How Will The New CBA Affect The Twins?

The per diem was reduced so maybe Sano will be able to cut weight.

Is it possible that the money they got in the Justin Haley trade will go toward the International Spending Cap? 

I don't see how the international spending cap is a capitulation by the MLBPA.  Why would current players want teams to spend ridiculous amounts of money on unproven players.  It seems to me like the MLBPA would rather that money go to current players, or player development or whatever.

In the NFL, wasn't the player's association in favor of limiting the value of rookie contracts so those rookies didn't take up all the cap space and reduce available salaries for veterans?  Seems like the same logic would apply here.

In theory that was how it was supposed to work in the NFL... But that's not the case. With the lower rookie salaries, it's now easier for teams to cut a player earlier. And they still cut expensive veterans at will. 

The Wall Street Journal reported that the average career length for NFL players has shrunk by two and a half years since 2008....

“The way the CBA is structured now, it’s really no different from any other workforce in that you want to find the healthiest, youngest, least-expensive talent and infuse it into your corporation,” said Tennesse Titans GM Jon Robinson. 

The thought process of the NFL's Age Problem is detailed here.

Umm, being able to cut a player earlier is helpful to the veterans.  Sure, you can still cut veterans early, but you don't have a Top 10 draft bust eating up a significant portion of your salary cap.  

But the money is not going to the veterans in the NFL... Only the stars of the NFL see that money with their second contracts. Way more often than not, as soon as a player gets on the wrong side of 30, they're cut. 

And the big money going to stars with their second contract is far, far better than it going to unproven rookies.  At their second contract, the player is a veteran and has proven he belongs.  NFL players don't bemoan that Von Miller got a huge contract, he deserves it.  Its stupid when guys like Jamarcus Russell, Darius Heyward-Bey and Vince Young get rediculous rookie contracts.

Agreed. So let's bring this back to baseball: 

Now with the international cap, let's say owners across the league save $15 million as a result of the cost-effective international talent coming in. Where's that $15 million going to go? 

There's already the system in place where a player is cost-controlled by a team for 6 years. Will that money go towards the 34 year old free agents out there? 

I'm not really talking about the old guys.  I'm moreso talking about the guys getting their first contract after arbitration.

I could be completely wrong.  Maybe the MLBPA really wants the owners to spend a boatload of money on international players.

I hope you're right. I certainly don't know the right answer either. If the money just goes into the owner's pocket, that would be the worst case scenario. 

Reading up a bit more on it, it sounds like this was middle ground.  The owners wanted an International Draft and ended up with this instead.

Is it really going to help with competitive balance though? Sure, in the past the Dodgers of the world could offer the most money and recruit the top international free agents to come on board. 

If the top player from Cuba has 10 offers for the same salary, he could still choose the Dodgers over a small market team like the Reds. 

Yeah, but he could choose the Reds.  If the Dodgers were offering double the money of the Reds, he'd never choose the reds.

And the Rule 5 was increased to $100,000 - which is a healthy cost to a team looking to possibly stash a player - it comes with a major league minimum salary for a season, too. So you better hope that you keep them around longer than the Twins, say, kept J.R. Graham and ended up losing a Sean Gilmartin, perhaps, in the equation. I believe there were fewer Rule 5 picks (outside of San Diego) than in the past this season.

The dress-up can be a thing of the past. Pies in the face, dumping the cooler. Okay. Maybe the champagne baths for post season clinches. Okay. But the dressing of rookies brings baseball down to the level of professional wrestling, so to speak, and few actually get to partake in the full effect unless photos are distributed. Better to leave it to the players to do short-sheeting and saran-wrap around toilet bowls in the wee hours of hotel stays, U guess.

The All-Star game continues to have problems. The fan voting doesn't exactly work. The need to have a representative from each team isn't necessary. But if it is going to be a showcase, than maybe it should showcase the truly best...the leaders in all offensive and pitching categories from the season before, make sure Cy/MVP/RookieYears are there for sure. Let it be the farewell tour for those stunning vets, I guess, too.

It just keeps getting further and further from an actual game.

Maybe the minor league All-Stars should play the actual game with the big league guys just doing hat tipping, expensive signings and such.

I kinda liked the idea that the game meant a little something, like homefield advantage, in the World Series.

Under the old CBA, didn't teams get different international spending caps based on their record and now they get the same amount. So in the first year of the new CBA, the Twins would be hurt because their spending pool and competitive advantage will be smaller than it would have been.