Quote:
Originally Posted by BigRedChief
DJ,
What’s up with this? Payroll goes down a little and the players want to panic? Why?
Player spending among MLB clubs is down from $3.9 billion last winter to $2.8 billion this offseason, per Spotrac. Casey Mize, the Tigers’ player rep, said Monday night’s meeting was “at times” intense.
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Nobody to blame but themselves.
The pitchers have all gone ham finding velocity and striking guys out so none of them last and in the end the bullpens are what matters in October. And since they all throw 100, everyone Ks like crazy swinging for the downs and hoping to get a mistake. Well if that's all you do, professional hitters don't matter much - just give me batspeed and athleticism from 25 yr olds.
Oh, and the regular season is so diluted that 84 wins probably gets you into the playoffs where you can have some Diamondbacks run and win a pennant.
So why spend in FA? The marginal return is complete ass, especially in the middle tiers.
MLBPA is panicking because they aren't sure what's going to change any of this other than the occasional massive FA class (next years will be pretty huge, for instance).
The answer for the vast majority of these guys remains trading a hard cap for a spending floor. That's going to actually bring more money to the guys in the middle. But they've cut their own throats in the name of making a dozen guys rich every off-season while the rest of them pick up scraps.