No-one's agreed to anything yet. This might be part of an agreement IF there is an agreement. Right now, stuffs just being thrown up against the wall. There are at least 3 or 4 replies of insulting offers and 3 or 4 lines that won't be crossed to cross before things get serious.
In a strange move, Roger Clemens comes out of retirement again to pitch for the Astros who are in bad shape, but only if they allow his son Koby Clemens to be the bat boy.
Major League Baseball work stoppage almost certain on Dec. 2 https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Major-League-Baseball-work-stoppage-almost-16558934.php
So Correa walks and Verlander comes off the books…….what realistically could the Astros spend to get?
The MLB would be utter morons to allow a second 1994, especially after a shortened season with no fans in 2020. That strike damaged the sport eternally, basketball became America's 2nd sport thanks to it. The proposal to replace 6 years of major league service with a universal free agency at 29 1/2 is such an insane proposal from the owners that they have to be bluffing as some kind of negotiating tactic. On the other hand, having Free Agency decided by 6 years service OR 29 1/2 years of age serves as a massive improvement to the system, and stops teams from keeping 24+ year olds in the minor leagues longer than they should. Taking away arbitration and replacing it with nothing on top of lowering the luxury tax threshold by thirty million dollars not only hurts nearly every competitive team in baseball, but it would end Free Agency as we know it for the next 4+ years, with salaries rebounding to mid-2000s levels. If the Owners are going through with this, and are serious about these demands, then don't be surprised if we don't have a 2022 World Series and Baseball becomes the 4th sport in America after Hockey.
Forgot that was looming. Thanks for sharing. Wonder what effect it might have on this year’s free agent crop since it sounds like owners and GM’s might be hesitant to spend with uncertainty surrounding luxury tax threshold. Would that make any free agents sign one year deals until there’s more clarity, or would they all just delay free agency until a new deal is reached? Side question: Where does the money paid for exceeding luxury tax threshold go?
They will likely have between $40M and $60M to spend for next season. That is enough to technically afford any player available. However given the Astros history and Click’s background with Tampa I would be surprised if they gave out any contract longer than 5 years, which probably takes them out of the running for the top 4 SS (Correa, Seager, Story, Semien) as well as guys who they don’t need (like Kris Bryant). My current expectation for Houston’s offseason plan would be something like: Add a ToR SP. Robbie Ray, Carlos Rodon Kevin Gausman, Eduardo Rodriguez, Marcus Stroman, Jon Gray, and Alex Wood would be the tier of guys on the free agent market they might be interested in. I don’t think Scherzer or Kershaw are realistic and it looks like the Verlander ship might’ve sailed unless he accepts a QO. On the trade front German Marquez, Luis Castillo, and Shane Bieber would be targets. McCullers, Valdez, Garcia, Urquidy, and Odorizzi are all solid and all but Odo have ceilings to be ToR guys but adding an elite SP would let them enter the season with 6 solid SP (backed up by a stacked AAA rotation) and will have addressed what was their weakest link in 2020-2021. Add a good bat that can play SS, C, or CF. Pena is an MLB Top 50 prospect so they don’t want to block him at SS (plus Diaz is probably a very capable everyday SS for next year if needed). Meyers, McCormick, and Siri have looked great so they don’t want to overdo it in CF. Maldy is so important to the defense and Korey Lee should be ready late next season so they don’t need a big move at catcher. But all 3 of those positions carry risk on offense and losing Correa will shorten the lineup. Chris Taylor would be a fantastic fit but his price may go beyond what is reasonable. A guy like Jonathan Villar or Leury Garcia who can play both SS and CF but won’t cost much might make a lot of sense. Alternatively they could try to swing a trade for Mike Zunino or Willson Contreras to be the primary C (which would mean getting rid of Castro). Their lineup 1-6 is stacked so getting some insurance for the 7-8-9 of Meyers-Pena-Maldy would be a luxury but probably worthwhile. Add 2 elite bullpen arms. There’s tons of options. Iglesias, Graveman, McHugh, Jansen, Knebel, and Kennedy are just some of the options in free agency. Hader, Rogers, Barlow, Kimbrel, and Fulmer are just a few who might be available via trade. Pressly, Baez, Stanek, Maton, and Javier are locks for their pen so 2 elite level arms would leave them utterly stacked there. So Houston May spend big overall. Adding something like Ray ($130M/5yr), Iglesias ($53M/4yr), and Leury Garcia ($17M/3yr) would be $200M worth of contracts and fill all their holes but still leave Houston with payroll flexibility for the deadline and long term.
Thinking about the new CBA, from cursory research it looks like there are 3-4 major points of contention. Here’s what I would hope to see: Service time goes away. Players should reach free agency based on age. But the rule should account for the difference between how young players begin their careers (somewhat similar to how rule 5 eligibility works); players who sign as teenage amateurs reach MLB free agency at 27.5, players who sign after age 19 would reach at age 29.5. No more arbitration. Pre-free agency salaries would be calculated starting 5 seasons prior to free agency, with the player earning 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% of the Qualifying Offer amount each of those 5 years respectively. Players are eligible for those salaries as soon as they are placed on the 40 man roster. Luxury tax threshold calculation would stay the same. Penalties would change. overages would carry 100% fee. Going over by more than 20% would cost 2nd rd pick. Going over by 30% would cost 1st and 2nd rd pick. Going over by 40% would cost a teams entire draft. There would also be a payroll floor set to 4x the amount of the Qualifying Offer. Teams under the floor just pay the difference as a fee, to be distributed across MLBPA. Draft would be changed to be 25 rounds, but would include all players under age 25 that want to enter the league (so no more separate rules for international signees). All players can be eligible for the draft after their 17th birthday. Draft picks can be traded. No more TV blackouts and all teams are required to have TV deals with a streaming single channel option. (This won’t happen but Goddamit I want it to. Shouldn’t have to pay $70/mo+ just to watch MLB.) No game rules changes as part of this CBA. Those are tabled for now.