Lamest off-season ever?

The smartest man in baseball the last 50 years was Marvin Miller - He foresaw George Stienbrenner but maybe not Hal.  And the new metrics never were on his radar but I suspect he would have understood them sooner than most and adjusted.  As long as boobs like George were around a limited supply of high end free agents was the thumb on the scale for all player salaries to drift upward.

It is unlikely Miller ever would have afforded the owners the Governor of a salary cap or tax without the sport being endangered first.  So with the emergence of Hal Stienbrenner and the new metrics baseball has learned the lesson of the NFL which is to pay the a few dozen superstars and mix them with cheap young players before they reach maximum salaries.  Wipeout the veteran players that can chew up big money for a WAR about equal to that of younger players.  

What the MLBPA should be doing is pressing for arbitration at 3 years instead of 6.  If they fail the career of MLB players will become like that of the NFL - 4/5 years and done unless you become a superstar.  It is also possible that baseball owners after forking over big cash for Panda, AROD, David Wright and others might have learned the lesson of the 7 to 10 year contract.  Can Billionaires learn lessons? I am sure a few can - they all didn't steal their money - a few of them might actually know what they are doing. 

Arbitration is after 3 years, free agency is after 6. Don't think the owners would agree to free agengcy after 3 unless the players pay a huge compensation price.

Also it isn't really the owners knowing what they are doing but their ivy league trainined GMs they have hired. Owners just want to pay as little as possible, the GMs decide how budget is distributed.

Dominik85 posted:

Arbitration is after 3 years, free agency is after 6. Don't think the owners would agree to free agengcy after 3 unless the players pay a huge compensation price.

Also it isn't really the owners knowing what they are doing but their ivy league trainined GMs they have hired. Owners just want to pay as little as possible, the GMs decide how budget is distributed.

because owners are who have massed the wealth to own teams don't get it right? They are are just smart enough to hire someone who really understands...

You obviously hate ownership and at times there is plenty to hate but IMO you have lost objectivity and reality. Ultimately being sussesful in business has little do with what most people deem as smart. 

MLB's cold-hearted economics chill the hot stove, puts the freeze on elite players

"We haven’t had a more boring and dreary off-season since the 1994-1995 work stoppage.

It has been 62 days since the Houston Astros won their first World Series championship in a seven-game thriller over the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the only real drama we’ve seen is Shohei Ohtani signing with the Los Angeles Angels and Giancarlo Stanton traded to the New York Yankees.

The hot stove market, with 136 free agents still unemployed, barely has the flicker of a pilot light."

https://www.usatoday.com/story...uxury-tax/995440001/

I do think next years class is part of this equation. I think the bigger part is SCott Boras controling the top of the class. He is a very effective agent but there is little doubt he is overreaching his whole stable this year. He thinks he controls all the supply so he will get price....he is finding that reality is slightly different. 

Outfielder J.D. Martinez reportedly has a five-year contract offer from the Boston Red Sox on the table, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

Martinez apparently wants a better offer than that, however.

According to Nightengale, "The Red Sox won't give Martinez a seven-year, $210 million contract and aren't about to start bidding against themselves."

Jon Morosi of MLB.com noted that the Red Sox are the favorites to land Martinez.

Really surprised the Orioles have not tried to get something (anything!) for Machado right now rather than waiting for the All-Star break where they will get significantly less for a rental or nothing at the end of the year.   Orioles need pitching in the worst kind of way.  Someone just tweeted on CamdenDepot that....Last year, Chris Tillman, Ubaldo Jimenez and Jeremey Hellickson threw 262 innings with an ERA of 7.45.   Since 1991, positional players have logged 284 innings with an ERA of 6.84.  If true that is truly dire straits. 

Apparently the orioles owner is really paranoid that machado will go to the Yankees, he won't trade with them and also is afraid that otherthe teams flip him to the Yankees who have an obvious need at third.

Of course that is stupid but he is an owner and no baseball expert and the emotional factor might weigh more heavily to him.

The Orioles owner is a cheap moron hated by most of the fans. Any credit for recent Orioles success goes to the GM. But he’s constrained by the owner’s tight purse strings. 

Starting to see a few bubbles forming at the bottom of the pot...

At least something happened, pirates sold off mccutchen and cole for some mediocre prospects.

Cole to astros for some older prospects and  cutch to giants. No high level prospects were involved.

Cole is two years from free agency. He’s not a game changer. McCutcheon is one year from free agency, thirty-one and hasn’t made the all star team in two years. He’s on the downside of his career. Neither guy is worth stud prospects under the circumstances.

Still disappointed in the Pirates trade.  They can't seem to get anything right other than the fact they are a farm team for the MLB

RJM posted:

Cole is two years from free agency. He’s not a game changer. McCutcheon is one year from free agency, thirty and hasn’t made the all star team in two years. He’s on the downside of his career. Neither guy is worth stud prospects under the circumstances.

Cole is starting depth for Astros.  3rd/4th starter.  Astros will change how he pitches.  He will move to about 50% breaking balls.  Just a guess, but he has been faced with being traded for a year and a half.  I think the new scenery will give him a boost.

Musgrove will be very good for the Pirates.  Not sure about Moran (former 1st round pick), he seemed to stay a "top prospect" for a long time without advancing for Miami and Houston.  Feliz has a big arm, but was exposed a little when brought up to MLB.  Never heard of the fourth guy they traded.

Great trade for Houston.  Didn't really give anything up, got a decent starter with upside.

Moran was starting to show signs last year but dealt with some injury,   it looks like he retooled his swing.  

Bryan Reynolds in the McCutcheon trade.... potential at least

I saw one guy had Reynolds as #2 in the SFG farm system, though I think most had him more like 5 or 6.  #2 round draft choice. Vandy player. Obviously a high average hitter but good size and seems to be hitting with more power as he's moved through MILB.   Could be a good to very good MLB player.  You never know.  And Crick as a former first rounder hasn't quite  lived up to potential so far, but he's got a live arm and could also be very good down the road.

As a Giants fan I like the deal, but I think it's very possible that 2-3 years from now Pirate fans will be much happier with this trade than Giants fans.