I will, of course, spare you the gory details, but I had a case of food poisoning Monday that I would never wish on my greatest rival. Then again … it might make things in St. Louis a little more interesting. So never say never, I guess.
Here’s some news from around the league.
The MLBPA is still quite chippy about free agency, and about any rumors that hint at driving prices down:
Always lingering at the periphery of the salary battle between players and the league is the fact that we, as outsiders, rarely get a peak at the actual revenue and expenditures of any one big league team, let alone the entire league. Well, Maury Brown at Forbes has got some verified numbers and it paints a very telling picture. There’s not really any one “gotcha” moment – if there had been, it’d be much bigger news – but with more reliable financial data, I think we can begin forming more educated positions on the matter. For what it’s worth, I tend to agree with the players that something has changed since the last CBA and nothing in Brown’s article dissuades me from that fact. I do encourage you to check it out, however, regardless of your stance, because there’s a lot of really important information in there.
Although it wasn’t the focus of the piece, I will say that the difference in how the league and how the MLB Players Association calculates spending is an obvious sticking point that needs to be cleared up. In short, the league includes Minor League signing bonuses and salaries (you know, the salaries they are spending millions to ensure don’t reach the heights of … minimum wage), where as the players do not. And considering the recent youth movement, the limitations to amateur spending (both domestic and international), and the fact that this whole freakin’ conversation is about free agency, well, you can see why the players would be pissed off.
But don’t worry, MLB will will be honoring the first openly all-salaried professional baseball team this summer with some patches, so they’re about even:
There’s a headline by the Associated Press at ESPN right now that reads: “Derek Jeter Has ‘Zero Patience,’ Wants Competitive Marlins Club Now” and I just don’t know how there’s not an “LOL” in there somewhere. Maybe – and stick with me here – if he wanted to win so badly, he shouldn’t have traded the 27-year-old NL MVP in 2017 (Giancarlo Stanton), the 26-year-old NL MVP in 2018 (Christian Yelich), the 27-year-old best catcher in baseball in 2018 (J.T. Realmuto), and a 26-year-old Gold Glover/Silver Slugger/All-Star in 2017 (Marcell Ozuna).
As a fan of the Cubs, I know more than most the importance of stripping down to rebuild, but you simply do not have to trade FOUR 26-27 year-old All-Stars with multiple years of control ahead of the two biggest free agent classes in history one year after buying the team. I mean, it’s just dumb. They could’ve changed the Marlins’ narrative and they chose not to. Marlins Manager Don Mattingly tried to bail Jeter out of his patience comment by saying he meant he won’t be patient with playing the game the wrong way on the field, but that’s pretty obviously not what he was talking about. If there’s any team in baseball that did things wrong the last two years, contributing to this narrative, it’s the Marlins.
Jacob deGrom will not negotiate an extension with the Mets after Opening Day.
Two-way athlete Kyler Murray has chosen football over baseball:
I know people have been pretty bummed about this, but I’m not sure it’s that big of a deal. Even the BEST baseball prospects take years to get to the big leagues and even then most don’t work out. Considering that Murray was not even the most hyped pre-draft prospect of his class (let alone this decade, or something), I just can’t get on board with all the hand-wringing. Now, would I have preferred he picked baseball? Absolutely! That’s great press for the sport and he could’ve turned into a star, I guess. But am I all that bummed? Nah. It’s just not nearly as big of a deal for baseball as some are making it out to be.
But do I feel bad for the A’s? Eh … maybe a little:
Tim Tebow won’t be jumping the baseball ship, though:
And to close on a bright note … The Washington Nationals are looking to hire a bullpen cart operator, which is probably the best dream job in the world. If I had enough money to retire, I’d be the first in line with an application. A full list of the duties, requirements, and expectations can be found here. Good luck!
Brett Taylor contributed to this post.