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"Ohtani just got $700 million"
"Baseball is dying a slow death"
Naw, fellas. Those can't both be true. Especially not when the floor for a 100 inning pitcher, no matter how bad he was last season, appears to be $12 million (see the Lynn and Flaherty contracts). The Royals are giving Seth Lugo $15 million/season and I think that's a good deal for them. He'll never be more than a 3rd starter on a contender and that's a GOOD deal in this market. There's a TON of money in the system and it's obvious as these contracts come in. Don't listen to what they say - watch what they do.
The problem is that there are a BUNCH of owners still willing to bald-faced lie to their fans. I'm frustrated by the fact that DeWitt won't take the payroll to $200 million and the Cardinals revenue will absolutely support that. But that's not NEARLY as bad as the fact that there are 8 teams with payrolls below $100 million. Those owners are flat out full of shit. They're lying.
Baseball isn't basketball - it's not a superstar driven sport. And there are still teams like Atlanta who simply do it BETTER than everyone else right now and they're going to be problems for any team they face, including the Dodgers. Meanwhile it's absolutely possible to be competitive on a $150 million payroll and I don't believe any owner out there who says they can't support a $150 million payroll.
If they're that cash poor, they shouldn't own a major league baseball team. Bring in someone who isn't.
The issue with baseball isn't the lack of revenue sharing. It's that there are too many owners in the sport who view it as an investment mechanism. Guys like DeWitt who get addicted to $50 million operating profits and create glass ceilings on their payroll. And the further expansion of the playoffs creating an opening for teams to win 83 games and then get lucky in the post-season (i.e. The Diamondbacks) is only going to make it worse.
It's not a CBA problem. It's not a structure problem. It's an ownership problem. Too many owners simply don't care if they're building a truly great team. They're content building a .500 team and hoping they get lucky.
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