This is why the Reds gave Joey Votto a 10 year extension. In a few years, $20MM/yr is going to look awfully cheap.
Games are won on run differential -- scoring more than your opponent. Runs are runs, scored or prevented they all count the same. Worry about scoring more and allowing fewer, not which positions contribute to which side of the equation or how "consistent" you are at your current level of performance.
Honestly, I think the new draft rules help the small market teams more than they hurt it.
Before the caps, you had the Yankees and Rangers spending an insane amount of money on amatuer draft and international FAs. At least the playing field is leveled on the draft now. With the cap, I doubt you will see small market teams punting draft picks, or drafting to save money (which was pretty common for Cincy and Pittsburg in the early 2000's). IIRC, part of the new agreement also forbids giving Major League contracts to draftees, which helps everyone out.
The new draft rules are one step towards parity/fairness.. Sure, there's a lot more work to be done, but at least they fixed one facet that they could.
Because if they didn't fix that, Cincy might spend 10 million on the draft, but LA would spend 100...
[Phil ] Castellini celebrated the team's farm system and noted the team had promising prospects who would one day be great Reds -- and then joke then they'd be ex-Reds, saying "of course we're going to lose them". #SellTheTeamBob
Nov. 13, 2007: One of the greatest days in Reds history: John Allen gets the boot!
Once the ink is dry on this deal, what could the new owners of the Dodgers flip the franchise for?
You explained this better than I did. I agree with pretty much all you said here. The Yankees should never have a top 5 farm system in the position they consistently drafted at. For much of the 2000's though they did have a top 5 farm system with the International signings and the amount they spent in the draft. The way it is now, it could potentially hurt small market teams but on a whole it drastically changes the way large markets can approach the draft. To me, it will hurt big market teams more in the long run than small market teams.
I also think the new rules will bring the cost per draft choice down. I don't see Scott Boras getting the kind of money he used to get for Strasburg and Harper. The cost to do business in the draft will eventually start to fall.
Excellent point. I hadn't even thought of that.
As far as I know, the luxury tax threshholds have not changed. That seems to be throttling the spending of many large markets now.
Also, I think the owners are not going to let salaries escalate as quickly as they have in the past. We can see the trend in the last 5 years or so. The Cy Youngs and MVPs get the 20-25 million/year (which is about what Arod got from Texas as a high water mark a long time ago), but the payscale for the average/above average player has not gone up much over the past 5-10 years.
I'm not calling it collusion, but I think the owners now have an almost unspoken agreement not to overpay for the non-superstars.
[Phil ] Castellini celebrated the team's farm system and noted the team had promising prospects who would one day be great Reds -- and then joke then they'd be ex-Reds, saying "of course we're going to lose them". #SellTheTeamBob
Nov. 13, 2007: One of the greatest days in Reds history: John Allen gets the boot!
To expand on my previous point, I'll give the example of Robinson Cano. The Yankees spent a pretty decent amount to get him at the time in 2001. Now, all the teams are on the same level playing field to get a Cano type player. The Yankees or any of the large market teams can't come in there is throw their weight around. It's a huge reason why I love the new rules, on a whole.
This is probably why I'm more laissez-faire on this issue than most people are. Revenue sharing has gone a long way to making things more competitive. If we didn't have revenue sharing, my opinion might be different on this issue. You have seen teams like the Yankees try to streamline their payrolls a bit in recent years. I think revenue sharing has a lot to do with it.
The equalizer is getting out of the hole caused by wrong choices. The team with the big budget can buy their way out of poor decisions, whereas the team with the fraction of available funds will be faced with years to recover. Revenue sharing is a crock, you still have the same spending patterns, its more likely due to cycles than anything that some of the big boys are suddenly vulnerable. They'll turn over their roster and be right back in it while other franchises try to build with cheap talent. They better be right, though. Sorry, that's not a fun part of the game for me. It's a fixable inequity that just continues to get swept under the rug in the name of capitalism.
"Rounding 3rd and heading for home, good night everybody"
More of the same.
Big Markets drive larger cars with a bigger cushion for mistakes, the only thing that kills them is poor management and the dollars involved allow a quicker rise from being dead.
