With Snell and Darvish Gone, What’s Left on the Starting Pitching Market?

Pirates are perfect example.  It's a business for owner profit and not a business for the people to enjoy baseball

The reserve clause anti-trust exception hurts baseball. There is nothing wrong with profit though. 

The post asks what is left? Lots. Now is as good a time as any to sign a player or become active in the trade market.

I really think the Twins want to see Kluber throw for fifteen minutes before they move forward on to other free agents. The trade market is fluid depending on what NL Central teams are thinking.  

The one player that should be offered a contract by the Twins is Liam Hendriks. The other additions will all be frosting.

does the capitalist in you believe in teh draft and salary controls and team control of players even if they aren't under contract?

No, the capitalist in me says there should be no cap and players should be able to make as much as they can. The draft is merely a mechanism for MLB (and all pro sports) to apportion players evenly. Team control can be freely collectively bargained.

A salary cap isn't the only solution. One can use various draft incentives, a salary floor, and more rigorous luxury taxes to increase overall competitiveness. Except none of those things will likely happen, as MLB long ago showed us how much it's willing to sacrifice the quality of the sport for short-term profits.

 

Every year, it's becoming more apparent to me that baseball needs a complete overhaul to avoid being left behind by more exciting, flexible sports. Those changes include both on-field and top-level changes that drastically change how the sport operates.

I absolutely agree. I was just noting the most obvious mechanism for parity. There is no chance the MLBPA agrees to it.

does the capitalist in you believe in teh draft and salary controls and team control of players even if they aren't under contract?

So what is your solution? How do you apportion players? How do you prevent the current competitive advantage provided by the revenue gap between top revenue and bottom revenue teams from be exacerbated by reducing control via draft? 

MLB does not have the parity of the NFL or NHL. The revenue disparity is a primary cause and creates a lot of the bitterness we see here. While some of you think this problem would be resolved by a disregard for profit, the disparity would not be diminished by a willingness to operate at break-even. It would actually be increased. 

I have said this all along, this off season will be like no other before.  So many teams will be waiting to see if players will take pennies on the dollar, and they will also see if teams will take pennies on the dollar to cut payroll.  Players in trades seem to be getting much less than expected, in my opinion.  

Snell surprised me the most, as Rays already get no fans so their payroll should be similar.  kind of a joke but kind of serious.  Teams willing to take huge losses may go all in and take on ton of payroll, but teams worried about the bottom line will still look to dump payroll or save where ever they can.  

I have said this all along, this off season will be like no other before.  So many teams will be waiting to see if players will take pennies on the dollar, and they will also see if teams will take pennies on the dollar to cut payroll.  Players in trades seem to be getting much less than expected, in my opinion.  

 

Snell surprised me the most, as Rays already get no fans so their payroll should be similar.  kind of a joke but kind of serious.  Teams willing to take huge losses may go all in and take on ton of payroll, but teams worried about the bottom line will still look to dump payroll or save where ever they can.  

Without looking it up ... I would assume the Rays benefit more from revenue sharing than any other team. 48% of all local revenue is shared equally. Therefore, the revenue shortfall is going to hit them almost as much as the other teams.

Without looking it up ... I would assume the Rays benefit more from revenue sharing than any other team. 48% of all local revenue is shared equally. Therefore, the revenue shortfall is going to hit them almost as much as the other teams.

Yes, that is very true.