Curt Casali’s offseason negotiations with the Giants were interrupted by a surgery, as Casali underwent a hamate bone procedure on his left hand in December. The catcher told MLB.com’s Maria Guardado and other reporters that he suffered the injury while playing for the Reds in the postseason and initially planned to just rehab the issue before opting for surgery. There was already a verbal agreement in place between Casali and the Giants prior to his surgery, and once the Giants were satisfied about Casali’s health, the two sides officially finalized a one-year, $1.5MM deal in early January.
In a nod to Casali’s recovery, he said the contract contains a $500K bonus if he makes the Opening Day roster. He fully expects to be ready, as he has been playing catch and taking swings already in camp, though Casali has yet to get behind the plate for a bullpen session. The seven-year MLB veteran is slated to work as Buster Posey’s chief backup this season, and San Francisco also has Chadwick Tromp and top prospect Joey Bart waiting in the minors as further catching depth.
More from the NL West…
- Stephen Vogt tested positive for COVID-19 and has yet to arrive at Diamondbacks camp, manager Torey Lovullo told The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan (Twitter link) and other reporters. It isn’t known if Vogt might be available or if he is suffering any symptoms, though Lovullo did bring some lightness to the situation by mentioning that Vogt was practicing his putting stroke in his kitchen while having a FaceTime conversation with Lovullo. Vogt made 20 starts at catcher and 26 appearances overall in 2020, which was enough (in prorated fashion) for his $3MM vesting option for 2021 to become guaranteed, and unlock a further $500K in salary. Carson Kelly will serve as Arizona’s starting catcher with Vogt slated for backup duty, and star prospect Daulton Varsho and veteran Bryan Holaday are also in camp as possible options if Vogt has miss any time.
- The Diamondbacks have continued pay cuts for employees throughout the organization, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports. The cuts have impacted both the baseball operations and business departments, and while the D’Backs are reportedly waiting on their 2021 revenue situation before restoring full salaries, they “are believed to be one of the only teams in baseball still implementing pay cuts to employees.” Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports that most of the salary cuts are in the range of 10 percent or less, after the organization cut remaining salaries by an average of 15 percent last year after furloughing or laying off over a quarter of its staff. The cuts operate on a sliding scale, so higher-paid employees like team president/CEO Derrick Hall and general manager Mike Hazen are thought to have taken the largest salary reductions.
- Fernando Tatis Jr.’s 14-year, $340MM extension with the Padres represents not just a huge payday for the star shortstop, but also for Big League Advance firm, Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. Tatis is the most prominent of the 344 players who have signed with BLA since the company was founded by former Phillies right-hander Michael Schwimer in 2016, with BLA offering these players a $50K advance — up to a $500K maximum — in exchange for one percent of any future earnings derived from baseball contracts (not non-baseball income like endorsement deals). It isn’t known how many advances Tatis received, but even a single $50K advance would result in a $3.4MM return on investment for Schwimer’s firm, and BLA would earn $34MM if Tatis took the full $500K advance. While striking big on a future star like Tatis is obviously good news for Big League Advance, Schwimer is pleased at how his company has helped many players through the low-paying struggle faced by many minor leaguers, including Schwimer himself during his six pro seasons. “Fernando’s deal is what everyone wants to talk about, but nobody wants to think of the literal dozens of players that we’ve invested in that are no longer in baseball,” Schwimer said. “Players that without us, who knows what situation they’d be in….And now with us, in some cases, they have hundreds of thousands of dollars. They can go back to school, start their second chapter.”
Michael Schwimer looks like a genius now!
Good for Michael, catching up to his brother David in career earnings.
No, he looks like a guy whose morals weren’t quite high enough to earn him a career in the payday loan industry.
Clearly, you don’t know Ross.
I had to look it up for myself. Yes, Daulton Varsho’s dad is former big league outfielder Gary Varsho, and Gary and Darren Daulton played together on the 95 Phillies.
Thanks. I knew those names looked familiar together, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
This BLA seems to be running a payday loan scam. They claim they are helping minor leaguers when all they are is lottery tickets. You buy a whole bunch and if one pays off you still come out on top. I get that the minors make peanuts, so does he and he is taking advantage of them while trying to put a white knight image in the public. Why did Tatis need any cash. His dad made a lot of money.
Cause everyone wants to live off their parents lol
@machumizer this may be my favorite MLBTR reply to a post of 2021. Well done!
He was 18, almost everyone in the USA is still in high school at 18. So to say his parents shouldn’t have made sure he didn’t need to take out a 500% loan, when his dad made 28M while playing is just silly.
