Posted on 01/26/2019 3:24:06 PM PST by NRx
We don’t know how they did it. But we know what they’ve done.
Spring training opens in less than three weeks, and no one wants Bryce Harper. Or Manny Machado. At least no one wants them very much.
What you hear all over baseball is the sound of one hand clapping as owners back-slap each other quietly for their marvelous miracle of salary subtraction.
On Thursday, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed right-handed-hitting free agent outfielder A.J. Pollock for $55 million guaranteed for four years. That’s another door slamming on Harper. That Dodger trade of Yasiel Puig last month was done to open an outfielder spot for Pollock, not for Harper. He’s shut out. Again.
I predicted this last March: “The $400 million Harper contract — that’s dead. Over the next year, we will find out just how deeply it’s buried under the rubble of MLB’s collapsing free agent salary structure. Is his new price more like $300 million for eight years or perhaps $250 million, if he’s lucky, for seven years?
“When the pendulum of baseball economics swings, it swings further than anybody anticipates.”
I thought I’d exaggerated. Instead, I was cautious. Harper’s best concrete offer now is not for an average annual value of $37.5 or $35.7 million (my guesses).
No team claims that it has any contract offer on the table to Harper at all. There’s been plenty of big talk and goo-goo eyes but no “sign here.”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The free market at its best......when a commodity is overpriced no one buys it
They already have received huge offers. They have chosen not yet to accept. Wouldn’t be funny if Machado started to date Ocasio-Cortez.
My fear is that the Rangers, as usual, will overpay for one of them.
I doubt I could get through the WaPo firewall. Besides, I think this guy if full of it. Harper and Machado both have more suitors than you can shake a stick at. $400M, $300M? Whoever even predicted any player would command those amounts? No doubt free agency has been scaled back considerably. The owners are finally doing it smarter by offering shorter long-term contract. That was inevitable.
I would imagine either would be happy to make $25M a year average over the rest of his career.
Harper’s too up and down. Shift kills him.
So he’s real good, but not worth what was thought he could get.
Machado played himself out if a big deal with the Dodgers. He had Baltimore inflated numbers. Dodger numbers weren’t bad but they were soft - not too much clutch.
And he said he didn’t feel like hustling.
Harper is worth what the market will bear (bare?). Unfortunately that probably isnt going to be the amount Harper wants.
Harper is a draw no matter how he’s performing. People will go to a stadium just to cheer or boo him.
You can by-pass paywalls by going in ‘Incognito) mode on your browser. Works every time for me.
Don’t forget your ad blockers
Phillies are interested in both - lots of dancing around - nothing settled.....
They’ve both received massive, 9-digit offers to play baseball, and they’re throwing tantrums that they’re being disrespected because it’s not some insane 12-year, $480 million deal that Scott Boras tells everyone Harper is worth.
I suspect the hyper aggressive agents like Scott Boras get all the churnalists to write the articles about impending $300 million to $400 million deals, but it doesn’t mean teams are willing to do it. Both Harper and Machado seem to have enough question marks that no GM is so eager to jump off that cliff.
What free market...mlb has a Baseball luxury tax. The more you spend on players the more you are punished.
I used to like Machado when he was with the Orioles. But then I started seeing his sneaky base behavior. That was it. Hope no one takes him on.
Thanks for the tip. So far, so good.
Tipping my ball cap to you - Glad I could be of assistance.
16 days until Spring Training starts.
http://www.springtrainingcountdown.com/#sthash.p9Xz1U9C.dpbs
saw a lot of this last year.
A lot of decent free agents not signed until late.
Phillies didn’t sign Arieta until mid-march and he signed for less than his rumored asking price.
And that was how it went with most last year.
I’m guessing that model by the owners is here to stay.
you can also input the url here: https://outline.com
Multiple millions to pay baseball players? They should make no more than 2 million a year salary max plus whatever additional endorsements and incentives for achieving results on the field. Reduce the price of admission tickets too.
I’m fired up. So far, the Tigers haven’t lost a game.
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