First it was quality parks in a metro area that was not stagnant, then radio contracts, then moving to larger markets and then TV contracts, then free agency, then superstations now decade long contracts with huge payoffs not spread thin payoffs.
It's been and always will be a harder hill to climb for the teams in the smaller markets.
Not fair, but a reality in this games makeup and certainly nothing new.
Really good thread and this hits at my sweet spot...I'm in the media and I love baseball...so yipppeee!
The reds have been operating in the new baseball economy and the other "small market" teams that are still on their heals are going to be the ones dusted in this.
Someone mentioned the new media deal is why the Reds signed Votto to the deal they did and that is EXACTLY right, getting Votto for tha amount will seem like chump change...BP deal is the same way and DO NOT be surprised if the Reds SPEND on Broxton, Madson a corner OF like Swisher and/or a 3B like Wright...I am not kidding...with the money that is coming in from media they are going to lock up STARS for 5-10 years with contracts that are in the 12-20 million dollar range annually and they will be ahead of the pack (at first).
The economy of baseball changed with the Padres and Cubs being sold...not the Dodgers...things are about to get really fun.
We are about to see some MAJOR shifts in the game and the players (not on the field but who is involved in the business of baseball) that are making things happen...All this said...when the Reds do their new deal I would bet that it isn't for a penny LESS thank $3billiion...not kidding...the farm is in pretty good shape, they have invested in real talent at the big league level and have had some recent success that says they like it and will continue to grow their fanbase again...teams like the dbacks, indians, royals, marlins, mariners, astros who haven't been part of the divisional conversations for a while are the ones who will have the most ground to make up...to score a "big deal" or what is considered a big deal now.
I would say that the league actually may contract a few of these teams OR move them to other countries in Europe, Asia or more specifically China..I could see a day when the Japanese baseball league and MLB become affiliated to the point that it becomes another AL and NL setup...the teams in that/those leagues will be able to play in the WS...there will be regular season games in Japan and other countries and so on...I could even see a team in the Middle east, obviously south Ameerica, China...Cal Ripken has been working with the Chinese for several years to learn baseball....so this is just the tip of the iceberg for this sport and the league and the money that is about to come into it!
I know I went off track (a little) but the reason the media deals are so big is because the media dollars are about to go through the roof because of international dollars being spent, not just national dollars.
"Sometimes, it's not the sexiest moves that put you over the top," Krivsky said. "It's a series of transactions that help you get there."
ARod signed his massive contract back in 2001, 11 years ago. From that point most of the top dollar contracts have stayed stagnant. You would have expected inflation to kick in, but Joey Votto will make similar money to the contract ARod signed 11 years ago.
For the most part MLB execs have gotten smarter, almost NFL like. They are signing their good young players to contracts early. Each and every team can afford to spend top dollar on their young talent. Just look at what they Rays did with Longoria, a $20M/season guy now. IMO its fools gold now to chase championships. The Yankees succeeded on time in doing it. Most good teams now are built from within with good young players. The Dodgers will be a case study going forward on how easy it is to "buy" a championship. If they succeed then you may see the Yankees and Red Sox open up their pocket books. If the Dodgers struggle I think you will see most teams operate the way they have over the past 5 years or so.
[Phil ] Castellini celebrated the team's farm system and noted the team had promising prospects who would one day be great Reds -- and then joke then they'd be ex-Reds, saying "of course we're going to lose them". #SellTheTeamBob
Nov. 13, 2007: One of the greatest days in Reds history: John Allen gets the boot!
Board Moderators may, at their discretion and judgment, delete and/or edit any messages that violate any of the following guidelines: 1. Explicit references to alleged illegal or unlawful acts. 2. Graphic sexual descriptions. 3. Racial or ethnic slurs. 4. Use of edgy language (including masked profanity). 5. Direct personal attacks, flames, fights, trolling, baiting, name-calling, general nuisance, excessive player criticism or anything along those lines. 6. Posting spam. 7. Each person may have only one user account. It is fine to be critical here - that's what this board is for. But let's not beat a subject or a player to death, please. |