Posted on 01/26/2019 3:24:06 PM PST by NRx
That looks promising. Thanks! Haven’t used it yet but I bookmarked it.
Not sure about Machado but Harper was a huge draw in Washington. Before he arrived, Nats were a relocated team who just moved to the Nation’s Capital from Montreal. Now the Nats are a top 10 team in terms of attendance.
Where is this posted on Steve Boros’s dark we site including minimum opening bid and bidding order?
Do you mean Scott Boros? Steve Boros was a player who played from 1957-65. Or maybe you do mean Steve..?? I mentioned Tigers and Steve played his first few seasons with the Bengals, so you could have meant either.
I don’t think so. Too busy overpaying for needless stadiums. With the idiot residents of Arlington’s help, no doubt.
“...MLB’s collapsing free agent salary structure.”
The free agent joy ride was stopped when Arte Moreno of the Angels signed Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols for $125,000 and $240,000. Both players busted the franchise. Attendance is still good, thanks to Mike Trout but there is no money to build a good team for Trout. Sad.
Harper is excellent but has a permanent scowl. Machado is very good but publicly announced his avoidance of hustle. Both are winners on the field and losers off the field. Sad.
Time to use statistics and be thrifty in MLB.
Nobody wants to be stuck paying a guy $30 million per year when he's 35, hitting .220, and has three years left on his contract.
Just a look at the Grapefruit League standings and it looks like the Mighty Petz may go undefeated.
They’re that good.
“It’s not the salary that’s driving this — it’s the length of the contract.”
Absolutely. Nowadays a player past age 30 is considered past his prime. The Tigers are a great example of how stupid it is to give players long-term contracts. I believe they’re still paying Prince Fielder. Hard to believe, but I still think they’re paying part of Justin Verlandar’s salary. Miguel Cabrera making what, $30 M/year and he has hardly played in two years because of injuries. Then there’s Jordan Zimmerman who is clearing $20 M a year and has been hurt most of the time.
MLB’s Biggest Contracts:
Giancarlo Stanton: 13 years, $325 million
Alex Rodriguez: 10 years, $275 million
Miguel Cabrera: 8 years, $248 million
Albert Pujols: 10 years, $240 million
Robinson Cano: 10 years, $240 million
Joey Votto: 10 years, $225 million
all superb and future HOF’er players true, yet into how many post season
appearances have they led their teams ? How many World Series?
Would Harper & Machado really be any different?
To promote my late brother’s thinking, he always posited that the 2003 AL MVP Alex Rodriguez was actually more of a least valuable because he cost the Rangers so much money they couldn’t afford any other players to make them a winning team.
Yes Scott is the agent for both and webmaster of the dark web. As kid and bb fan followed Hungarian players even golfers.
No, that would be the Rangers, no thanks to that idiot, John Daniels. Never should have let Nolan Ryan get away, and let that punk stay.
“In return for Fielder, the Tigers got second baseman Ian Kinsler from the Rangers. As part of the trade, Detroit agreed to pay $30 million of Fielder’s salary in $6 million annual installments from 2016-20.”
Petz?
Rodriguez would probably agree with that sentiment. If you remember, that’s exactly why he was willing to take a salary cut as part of a trade deal with the Boston Red Sox. He knew that his salary was hampering a team from assembling talent around him to build a winning roster. The players’ union refused to allow it, so the Red Sox backed out of the deal. That’s how he ended up on the Yankees — who were the only team willing to take on his full salary.
His wife might not see the humor in it.
Neither Harper nor Machado have been that good lately. Harper looked like a generational talent at first, but has been pretty ordinary the last 3 years (with injuries playing a part). Machado has had some good years but sure didn’t boost his stock last year.
It all comes down to WAR - Wins Above Replacement. A baseball executive has to ask himself how many WAR will Harper or Machado add to his team. Per Baseball Reference.com, 8+ WAR is considered MVP level production. 5-8 is all-star level. 2-5 is a decent MLB regular.
Harper had a huge 2015 (10 WAR) but has not really stood out since then. He has been 4-5 the last 2 years, and has the reputation of not playing well with others. Machado’s best years were 6-7 WAR. He was just under 6 last year, but also gave the impression that he isn’t a good team player.
Don’t know what’s the prevailing value MLB clubs place on each WAR - it was like $2-3 Million last time I saw a firm number. If that’s the case, neither Harper nor Machado are worth what they are asking, and even clubs that have the money to spend at that level are likely reluctant to go that high or that many years, especially for guys with make-up issues.
Some of the old timers in MLB are complaining that advanced metrics and analysis is ruining the game. In fact, it’s keeping teams from overpaying for players that aren’t worth what they are asking.
I don’t remember, but how many World Series has Harper helped win? And Machado? This salary inflation is due to the greed of players and agents (many of whom are attorneys). Being the winner of the home run derby doesn’t necessarily equate to being a good TEAM MATE. Good teams win it all.
NY Mets, aka The Mighty Petz. They’ll make great pets. :)
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