Kenley Jansen: Only 6 NL Teams are Trying this Season

[The Wise One]

There are many mentions of paying people what they are worth. If you want people paid what they are truly worth then every contract past a super two should be a free agent one year guaranteed contract. 

[Platoon]

One can simply take Mauers contract as an example. Everyone involved made an internal deal with themselves. Mauer likely took less per year on the front side in return for length and security. A good idea. The Twins didn't need analytics to know they were going to get the short end of the stick in years 9-10 for sure. And they knew that 10 injury free years was almost impossible. They balance that with the fact that they picked up money on the front end, and shifted it to the back, in theory. And they needed to consider the incalculable damage to the team done by not signing Mauer to a contract, based on the time, situation, and player involved. Point is, there is a lot of moving parts in a market price. And they are all current and situational. While opinions and principles are all well and good about the fairness of the market variations, they are a moot point. You're either make a competitive bid, or you don't. While there will eventually be an adjustment to the labor agreement, it likely won't change the fact that the personality of the owner will have a huge impact on the teams willingness to meet the street price for talent.

[Riverbrian]

 

  

On a related topic I really don't like at all that the Twins might favor Hughes for a spot possibly based solely on the fact that they are paying him a lot of money. 

 

Players with 5 years of experience have the right to refuse outright assignment. Brian Dozier and Eduardo Escobar are new members of this club.

 

If Hughes exercises this right and refuses outright assignment... the Twins must reinstate or release him and are still responsible for the duration of the contract. 

 

Now I assume... you might be thinking... "tough cookies Mr. Hughes". If he refuses the assignment... just let him go. 

 

The problem with that... you have to be sure... absolutely sure that Phil can't help you during the duration of the contract. Because if the Twins release Hughes... he can sign with anyone and if the Royals sign him... The Twins will be paying 26.4 million for Hughes to pitch for the Royals. The Royals will get to see if Hughes can get better and it costs them nothing. Since the Twins are already paying him 26.4 million and they can't escape it... they might as well be the team to see if he can get better. 

 

Just imagine what an owner would say to a GM if Hughes was pitching decently for the Royals and the Twins were paying the 26.4 million.

 

Just imagine what the GM is going to say to the medical staff and training staff and coaches. 

 

If the Twins release Hughes it means that all hope is lost. 

 

 

This brings up another CBA Viewpoint that is going to support the way you feel. The Accrued Rights of the veteran player can be problematic. 

 

Teams are starting to prefer players with options at the minimum salary that they can do with whatever they please over the free agent making millions with big thick strings attached to them.  

 

Cain, Hosmer, Moustakas and Escobar of the 2017 Royals were beaten by Rosario, Buxton, Kepler, Sano and Polanco. 

 

 

[Riverbrian]

 

There are many mentions of paying people what they are worth. If you want people paid what they are truly worth then every contract past a super two should be a free agent one year guaranteed contract. 

 

If I'm the players union and I want true value.

 

I am holding firm on: Discontinued use of the first year player draft. 

 

The market forces will change drastically and will even move naturally... once every player is no longer drafted and subsequently shackled for a significant period of time. 

 

I know that what I said... seems shocking or extreme. 

 

BTW... The players union will never do this because they ain't boy scouts either. Both the owners and players association keep the advantages of the CBA away from the young player. 

 

 

[Riverbrian]

 

 

 

Teams are starting to prefer players with options at the minimum salary that they can do whatever they please with over the free agent making millions with big thick strings attached to them.  

 

Cain, Hosmer, Moustakas and Escobar of the 2017 Royals were beaten by Rosario, Buxton, Kepler, Sano and Polanco. 

 

Here's a slightly comparable example from the trucking industry. 

 

The Mega Carriers of the trucking industry are huge, self insured and they will pay truckers with less than one year experience around .20 cents per mile. 

 

The Trucker with less than one year experience has very few options because the insurance companies try to restrict the number of inexperienced drivers that the smaller companies can hire. The Mega Carriers have no limits because they are self insured and they also have diminished competition for them because the competition has been capped by insurance... This leaves the inexperienced driver somewhat shackled as they try to gain experience in the industry.   

 

Because the inexperienced drivers are paid significantly less. The Mega Carriers can then take that savings and shift it over to how much they can offer the experienced driver.

 

In other words... because they pay the rookie .20 cpm... they can pay the veteran driver .50 cpm when the national average is .40 cpm.  