Maybe….as an 18 year old and legal adult…he made this choice on his own?
That’s just bad parenting and at 18 he had an agent who clearly gave poor financial advice. Idiot move all the way around. And all the more reason for MLB to pay MiLB a living wage.
I can’t say I’m super familiar with the timeline on this, but the White Sox basically gave him away in 2016, when did he sign with this agent? Is this just people looking back at this with the benefit of hindsight and calling it dumb?
Nevermind…I misread this, I thought BLA was an agency that also fronted money, not just money fronting. My mistake.
James Midway –
For one thing, Tatis was not initially considered a great prospect….he probably took a gamble that would guarantee himself a decent amount of cash. I guess I don’t understand why this is bothering you so much…all businesses make money based on risk. That’s how America/Capitalism works. The company made out big time on this one, but has gotten zero return from a huge majority of their investments, kind of like buying penny stocks…if one hits big, you make out. Otherwise it’s a complete loss.
Secondly, payday loans are GUARANTEED to be 300% interest or whatever. The return on these investments is a complete shot in the dark, and more times than not the entire investment is a total loss for the company. To compare this business to a payday loan is completely foolish and thoughtless. No need to be such a hater, dude.
Minor league players should be paid more yes. This dude comes in and claims to want to help all these people while making money off of them. Sure you lose your investment on the flameouts, but all you need is one or two to hit it and you wipe out those losses in a heartbeat. Like I said, I don’t know how they got their claws into Tatis when he comes from money.
They claim to want to help the underpaid minor leaguers. They only loan money to those their little program thinks will do well. You think Paul Depodesta is in this group to help anyone?
The White Sox signed Tatis for $800K. Somehow, that wasn’t enough to get him through a few years of minor league ball?
He got some really bad advise from somebody.
10% is the most a player would owe back to the agency IF they took out the full 500k advance. Seems like a better deal than racking up credit card debt and having to pay it back whether you make it or not.
Everyone has their own reasons for their decision to take BLA advances. I agree that it’s a great hedge bet on yourself. Both parties are taking calculated risks.
Eh, minor league players don’t have to pay back the loan if they never make the majors, so I don’t think it’s that bad. Tatis just made a bunch of money. I don’t think he’s worried about losing a couple million.
If he took the $500,000 he just lost 10% of the contract he just signed. Also, pretty sure that’s after tax are paid on it.
Scott Boras makes 5% on every contract he negotiates, so any player that signs with him has just lost 5% of the contract they sign. Is that bad too?
Scott Boras also gets a cut of all endorsement deals. But he’s actively working for his client. This is just a very slanted payday loan. Its predatory behavior on BLA. Basically a 7000% interest loan on 500k if Tatis took the full amount. Its disgusting.
To counter-argue, I think most, if not all, players signing up with BLA know what they’re getting into. Payday loan recipients are a lot less sophisticated demographics and in deep desperation usually.
For a young, talented pro-athlete, if it means getting better nutrition and off-season trainers for themselves to have a leg up over other minor leaguers, it may be a worthwhile trade-off. Geting to the big leagues is a lot harder than staying in. Tatis’ dad having had a MLB career is largely irrelevant. Just look at the Prince and Cecil Fielder (broke) relationship.
BLA only makes funds available to players their analytics thinks will succeed. It’s not like it’s some public good for minor Leaguers, it’s only helping those the data already thinks are likely to succeed. Just increase minor league pay so players can meet their training, nutritional, and everyday needs. Then the ethical questions around BLA don’t even need to exist.
The crux of this is indeed minor league pay is too low. At least for those who haven’t received any signing bonuses. BLA is in the insurance business and we all have opinions about the industry. Great when we need it but the opposite when we don’t.
Averagejoe15…Maybe there is a typo that I did not infer accurately…But how does “data think?”
Or possibly you meant that many “data analysts think?”
Not sure how the Fielder reference is relevant. Prince was regularly in team clubhouses as a kid with Cecil.
Hot take: I’d rather be named Boof Bonser than Chadwick Tromp
The Rock says — “IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOUR NAME IS!”
From what I read BLA gets 8% of Tatis salary. Tatis is at peace with it and he will be fine lol
Does James Shields get a cut? Brings back memories of Ernie Broglio for Lou Brock, only worse.
Or San Diego’s worst trade: Ozzie Smith for Garry Templeton
Roberto Alomar for Tony Fernandez? Gary Sheffield for Trevor Hoffman was ok not great, Joe Carter for McGriff, McGriff for trash was painful, Adrian Gonzalez for trash…the list goes on
MLB should prevent people from treating their players as stocks.
i don’t know if they have the legal standing to do that. I dont like BLA, but if players want to do it and its legal then nothing that can be done. (and perhaps should be done
It could be legal if an agreement is made but that will never happen.
