The Athletic (I think it was Evan Drellich) published a piece today about owners complaining that Steve Cohen is a rich bastard, and for those of us blocked by the paywall, this was the snippet that was being floated around:
It actually is kind of hilarious when we basically know that there are something like 20 owners (including the bottom herd that includes the Pirates and Reds and probably soon the Brewers) content to sit out the big prizes and just soak in their profits and revenue sharing dollars. I had a theory backed by mostly gut feeling more than hard evidence that there is a handshake agreement in place to depress salaries across the board so the bottom herd can just dive into their Scrooge McDuck money bin, and I guess there’s some meat to that theory now.
Regarding that last statement, there is a system in place, but the system is designed to punish teams for spending too much, not for spending too little. Along comes an owner who is far richer than the rest and who broadcasts through tangible actions that he understands the system but simply doesn’t care. Given the advent of social media and a better understanding of how billionaires (well, most of the owners are, some are a bit shy of 10 figures) have a fuckload of money and they should probably spend it.
All things being equal, if someone is going to be getting all this money, I’d rather it be the players I pay to watch. At least in this case, a guy like Steve Cohen understands this and Mets fans are obviously very happy, even if all these contracts go to hell in April. But at least someone is following AC’s guide to building a winner! And in the meantime, he’s having at least some of the other owners show their whole ass, and that’s good for some movie popcorn in advance of the next big CBA fight…
Comments
I do feel like we can discuss the salary floor/cap/penalties/yada yada later (probably in podcast format) but this was pretty hilarious.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Yeah, I don’t skirt the paywall there either. Seems like it was Paul White back then. Dmick would know for sure.
BVSQuote Reply
Wil Myers –> Reds
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Since Cleveland is cornering the market on Calebs, the Cubs should trade them Caleb Kilian for Jose Ramirez to solve that 3B problem, he said without a hint of sarcasm
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/guardians-sign-caleb-baragar-caleb-simpson-to-minor-league-deals.html
Rice CubeQuote Reply
This one was fun
Rice CubeQuote Reply
And the Cubs will ride defense at the position and live with an auto-out for the catcher’s spot in the lineup
Rice CubeQuote Reply
In case anyone is off on vacation already, happy holidays, jabronis
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
Contract details although you may want to wait for corroboration after the Arson Judge fiasco
Rice CubeQuote Reply
A more fleshed out read –> https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mets-offseason-already-has-mlb-executives-decrying-steve-cohens-spending-spree-theres-no-collusion-but/
Apparently MLBPA has no comment yet but I bet they noticed if we did
https://twitter.com/kateefeldman/status/1605993701087383552?t=3jkDrPNY1rpltSAq2rH-SA&s=19
Rice CubeQuote Reply
If the Cubs don’t win it all (and they won’t), I’ll be rooting for the Mets to win 125 games and go undefeated in the playoffs. Fuck all billionaires. Fuck all MLB owners. Especially fuck all the ones who are whining about other billionaires spending money.
dmick89Quote Reply
Nice article, RC. There’s this weird thing about baseball (pro sports in general, I guess) where the financial schema for players ties money to actual baseball production. Crudely put, if your performance results in baseball wins, and that trend is expected to continue, a baseball franchise will pay you commensurate to that expected performance. If you’re an excellent baseball player, you will get paid according to how good you are.
Here’s what is weird about that: baseball franchise revenue isn’t really all that dependent on baseball production. It can be. It often is. There’s a trend there. But a ton of revenue is shared across all MLB franchises in a way that has nothing whatsoever to do with baseball wins. Player salaries are tied to expected performance even though revenue isn’t. It’s like if actor pay was tied to critical acclaim rather than box-office returns. It’s weird.
It goes from weird to criminal when they advance past rewarding teams financially even if they don’t try to win all the way to penalizing teams/owners when they DO try to win. Players union should demand profit sharing be tied largely to on-field results (prorated by market or % of revenue generated by each team).
andcountingQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
This is the move they had to make when they let Willson wallk. They’re obviously saying catcher receiving/framing skills are more important than offense, so go for it. I swear this is the David-Rossiest team imaginable.
andcountingQuote Reply
The Reds went with Casali, which was probably one of the other decent catching options still on the board. After Willson and Vazquez and Narvaez went off the board, it’s not like we were going to bank on offense from the position anyway (dying laughing)
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Also since the roster is full they’ll have a remove a couple guys to accommodate Smyly and Barnhart and that’s even before they hopefully sign the Conforto/Mancini level of guys if they’re even planning on it.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Do the Cubs have any offense? I could halfway understand an all defensive team if they had a lights out pitching staff, but they don’t have that. They’re not going to score enough to win as many games as they need to.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
I was only about 75% joking when I said they’d win a lot of 1-run games of the 1-0 variety.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Still at work, but spiritually on vacation so I’ll take it. Merry Happy to all from me as well.
berseliusQuote Reply
Huh, this FuboTV thing seems like it could be good for Cubs fans outside the main coverage region https://twitter.com/jon_greenberg/status/1606022142872547328?t=DuNrCx6EZe3kLvsOnBKa3A&s=19
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
Bah. No live games. MLB blackout policy is the worst
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
So, I don’t know what will change moving forward, but in my experience Fubo just asks you what your zip code is to verify your location.
andcountingQuote Reply
andcounting,
I don’t see the need to sign up for any service if they’re not going to include live games but maybe they figure it out
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
What I mean is, if you say you’re in the “right” area code, it might clear you to see live games.
andcountingQuote Reply
I’m telling you, Cubs should sign Arrieta as a 1-inning reliever and a DH for the Catcher.
BVSQuote Reply
BVS,
Is Travis Wood still unemployed?
Rice CubeQuote Reply
New podcast shit –> http://www.obstructedview.net/podcast/dreamcast-55-how-the-cubs-saved-christmas/
I guess that’s the new thread unless the masses elect to just stay here (dying laughing)
Rice CubeQuote Reply