With an impending lockout on the horizon, Wednesday actually brought along some action on the hot stove.
On the Metropolitan front:
Javier Baez officially joined the Detroit Tigers on a six-year, $140 million deal after agreeing to terms earlier in the week. Marcus Stroman agreed to a three-year, $71 million pact with the Cubs (opt-put after year-two; incentives could push total to $75 million). And Rich Hill went back to Boston on a one-year deal.
All the best, gentlemen. Thanks for the good times.
The Mets introduced their bevy of new additions — Max Scherzer headlined the matinee showing with Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar, and Mark Canha taking the stage later in the evening.
Everyone seems very excited to be in Flushing. Definitely worth the watch.
The Red Sox also signed James Paxton to a one-year, $10 million deal (plus two option years) and traded outfielder Hunter Renfroe to Milwaukee for Jackie Bradley Jr. and two prospects.
Chris Taylor re-signed with the Dodgers for four years and $60 million ($73 million with incentives). There were some additional moves but there are still a lot of very good players left on the now-frozen market.
Outside of the transactional news, mostly, the day was filled with anxiety and frustration. Major League Baseball’s lockout of the players came, as expected, upon the 11:59:59 PM EST expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement.
Shortly thereafter, MLB.com removed all content with references to active players, as well as most images or likenesses from player pages (players have begun using their faceless avatars from the site as their social media profile pictures and it’s priceless; Mets pitcher Trevor Williams, I believe, was the first), and also released a “Letter to Baseball Fans”.
An excerpt:
When we began negotiations over a new agreement, the Players Association already had a contract that they wouldn’t trade for any other in sports. Baseball’s players have no salary cap and are not subjected to a maximum length or dollar amount on contracts.
In fact, only MLB has guaranteed contracts that run 10 or more years, and in excess of $300 million. We have not proposed anything that would change these fundamentals.
While we have heard repeatedly that free agency is “broken” – in the month of November $1.7 billion was committed to free agents, smashing the prior record by nearly 4x. By the end of the offseason, Clubs will have committed more money to players than in any offseason in MLB history.
The gall. As if a roster freeze hasn’t been bearing down on the offseason since the final out of the World Series and was the obvious catalyst behind the spending spree.
The league likely figured why not use these clearly inflated numbers to make an untenable point and disseminate it from what equates to our corporate-run news outlet, right?
Geez.
Presumably, the most high-profile free agents wanted to get ahead of the expected mad rush for players to sign once labor peace is achieved. Whether that’s in February or June, that’s their prerogative. And it could have been the smart move.
The laws of supply and demand could theoretically have an adverse effect on the market once it reopens, leaving a lot of players extremely vulnerable to being forced into taking under-market deals.
In all likelihood, MLB owners are counting on it. Anything to save a few bucks.
Ultimately, that’s what this all comes down to; corporations doing corporate-type things. But for a company to survive, it needs employees. And those employees being treated with respect is integral to the process.
No, MLB players are technically not employees. But they’re just as imperative to keeping this train moving as any other worker and shouldn’t be treated any differently simply because their salaries are commensurate to their chosen profession (it’s good work if you can get it).
If a company has astronomical revenue increases on the horizon (that MLB TV money is quite long) and its workforce is protected by a union, you’d best believe that union will fight tooth and nail to assure that the workers they’re representing are fairly compensated and not taken advantage of when that time comes.
This level of assurance and protection is precisely why unions were created and are still utilized today.
Labor battles are strengthened by solidarity among those aggrieved. When one group of the workforce is affected (in MLBPA’s case, pre-arbitration and arbitration-eligible players), all are.
This is likely why we’re seeing such a galvanized reaction from the players on Thursday with regard to their blank social media avatars. And their efforts picking up steam with the invested public should have MLB worried.
But they’ll never let that much on. They’ll just keep the news cycle fresh with non-important, at-times maddening public comments in an attempt to sway favor. Case in point:
On Thursday morning in Dallas, Rob Manfred spoke on one of the MLBPA’s rejected proposals pertaining to players reaching free agency earlier based on age and service time (Evan Drellich of The Athletic laid out a ton of details on the union’s proposals on Wednesday; paywalled, sorry) and gave, in our opinion, an absolute head-scratcher of an answer (video via SNY).
Negative fan reaction to their team not making a push to re-sign a player isn’t a free agency problem. It’s a team problem. Specifically, it’s a spending problem.
When a player leaves via free agency (which is their right as an MLB player; thank you, Curt Flood), their former team is expected to replace that player. Some teams have a blue-chip prospect ready to move up the depth chart. Others must embark on the open market to find their new right fielder or whatever.
Obviously, not all teams can do what the Mets have done this offseason and spend their orange-buttoned caps off to fill a half-dozen roster gaps filled by departing free agents. But spending to win — or even just trying to win — should be the primary goal of all 30 teams. At this current juncture, it’s not.
I mean, isn’t this the whole point of the MLBPA taking a stance?
Get what’s yours, gentlemen. The Apple stands with you.
Never any paywalls. Once it leaves my head, it’s yours. If you want to pay me for my work, it’s greatly appreciated.
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