The owners don’t care about competitive balance or parity. They want to increase franchise values. Full stop.
(And again, payroll imbalance should absolutely be addressed. But a cap isn’t the sole means of doing so, despite what they will spend the next nine months claiming)
Rob Manfred said in October 2024 that MLB had a "darn good" record on competitive balance. Back in 2018, he said the correlation between winning and spending was "extraordinarily weak."
Now, he says MLB's luxury-tax system has failed:
https://t.co/0K7EvFZMxU
#Rangers are calling up LHP Robby Ahlstrom, per source. Not on the 40-man so they’ll need to make some more moves.
Ahlstrom has a 2.76 ERA, 28.4 K% and 6.9 BB% in 29.1 AAA IP.
To further shoot down that analogy, no Vegas poker pro is forced by the casino to redistribute some of that bankroll to the less-wealthy players at the table. The Dodgers pay tens of millions into revenue sharing every year.
Many of the recipients basically just pocket that cash
I know this isn’t the point, but this analogy doesn’t even work.
The Dodgers aren’t dealt an “extra card.” They just have a bigger bankroll and thus can take more risk. Anyone sitting at a Vegas poker game is literally always going to run into exactly that scenario, haha.
There's also the perception issue. Who wants to sit down at a Las Vegas poker table where a talented opponent is dealt an extra card? Few, I imagine. The game is perceived to be unfair regardless of on-field results (Those are imbalanced, too). Perception matters if you want full investment and interest from fans/customers. (79% of 'avid' fans support a cap/floor -- Morning Consult poll from November) Perception matters in terms of offseason headlines/interest generated, which leads to more fan engagement. In too many markets, this is a seasonal game -- not a year-round interest garnering daily media coverage.
To be clear, I do think payroll disparity should be cleaned up.
But there are so, so many ways to go about that beyond a cap/floor, which won’t accomplish the goal in the way MLB claims.
This whole sentiment hinges on the idea that spending in FA is the only way to be competitive. It also presumes that if given the “opportunity” (which owners are already given; no one is forcing the Guardians to run a $68M payroll), all teams would spend equally. Neither is true.
What’s the right way to define competitive balance? (That's the first point of contention). It’s about equal opportunity, not equal outcomes. Want to grow the game? Grow the business? The revenue pie? It's about leveling the economic playing surface, so outcomes can be attributed to skill and execution -- not the size of a team’s home market.
The big difference is a team of any market size has an equal opportunity to compete in the NFL, NBA and NHL. The same is not true in baseball.
Let’s all bang the drum and pound the table about the Dodgers’ payroll, but please for the love of god no one look over at the Mets, Giants, Guardians, Brewers, Rays or anything else that disproves the point that all teams can compete. Please stare only at the L.A. boogeyman.
Of course they don’t. But they’ve spent — and will continue to spend — considerable time propagating that narrative.
Their (false/misleading) claim within Evan’s quote that revenue sharing would allow them to finally address media blackouts is further example of that.
Left-hander Ty Blach quickly signed back with the #Cubs on a new minor league deal, I’m told.
Blach cleared waivers after being DFA and briefly elected free agency, but he’ll head back to AAA for now. Likely to start for Iowa tomorrow.
@KyleDoty32 Inflammation regularly masks fractures, tears, etc.
Same reason so many cases of elbow inflammation for pitchers end up resulting in Tommy John once the swelling dies down and they can get a better look.
Latest notes, free to read:
*Freeman vs. Olson, everybody wins
*The Brewers are doing it again
*Mariners facing tough decisions
*Nationals’ surprising offense
*Arenado adjusting in AZ
*Rockies’ Moniak surging
https://t.co/Hp5RIWhlK7
Catcher Austin Wynns signed a minor league deal with the #Angels, I’m told.
Wynns was with the #Athletics but was DFA last week. He cleared waivers and rejected an outright assignment in favor of electing free agency (his right as a player with 5+ years of service).