OK, that would be a gain of about $1 million per player. It's a lot of money for the ones who never make it to arbitration years and go on to sell insurance or whatever.
But no, I'm not sold that in the big picture that it's the giant difference maker you're suggesting.
This season is already just about guaranteed to be an effed up one.
Aside from the late start of spring training, there are still a pile of unsigned players.
I don't think the richer owners have changed their ways all that much.
The Red Sox went into tax purgatory in 2018-2019.
And the 2021 Dodgers went ballistic!
Only a select few get the mega deals, but most players have the free agency payday dream. For some that might mean a $15 million deal instead of a $10 million deal, but for them it would be a big difference.
By comparison bumping the minimum wage from $550 K to $750 K is not as much of a difference.
And there's only one explanation.
Owners are still making piles of money even with all the albatross contracts.
And most of them try to please their fans to some degree to keep those dollars rolling in.
The bottom line is that the fans foot the bill for all of it!
None. They're not going to agree to any "standard rates" like that.
Free agency is all about being an auction.
We're talking about a capitalistic enterprise here.
Meanwhile I'm still stunned by the Rangers' fresh investment of half a billion in Seager and Semien.
How can the owners argue plausibly about fiscal conservatism after that?
Hey, don't forget Strasburg.
7 years, 245 million 2020-2026 - more money than Price.
In the first 1.4 years of that deal, the Nats have gotten a total of 26.2 innings out of him with an ERA of 5.74.
And he turns 34 in July.
I've never suggested that Mookie's size would have anything to do with him regressing. But it's a fact that he had a multiplicity of little injuries this year that combined to keep him off the field for 40 games. And he turns 30 in October, with 10 more years on his contract after this year.
These contracts are just ridiculously long, it's as simple as that.
I get that. But Mookie is not a sure thing going forward either. Nobody is. Aging and injuries can turn anyone into a bad investment quickly.
Mookie is #2 to Trout's #1. Trout might be one of the 5 best players of all time.
And Trout played 36 games this year. Who can say if he now has a health issue that will plague him the rest of the way? No one is exempt.
You seem quite convinced that's going to happen.
And your argument is pretty simplistic. This franchise has already overpaid plenty of guys and survived it. They flushed a quarter billion on Pablo, Hanley and Rusney.
If you think they're going to jump in on a $300 mill guy like Correa any day, you might be waiting a long time.
I really don't think they were happy about it. They were in a bad spot, acted out of desperation and the result was less than a disaster, so if that's happiness, then I guess they were happy.