Amk1920…That does not seem very practical. Why should one not invest on the potential success of a player and/or let that player have the right to let someone invest in their potential?
I am not trying to argue the ridiculous argument that corporations are people.
If an athlete wants to sign with representation that bases it’s profits on the client’s success, why would you be opposed each party entering into such an agreement?
Its practical if the MLBPA and MLB can agree to it but that’s never going to happen. The scope would only be players in an organization but thats enough to protect guys like Tatis.
Minor leaguers are not part of the MLBPA, would you require them to drop the agent that they had previous to making it MLB if that agent doesn’t fit whatever agreement you crazy people decide they’re gonna sign?
can’t edit post for some reason – that should be, “making it *to* MLB”.
amk1920…..MLB has no say over agents. Only the MLBPA does. It’s the union that certifies agents, rejects agents or disciplines agents. That is why when some agents were caught up in steroid scandals with their clients all MLB could do was ban them from parks and MLB facilities.
This is actually the responsibility of the players association not the team. If an agent or agency does a player wrong he ( or she) can be decertified. The most famous example of this happened in hockey, when Mario Lemieux’s original agent did him wrong ( refused to let him sign with the Pittsburgh Penguins so Lemieux would have to play in Montreal ( while Lemieux actually wanted Pittsburgh)), he told this to the Union and the Union decertified the agent and he got a different agent ( Bob Wolfe) and the rest is history.
no, its not. the PA doesnt represent minors players.
Wrong. Indirectly they do. Using Boras Corp as an example. He represents Cole and Britton on the Yankees and Wells in the minors as well. If Boras got decertified Wells would need a new agent.
Whether Tatis (or anyone else) took a loan or a cash advance is strictly and unequivocally none of our business.
Baseball is a business and a rather new business in the baseball industry just had a bunch of success because on of their customers got a big contract. This is everyone’s business. There are HIPPA laws but we hear about every strained pinky. Some things will be in the news no matter your opinion.
From deadspin, take it as you will, “Pro sports teams are not covered entities under HIPAA. Rather, they are merely considered employers. … Fedlam says these injuries or conditions are usually reported to the player’s agent and then disseminated to the team. Once that happens, information can now be leaked to the media or public without violating HIPAA.”
No problem with it, but it probably needs some rival competition in the market ….up to 10% yowzas…. Competition could probably help set caps as well as better rates for the MIIB players to chose from
I wonder how you know “who qualifies” in the first place…some creepy suit follows you to the parking lot ?
Boras is 5% from what i see and i dont think he fronts any money? He has the training facilities, though
Does anyone else think that a 14 year , 340 mill deal to someone that only had 550 MLB at bats ….is a little much. ( Tuffy Rhodes, Kevin Mass , Brady Anderson ) Tatis Sr had a great 1999 , every other year was average at best. I could name several more … this deal had train wreck written all over it
Lets see how Jr feels after 3 years or so and the next “stars” deal either beats his yearly avg. or contract total.
He won’t remember that he thought the deal was what he needed/deserved and may just be screaming he’s unappreciated under his current deal and wants either a new one, or wants out of SD.
Remember, its always about the money!
And yes, Letme, i agree 550 at bats does mot make a legend in the humbling game of baseball.
What are you talking about? What baseball players have you seen do this? We have seen it in other sports but not baseball.
Why don’t you give the kid a break and OL be happy for him. He is a young star with a great personality. What’s the point of your comment?
It doesn’t don’t tell that to Padre fans who have bust ready for Tatis in HOF
Tatis’s success is not guaranteed, but subjectively the only players I have seen who flamed out after being as good as Tatis has been did so due to injury (Dickie Thon, Tony Conigliaro, on a lesser level Ike Davis). The contract is as good a bet as any handed out to a player so young. And it’s particularly important given that San Diego historically has been such a poor and/or parsimonious franchise, it is really a statement on the part of the team.
It happens more then those two.. Look at Albert Belle. His early numbers were Hall of Fame levels then he got hurt when he went to Baltimore. You are correct about San Diego. It is difficult to keep players in that city when their contract ends ( Gwynn excluded). They are very aware of this history so they gambled that Tatis will have a Hall of Fame career.
Yes Albert Belle is another one. Don Mattingly in a slightly different sense.
Or Juan Gonzalez who in 2000 rejected a record-setting 8/$140M extension from Detroit. Then “settled” for one year deals with several teams and made “only” $50m for the remaining of his career.