 

Now... what happens when the mega carriers look at the metrics and come to the obvious conclusion that the inexperienced driver are only a slight uptick in accidents/incidents/claim costs compared to the experienced driver? Meaning the inexperienced drivers are almost as good as the experienced drivers. 

 

They say... please give me more of those .20 cent drivers. 

 

 

[Lefty74]

MLB needs to address what is quickly becoming a huge issue, Revenue Sharing. Teams are tanking because they have the advanced analytics proving they have no chance to win more than 75 games. At the same time large market teams have built their own analytics teams and aren’t making the colossal mistakes they did from 1980-2010. This leads to major inequity and if the fans have no hope the stadiums will be empty.

 

2018 luxury tax starts after $197M payroll. Dodgers, Yankees, Cubs, Giants and Red Sox have the TV/radio contracts and other revenue to more than support the large payroll. Everyone else does not. What payroll could the Twins realistically afford before going deeply into the red? Therefore small market teams tank, hope to stockpile early round draft picks in order to make a run at a future date. The window for these teams is not open for long. The Astros are a dynasty built by being awful for many years. If you can’t pay up to the threshold and major market teams now have similar analytics the outlook for small market teams, IMHO, is bleak.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Because if the Twins release Hughes... he can sign with anyone and if the Royals sign him... The Twins will be paying 26.4 million for Hughes to pitch for the Royals.

Hmmmm... Hughes might benefit the Twins more by pitching for the Royals...

[TheLeviathan]

 

If I have to care who ends up with the money - owners or players - I'll always side with the players. Owners are given everything. **** em.

 

I tend to agree, but I wish there was a third option.  (You know, throw a bone the fan's way.  Or improve minor league conditions from indentured servitude)

[Riverbrian]

 

MLB needs to address what is quickly becoming a huge issue, Revenue Sharing. Teams are tanking because they have the advanced analytics proving they have no chance to win more than 75 games. At the same time large market teams have built their own analytics teams and aren’t making the colossal mistakes they did from 1980-2010. This leads to major inequity and if the fans have no hope the stadiums will be empty.

2018 luxury tax starts after $197M payroll. Dodgers, Yankees, Cubs, Giants and Red Sox have the TV/radio contracts and other revenue to more than support the large payroll. Everyone else does not. What payroll could the Twins realistically afford before going deeply into the red? Therefore small market teams tank, hope to stockpile early round draft picks in order to make a run at a future date. The window for these teams is not open for long. The Astros are a dynasty built by being awful for many years. If you can’t pay up to the threshold and major market teams now have similar analytics the outlook for small market teams, IMHO, is bleak.

 

When it comes to politics... I'm a single issue guy. I feel that if you can fix campaign finance reform you have a chance of fixing everything else about Washington or St. Paul.  

 

IMO... that issue in Baseball for the overall health of the sport is: 

 

Hope in Pittsburgh, Hope in Milwaukee, Hope in Kansas City, Hope in Cincinnati,  Hope in Tampa, Hope in Oakland, Etc. 

 

Those markets may be smaller than New York, Chicago and L.A. but when you add them all up... it get's real significant... real quick. 

 

 

 

 

 

[The Wise One]

 

If I'm the players union and I want true value.

 

I am holding firm on: Discontinued use of the first year player draft. 

 

The market forces will change drastically and will even move naturally... once every player is no longer drafted and subsequently shackled for a significant period of time. 

 

I know that what I said... seems shocking or extreme. 

 

BTW... The players union will never do this because they ain't boy scouts either. Both the owners and players association keep the advantages of the CBA away from the young player. 

The union would never go for single year contracts. The number of current bad contracts that inflate the value of WAR is astounding. 

[Nine of twelve]

A 'commission' structure would in theory be the best way for the pays to get paid at the exact time they're producing. They would have to agree on a rate and create a structure that wouldnt affect the integrity of the game.

 

As far as integrity, just as a pure hypothetical...

 

CS: "Chris Sale, speaking."

BB: "Hey it's Byron."

CS: "I shouldn't be talking to an opponent on game day, but go on?"

BB: "Hey man, I have 49 stolen bases right now. If I get 50, I make another $3.5 million. How about we make a deal here?"

CS: "Give me $250,000 and you got a deal."

BB: "Great! See you in the first inning!"

This is not hypothetical, it's in violation of the CBA. Players are not allowed to make payments to other teams or players.