I agree with you completely. And I know that you know why salaries are dropping. And it does suck. But I wouldn't say there is no reason- the reason is as was pointed out. There's no reason though, that this should be the new normal. The only thing I will say is that the union really sold out the middle class (and of course they always sell out the young) at the expense of the superstar and name guys. The game would be a lot better and healthier (and I don't know if you would say fairer- but beneficial to more players) if they had a cap, floor, and a max salary in the game. Yeah, it wouldn't be fair to cut into Mike Trout's earnings. But, if you had a max set at something like 12 or 15% of the salary cap (which would match the NBA's 30 ish percent of the cap when adjusting for roster sizes) shortened the pre free agency period, did away with obvious service time manipulations, and required a spending floor at something like 80% of the cap then basically that structure would work better for something like 90% of the league. Hell, designate a 25 man salary cap when the number goes to 26 man roster and have one exemption each team can have where they spend whatever the hell you want for a player that doesn't count in the cap and then you make it so the top 10 or 12 guys in the league get paid big time too. I'm pretty sure the owners would go along with what I suggested in about a nano-second, (maybe not the 1 person exemption to the cap- but maybe) as Manfried is on the record as saying they are ambivalent to how the money gets divided amongst the players. At some point in time you are talking about fantasy land anyway with ballplayers salary (and look man, I don't begrudge them anything) but if you had a super star salary capped at $25 million so that everyone could get paid I'm just not going to cry for that guy too hard. Sure, it sucks for him, but if somebody got to make sacrifices to make the system work for everyone might as well start at the top with a sport like baseball- where Mike Trout is singlehandedly proving that one great player doesn't mean jack nor **** to team success in this game. James Harden, or pre-washed Lebron or KD or a handful of other guys can basically guarantee their team is a playoff caliber team in the NBA due to the smaller rosters and more relative control a star has. Baseball clearly doesn't work that way. I hope they get it fixed if for no other reason than I'm sort of sick of hearing about it.
And I Love seeing all the former Astros doing so well and Bud Norris getting cut from his minor league deal. Brought a smile to my face. I think Gattis is done, which sucks for him, but I suspected that was possible last year. It's hard to fade a 100 ish wRC with no defensive value and past the age of 30. Could he help some team? Man, I don't know. If he can he isn't going to help much and it's a team that isn't very good who probably ought to be handing reps to younger players anyway. And that doesn't have anything to do with salary to my way of thinking, just the value of a 25 man roster spot. Love Gattis, hope he lands on his feet somewhere but I just don't see it. Hope I'm wrong. Hope Keuchel is retired.
Agreed. The last stoppage in my opinion was as much about owners v owners as much as it was a oboit owners v players imo. This one will be about who the union tries to protect- stars vs young vs rank and file vets. Teams have proven they will bet big on extending young guys (for all the **** Acuña got over his contract he locked in generational wealth for himself and totally mitigated any risk to himself) and they will pay the big time stars, they just don’t value rank and file vets that are probably better players than a lot of young guys but with less upside. It’s a rational decision process and really smart guys are making those type of decisions. You will not make teams go back to acting stupidly against their best interests. That genie is out of the bottle. So, the way to go forward for players is to get the biggest slice of the pie they can (which they’d accomplish with a high salary floor) and limit upside of the absolute best so more guys get more money, while getting paid sooner. Will they do that? I’m with you I’m guessing no, but it’d probably be the best for 90+ percent of the union membership.
The Pittsburgh Pirates knew at the start of the year that Gregory Polanco would be on the Injured List. This took away one of the team’s middle of the lineup bats. Then, the team brought in outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall to be the main right fielder until Polanco came back. From there he was expected to fill in as a strong fourth outfield option. Instead, Chisenhall broke his hand late in Spring Training and will not be back until May. So this left the team short-handed with outfielders. The Pittsburgh Pirates had brought in veteran Melky Cabrera, but also brought up minor league veteran J.B. Shuck. The thought was that those two could do a good enough job in right field with Starling Marte and Corey Dickerson still manning center and left field. Well, that did not last long. The Pirates had to place outfielder Corey Dickerson on the Injured List yesterday with a strained right shoulder. This seemed probable Wednesday night when he was scratched from the lineup. Dickerson is arguably the team’s best all-around hitter, so this is another big blow to the Bucs already struggling offense. The team will not fill Dickerson’s shoes with a mediocre, veteran free agent, however. Instead, the team will call up one of their breakout prospects from last year in outfielder Jason Martin. The team actually brought Jordan Lyles off the Injured List in place of Dickerson on Thursday, but have now placed reliever Kyle Crick on the Injured List as well. Crick’s move is the one that is technically opening up Martin’s spot. This is all according to the Pittsburgh Pirates twitter. Martin was the fourth piece in the Gerrit Cole trade with Houston. Last year, Martin played in 68 games for the Curve and put up impressive numbers. He had a slash line of .325/.392/.522 with 27 extra base hits. His power was the most impressive part as he had nine home runs and a wRC+ of 152 and an ISO of .196. Martin was promoted to Triple-A midseason and struggled some, hitting just 211/.270/.319 with 12 extra base hits. However, he had a good Spring Training this year. The 23-year-old hit .303 with a .739 OPS with two triples and two home runs in 12 games. So he could be making his major league début with a hot bat after a hot Spring. https://rumbunter.com/2019/04/05/pittsburgh-pirates-corey-dickerson-to-the-injured-list/
D Santana, E Hernandez, JD Martinez, and J Villar all in the current top 30 in fWAR among position players. J Hader, J Musgrove, and T Thornton among the top 30 pitchers.
Jason Martin hit leadoff, singled in his 1st MLB AB, stole 2B and scored on a 2B. Finished 1-2 with a BB.
Still waiting for Domingo Santana to have his sustained breakout. Had a great season at 24 and then got lost in the Brewers OF shuffle last year. The guy played with George Springer in the minors at multiple levels and Georgie's been an established big leaguer for years.
He's doing pretty well for the Mariners this year. Nice to see him get everyday playing time again, since the arrival of Cain and Yelich last year relegated him to the bench. Only piece of the Hunter Pence trade that ended up not being a bust.
