Stanek had a hip injury in 19 and COVID in 2020. Big arm... lots of upside, but will want to see the terms before I like it or not. Update... $1.1 million for 1 year and we might control him under arbitration until 2023 I like it. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/01/astros-to-sign-ryne-stanek.html
I like Stanek but I think it’s odd that he reached free agency after a projected $800k arbitration salary then Houston is signing him for $1.1M. I wonder if Houston will control him for 3 more seasons or if he negotiated free agency into his contract after this season. He also appears to have a minor league option remaining.
I would think Lindor to NYM is good for HOU in that it takes a huge spender off the board for Correa. I’m sure they can still afford George, and man, would they look elite with those two additional to their lineup. I suppose I can live with George-y beating up on ATL, WAS, and the rest of our NL foes (and NYY) if he is in fact not returning to HOU.
Ryne Stanek: "Obviously, the team is really good and looking for a chance to play for a championship. That’s the whole plan. I really like how they run things." Stanek: "I hope I get a chance to fight for a leverage role. That’s obviously what I’m looking for. I think one of my strengths, obviously, is something that I’ve been able to do a bunch of different things." Astros GM James Click: "We’re still actively pursuing several other options and certainly don’t anticipate this being the last move of the offseason." Click on Stanek: "First and foremost, the stuff that he has, he can get big outs in big situations and he was looking for an opportunity to win a leverage role in a bullpen." Ryne Stanek has three more seasons of club control, including this one. He was going to go through the arbitration process for the first time this winter before signing the one-year, $1.1 million deal.
I understand the term "high leverage" is popular but I struggle to grasp how it makes sense in describing these situations.
Guy on third in bottom of 9th up one is high leverage as just one run affects whether game ends in 9 or not. Guy on third in bottom of 9th up 10 is low leverage. Teams can control who is pitching. Being able to strategically deploy great pitchers in high leverage situations will lead to more wins than if teams deployed relief pitchers randomly.
I don't know if this is the right crossover, but I think about high leverage from the financial standpoint. High leverage = lots of borrowed money = very risky situation where you want your smartest people / best strategy / highest effort in place. Goal is to make enough money to get out of debt and decrease the leverage. If the people do a bad job in that situation, the company goes bankrupt pretty quickly...not a lot of time or space for error.
A lever is a force multiplier, which amplifies the impact of every action. So high leverage makes sense as a descriptor of a situation when every action has a disproportionate impact on the game.
Another issue that goes hand and hand with this deals with college baseball. The NCAA only allows 2 paid assistants teams generally have at least 3 . One is a volunteer and has to find ways to make an income. Scholarship money for baseball is also greatly underfunded and lots of good multi-sport players have to choose football and basketball over baseball because of the financials of getting an 80-100% scholarship over 10-20%. Just another way baseball loses out on players.
It's hard to attract the best athletes when you pay by far the least for star players. 2012 had a star player drafted first overall in the NFL, NBA, and MLB. (Luck, AD, and Correa) Here is how their career earnings have played out through 2019 when Luck retired. Davis ~ $120 million Luck ~ $110 million Correa ~ $12 million If a guy like Kyler Murray has a choice on what sport to play, baseball is the wrong answer every time.
That has 3 significant factors. 1 Baseball takes longer to master meaning draft picks aren't a sure thing. 2 An individual baseball player has less of an impact on the winning percentage of the team (a great starting pitcher impacts a game like a QB, but only once every 5 days). 3 Even when a young player master the game deserving of a large contract, the MLBPA and owners have agreed to suppress their salaries for many years. At some point, I expect football is going to have a huge drop off not counting the South as less people play it growing up. Though, that is still probably decades away.
Now look at career earnings for the top players in the league. Yes there are negatives to being a young baseball player. But the star players careers typically are longer, guaranteed and on par or better in terms of money than the other two sports. And as far as top athletes, I don’t think baseball is devoid of top tier athletes or talent.