Baseball is broken; here’s how it can be fi xed
Zach
Gewelb
As we inch closer and closer
to Spring Training, most
teams have nearly completed
their offseason plans, with
several players — including
superstars Bryce Harper and
Manny Machado — remaining
in free agency.
After last year’s dull free
agency saw several veteran
players either sign late in
February or start the season
without jobs, we were left
wondering if baseball had
truly changed, or if it was just
a blip on the radar.
Well, it seems that the trend
of giving veteran players longterm,
big-money contracts is a
thing of the past.
While a few teams have
spent money this offseason
— including the Yankees
and the Mets — most have
sat on the sidelines and are
waiting for the market to fall
to the point where veterans
will accept cheap one-year
contracts. It’s a worthwhile
strategy for teams who are
not seriously competing for a
World Series title.
Why spend $120 million or
$150 million on payroll to win
85 games and maybe make
the postseason? It’s much
more profitable for owners to
field teams with $70 million
or $80 million payrolls and
tank for a better draft pick.
That seems to be the way the
industry is moving.
You can use your fingers
to count how many teams are
trying to win a World Series:
the Yankees, Red Sox, Astros,
Braves, Brewers, Cardinals,
Dodgers and Rockies each
seem to be all-in on 2019. Other
teams like the Mets, Athletics
and Indians are also clearly
fighting for a playoff spot. But
the rest of the teams aren’t
even pretending to win. And
Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen and Yankees GM Brian Cashman are
two of just a handful of general managers who have spent meaningful
money on their teams this offseason. AP Photos
therein lies the problem.
How are veteran players
supposed to get paid if teams
aren’t trying to win? There
are only a couple of answers to
this problem.
One, Major League Baseball
needs to penalize losing rather
than reward tanking teams with
high draft picks. If, for example,
the 10 worst teams in the league
were sent to the bottom of the
first round of the MLB Draft
rather than selecting at the top,
teams may be more inclined to
spend money on veterans and
try to win.
Another possible solution
is to implement a salary floor.
Right now, there is no real
minimum regarding what
teams can spend on payroll.
If MLB was to set a spending
floor at, say, $100 million —
something all owners can
afford — then teams would be
forced to spend more.
A third option is for the
Players Association to threaten
to strike if MLB doesn’t snap
its trend. The MLBPA could
demand that baseball changes
when and how players are
paid. Currently, players are
under team control for six
seasons before they can be free
agents. A solution could be to
change that to four years of
control, enabling players to hit
the open market at a younger
age with more prime years
available.
None of these options are
perfect. But it’s clear something
needs to be done. Players are
seeing their careers shortened
due to the stinginess of the
owners, and that’s ultimately
bad for baseball.
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