in football than MLB. In baseball, I root for the Mets first of course, then I have players across the league that I root for. In football, it’s all about the SF red and gold. Anything else (other than to pull for the Jets since my cousin was a season ticket holder) is about how other teams’ games affect SF.
Agreed NYY. While I’ll root for ex Sox players, the uniform means more. I didn’t root for the Angels in the early 80s although I always pulled for Fred Lynn and Rick Burleson. Given that fiasco, I still don’t understand why the Angels had to give up Carney Lansford who Boston stupidly dealt after one year to Oakland for an aging Tony Armas. Boston over the years had some great third baseman but only kept Lansford and Beltre for one year each. As important as the bash brothers were when Oakland won, their co-mvps then were Stewart, Eckersley and Lansford.
The Bagwell trade was the killer. The two Red Sox players I appreciated were Pedroia and Boggs. Both hard nosed players who gave their all.
Glad to hear Crochet is looking to sign, but I always figured he would. Really looking forward to hearing if/when Jared Kelley signs.
White Sox save your money. Offer him $20k.
If he says no move on. The game is ruined.
Naw, wouldn’t pay me enough money to play for a team that has fans who worship their anti-competitive owner, the same owner who deliberately hires incompetent GMs and won’t fire them ever. No matter how incredibly bad they are.
@keysox
Um, pretty sure Kelley wouldn’t take the Sox up on the $20K offer you suggested, especially since his slot value is well over $1MM.
Chris SAle was a good player to use. I would hope it works out to get the pitcher. I root for the team n sometimes a player, but always the team.
Kelley will sign. Sox wouldn’t have drafted him in round 2 if they didn’t already have a deal in place
The Sox contacted his representatives and asked if he is available when they select in the 2nd Round, what does it take to get him to Chicago? I am sure he and his agents appreciated the proactive approach.
Who cares about MLB. Kelley should go to college and get a degree.
Baseball is dead. Figure it out.
They (players) ruined baseball.
Started with Snell.
Nobody cares anymore.
Cancel season. Players will play without fans for a long time.
@keysox
Kelly could potentially sign for over $2MM, based on how the Sox drafted after Kelley.
Would you pass up a $2MM signing bonus to go to college?
Keep in mind the great potential that the college season could get wiped out in ’21 if there’s a massive spike in COVID-19 this Winter.
I’d take the money and sign.
Your okay with billionaires who make a deal and then say screw you to it? You realize that MLB needed players to use steroids after the last strike in order to survive, but said screw the players 5 years later. Your okay with teams paying players the least amount of money possible while making millions off of others teams realizing that their fans care more about the owners then fielding a competitive team more then once per decade or more?
Considering he let Lunhow fire most of the scouts, his staff isn’t that big.
Really nice of Chris Sale to give the kid a call. The only issue I have about the “this is the best organization” talk is that Sale has only been with two different organizations while never being a free agent. He’s never seen the insides of another organization. But perhaps he’s chatted with others.