Eric Davis.
Thumbs up from me for parsimonious usage
It’s dumb contract totally unnecessary the Padres have him under team control.
Bobby Bonilla?
You can hardly blame BLA for doing this, nor the many minor leaguers who they represent for taking the advances. If MLBPA doesn’t like this, they should be fighting for better pay for minor leaguers (I know minor leaguers are not part of MLBPA) or earnestly help them to organize a union of their own. That, or as alluded to in others’ comments above, stop accrediting agencies that use this advance system.
I’m a person that almost always sides with the players and MLBPA over the League/owners, but I can’t see why MLB itself would regulate something like this. It falls on the union one way or another.
LOL do you go around apologizing for predatory pay day loans? “You can hardly blame anyone looking to exploit under paid minor leaguers, someone’s gotta do it!” You’re a classy guy.
What do think other agents take? I bet you Boras takes the highest percentage.
Essentially the fee that Tatis pays is helping other players that don’t make it.
And these players voluntarily sign up for this program. Also, there’s probably a reason a guy like Tatis stays with Schwim.
Boras takes 15%. What is not well known is Boras rarely does a contract himself. Cole was an exception ( Hal Steinbrenner actually requested that he and Boras do the contract together ( no middle men) and Boras agreed).
Is it really 15%? I googled it quickly and saw 5%, maybe that is when Boras’ company, but not Boras himself do it
It is 15% for Boras Corp. of course he has over one hundred people working for him ( not just lawyers), so there is a lot of overhead. It is also very true that Boras rarely does a contract himself.why? He simply does not have enough time. Cole was an exception so was Harper.
While somewhat shady, it’s not a payday loan. You have to pay those back.
What they are doing is more like the ambulance chaser lawyers (in Pittsburgh, for example, think Edgar Snyder) who will take your case for free, but then collect 40% if you win (unless you call Schenderovich, Schenderovich and Fishman and then, of course, it’s only 25%).
On it’s face, I don’t like the company, but…it’s hard to argue with Tatis’ logic. He says he used the money to invest in himself, his diet, his training, etc. Maybe he doesn’t hit big without it.
THE REAL PROBLEM is why do minor leaguers have to take out loans to live better than migrant berry pickers?
Why, when all of the other leagues (even the NHL) exist in 2021, does MLB still act like it’s 1930?
MLB refusing to invest in it’s minor league players is akin to a clothing company refusing to get a warehouse for it’s fabric and just leaving it out in the rain. “Soggy shirts for sale!”
I will beat this drum again, far too many MLB owners inherited their money, they did not build it through their own savvy. They know only how to bleed a business, not build one.
Could teams fund their minor league teams better, sure…but let’s not act like these people do not know what they’re signing up for. They might be paid like berry pickers (I have no idea if that’s actually true, but it doesn’t matter), but berry pickers don’t have the potential upside payoff that even an MLB minimum contract provides.
Baseball has been berry berry good to those who can pick it.
So, because they can, you think they should just leave the fabric out in the rain…?
“The best fabric will dry out on it’s own!!!”
Even if you don’t care one lick about the players, it’s bad business for the owners.
Dude, your knowledge of economics is severely limited.
Ironically interesting. OK. Go on…
Why do you say that?
Are you going to give the mindless profit maximization speech that cluelessly assumes any investment that isn’t an immediate straight line between expense and profit is a waste? Or do berry pickers make more than I realize?
I suspect I would have better luck teaching physics to a rock.
Oh, what are you qualifications in the field of economics?
Interesting article about Schwimer/BLA. Wonder who his financial backers were who originally funded this operation? He had to have some big-time backing to get that type of biz up & running as I doubt banks would be lining to up to give him BIG loans needed to seed this type of biz.
Surprised his Dad a former player went along with this
Tatis did get an 825k bonus when he signed with the White Sox- unless he immediately made some bad decisions with that, he shouldnt have needed to to do the BLA advance.
1 million nowadays doesnt go nearly as far as it did not that long ago.
No matter how much BMA takes, or Boras for that matter, Tatis is set for life. We won’t have to organize any beef ‘n beer nights on his behalf.
Tatis should be set for life. The sad thing is you have too many people who attach themselves to players and suck them dry.
he, and his next 10 generations should be set for life.
Michael Schwimer has been putting his profits to good use lately, appearing on the recently revived “High Stakes Poker” show.
In the next 10 years you will see MLB contracting. The sport in America is dying. The interest is not there for so many small market teams. Eventually it will wane into a 12 team league.