Saw earlier today the Pirates haven’t signed a free agent to a multi year deal since 2016. That’s absurd.
It is. Every small market team profits (no matter what they say). There is no incentive for any of them to spend more. Every big market team profits, regardless of tax penalties and revenue sharing. No incentive for any of them to scale back… and yet still, some former big spenders like Boston and Chicago find ways to scale it back in “down” years. The mid-market teams are the ones that are actually spending dynamically (more often than not) relative to their revenues (which usually coincides with success)… and teams like the Astros, Blue Jays and Arizona are not really hurt by the current system but they likely also wouldn’t be hurt by a floor/cap system compared to the previous tiers. The players have to look at all of this and do something. While they’ve always been staunchly against a cap, this is not just a small sample size of teams being “cheap”. Several of those teams that claimed they couldn’t spend because of their stadium situation have since gotten new stadiums (Pittsburgh, Miami, Tampa building one, etc.)…. Hell some of the “newer” stadiums aren’t even that new anymore and will soon be looking to get replaced. Every off-season the mid-class of baseball gets squeezed more and more. Pitching injuries also being on the rise (due to the strategy of having pitchers throw max effort, no longer asked to conserve to go deep in games) has effectively stalled that market as well. TV deals, whether local or national, continue to increase in value… and MLB was previously on the cutting edge of digital platforms and on demand streaming… and yet they’re still catering to the 90’s archaic RSN model on the blackout rules. Would be nice if both the players and the owners let a third party come in and effectively “fix” the game for the betterment of both sides financially. It won’t happen, both sides will dig in, games will be lost, some gimmicky concessions made (more playoffs, more all star break time off, blah blah)…. While the other sports leagues continue to trend upwards in total revenues/salaries (including the freaking WNBA).
I don't even feel comfortable giving him $150 million He peaked way too early On the other hand you have the Dodgers stockpiling 8-9 difference makers from other teams for 1 Kyle Tucker contract each The astros cannot afford to be lax or sentimental with veterans.. outside of Altuve MAKE HIM BEND THE KNEE
It’s pretty opaque and not hard capped per se- but it seems to be 150% of refiners or you get stuck with a grievance. https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/showthread.php?p=5151288
Boob: Yet, while the Cubs continue to talk to agent Scott Boras about Bregman, there’s no indication that the Cubs would be willing to offer more than a three-year contract. There’s also no sign that Bregman would dramatically lower his asking price when he already has at least one six-year offer on the table. The Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and the Houston Astros have all made offers of at least four years to Bregman, but no one has been willing to meet his asking price. The Astros made a six-year, $156 million offer to Bregman in November and, while they say the door is open for a reunion, they’re openly pessimistic. The Tigers and Red Sox have made their interest clear all winter, but not with offers lucrative enough to satisfy Bregman’s demands. The fact that Bregman remains unsigned has led the Cubs to at least inquire about potentially signing him – and perhaps may be willing to offer the highest annual salary if he’s willing to accept a short-term deal.
One city has HEB, the other 2 would absolutely love his blandass salsa. Tough call for Bregs. Like a middle/middle 2-0 fastball. "I'll wait for something later"
