At one point there was a debate about analytics and its place in baseball. That debate is over – the mathematicians won. Unfortunately. As a result we have a game that is 1/3 strike outs, walks or homeruns. That has almost no place for “small ball” (situational hitting is so yesterday) or the running game. True starting pitchers – you know those guys who could consistently go deep in games - are a thing of the past. You’re now a hero if you go seven innings and frankly most of them aren’t expected to go more than five. After all, can’t go through that order third time the analytics don’t support it.Openers? I love what Bumgarner had to say – that he’ll walk right out of the stadium if they ever have an “opener” try to start his game. To me they’ve taken a hell of a lot of beauty out of baseball.
You are seeing the impact of analytics on the free-agent market. And it’s going to have a brobdingnagian impact moving forward. The players are not going to take this lying down. What’s happened in the market is you have a ton of players in their early 30’s, solid major-league baseball players that are free agents but they can’t get major league contracts. Because you can find somebody younger and significantly cheaper and the “WAR won’t be much different. So they are forced to sign minor league contracts. Which gives the organization the upper hand. Gerardo Parra is a great example. I suspect he makes the Giants and thus the major league salary kicks in. But he’s got no guaranteed money.
I don’t think you’re going to see long-term contracts given to pitchers anymore. Not along the lines of what Kershaw received. First, there’s been a deemphasis on starting pitching anyway. You now just bring in a bevy of middle relievers - all who can throw mid 90s – and when they throw their arms out there’s a bunch of kids waiting in the minor leagues you can bring up to do the same damn thing. Second, arm issues.
As for the players asso - they are going to push back hard on how long teams can control players. Right now, it’s 6 years. With arb eligibility after 3. The players will strike over this if necessary. They should. I’d be pushing for 3 years control if I’m the Union. With hopes I could get it down to 4.
You are seeing the impact of analytics on the free-agent market. And it’s going to have a brobdingnagian impact moving forward. The players are not going to take this lying down. What’s happened in the market is you have a ton of players in their early 30’s, solid major-league baseball players that are free agents but they can’t get major league contracts. Because you can find somebody younger and significantly cheaper and the “WAR won’t be much different. So they are forced to sign minor league contracts. Which gives the organization the upper hand. Gerardo Parra is a great example. I suspect he makes the Giants and thus the major league salary kicks in. But he’s got no guaranteed money.
I don’t think you’re going to see long-term contracts given to pitchers anymore. Not along the lines of what Kershaw received. First, there’s been a deemphasis on starting pitching anyway. You now just bring in a bevy of middle relievers - all who can throw mid 90s – and when they throw their arms out there’s a bunch of kids waiting in the minor leagues you can bring up to do the same damn thing. Second, arm issues.
As for the players asso - they are going to push back hard on how long teams can control players. Right now, it’s 6 years. With arb eligibility after 3. The players will strike over this if necessary. They should. I’d be pushing for 3 years control if I’m the Union. With hopes I could get it down to 4.