It's really not that hard. MLB should set the scale at amounts that will sustain these players through their seasons- perhaps monthly payments $4000, $5000,$6000 for A, AA, AAA; that will get them housed and fed, with gas in their trucks (and they all drive trucks). An AAA team can cover the team for a season for $1,000,000, which amounts to a rounding error for the MLB, or perhaps a footnote to their financial statements-and these payroll expenses are deductible so the after tax cost to a team for 1 AAA team could be as little as $600,000.00.
hokieone posted:It's really not that hard. MLB should set the scale at amounts that will sustain these players through their seasons- perhaps monthly payments $4000, $5000,$6000 for A, AA, AAA; that will get them housed and fed, with gas in their trucks (and they all drive trucks). An AAA team can cover the team for a season for $1,000,000, which amounts to a rounding error for the MLB, or perhaps a footnote to their financial statements-and these payroll expenses are deductible so the after tax cost to a team for 1 AAA team could be as little as $600,000.00.
Shoot. Half that would be enough to matter...a lot.
Sultan,
What MLB does now is NOT free market capitalism, therefore, you aren't anti-capitalist if you oppose it.
What MLB does is classic cartel behavior, and there's absolutely no reason why the cartel shouldn't be taken down so that free market negotiations would spring up in its place. It's really no different than the debate 45-50 years ago about the reserve clause and its exploitative effects. When the MLB union broke through, what came forth was free agency rules, and we all know what that did to player compensation.
There is absolutely no reason to think the draft would stop after 20 rounds, either. The draft is the tool used to assure that players cannot sell themselves to the highest bidder; it limits their options to "sign with this one team, or find another career." Anything that gives MLB the ability to assign players in a way that places any caps on their compensation for any period of time will be maintained by MLB, you can count on that.
As long as fans fill seats, there will need to be players on teams. They have to get those players somewhere. If it's not via a draft, then it's free agency for everyone. In which event, each player would find out just how much he can command, based on his own talents, health, the extent to which someone else is readily available, etc. Believe me, nothing about freeing the MiLB compensation market will stop the draft, as long as the draft gives teams at least some period of exploitative compensation.
What really annoys me is that AMERICAN kids have to go through the cartel to pursue the MLB dream, but foreign players are free agents from day one. That's why Stephen Strasburg got $15 m around the same time Aroldis Chapman got $30 m to sign. That's why Japanese stars get big bucks right away -- not after serving out a 7-year MiLB contract, and not subject to having to acquire years of MLB service time to qualify.
roothog66 posted:hokieone posted:It's really not that hard. MLB should set the scale at amounts that will sustain these players through their seasons- perhaps monthly payments $4000, $5000,$6000 for A, AA, AAA; that will get them housed and fed, with gas in their trucks (and they all drive trucks). An AAA team can cover the team for a season for $1,000,000, which amounts to a rounding error for the MLB, or perhaps a footnote to their financial statements-and these payroll expenses are deductible so the after tax cost to a team for 1 AAA team could be as little as $600,000.00.
Shoot. Half that would be enough to matter...a lot.
Some AAA guys make well over 100k, would include free agents and 40 man rostered guys not on the 25 man roster.
So those figures wouldnt necessarily work.
TPM, Agreed, I was only considering your typical young guys working their way up, not the free agents, former MLB'ers, etc. that end up at AAA. Good point.
Backpick25 posted:I'm with TPM on the college route, at least where it concerns my son. There was contact and interest from scouts and one cross checker. All were told he's going to college. Heck, all in, college is FREE, we got room and board at private D1. Get a degree and likely come out a head of your own draft class.
However, I do realize not every player is college material. It's more a personal choice and really a tough decision for some and not so much for others.
What do you miss? Rook, Low A and more than likely A ball. Yep, go to college, get a degree, stay healthy and a little bit of luck you'll earn an opportunity IF you still want to pursue it.
The best thing to happen was the local 2015 draft class happening in front of my son's eyes. He got to see how they prepared, all were P5 commits that worked hard to position themselves. He watched, listened to the conversations with their advisors/agents. Fast forward to '18, 1 in 3 is doing very well, as expected. Second is gonna get many chances, doing well, still progressing....something about throwing 100+. The third..........stalled and can't find his way out of RK ball.
Son got to see who really gets paid on draft day...........the government, the agent, then the player gets what's left............now after a binge purchase (truck) you gotta budget the remaining (considering the odds of making the show are 5+ years, if at all) or put it away and live on the modest income that MilB provides. All the reason a baseball player must be humble and know humility. He's likely gonna have to work in 30 minute increments for cash as those before him.
What many people don't realize is that professional athletes, if they are fortunate enough, retire in their 30's. I will probably retire close to 70 if I am still above ground. I realistically need 10 - 15 years of nest eggs built up to survive. A MLB baseball player once retired has to find another job in their 30's, their nest eggs must last 45-50 years theoretically. A college education looks pretty attractive at this point huh? A professional athlete MUST love baseball more than anything else to be successful. Proper nutrition, sleep, working out, refraining from crazy/fun things (skydiving), aches, pains, below poverty line living, all these are part of normal MiLB life.