So....$330 million

[SiteWolf]

Machado signs for $300mil over 10 years...crazy enough money, by the Padres no less

Stanton of course signed for more, by the Marlins no less....but over 13 years

For a couple years we heard of ridiculous amounts Harper might sign for....400mil, 500mil. Even the past couple months when it was obvious 400mil wasn't happening, the assumption would be he wouldn't sign unless the contract was bigger than Machado's.

Then we started hearing that Harper didn't like Phillies coach Gabe Kapler's analytics approach...and suddenly, after weeks of the Phillies being the favorites, they weren't.

So why, after all that, did Harper not only sign for LESS per season than Machado, but WITH the Phillies....with NO opt outs on either side.

Yes, he reached his 'goal' of besting Stanton for biggest overall contract....but the average salary is almost 5mil LESS than Machado's 30mil per. The only season Harper will hit 30mil...is this one- 20mil signing bonus, 10 mil salary.

......and that doesn't even get into whether you think EITHER Manny or Bryan are worth not only that much PER season....but be committed to it until they're into their late 30s

Thoughts?

[rich76]

insanity

[yon Beast]

smh.

thats a quarter BILLION dollars!!...plus!

to play baseball!...for the next decade!...plus!

who gives a rats arse if that guy over there makes a few dollars more. that's not where the competitiveness should lie.

good on him and shame on the system!

where will this peak?....Mike Trout is next, i think...
soon, everyone will want millions to play a national 'passtime'!

baseball (and sports in general) blew it a long time ago...now they are stuck with these ridiculous contracts. Totally their own doing.

doctors and lawyers don't necessarily make a million dollars. educated professionals....and they lag far behind in earnings. its not right.

I'm surprised more fans aren't turning away out of just spite...

[yon Beast]

i was expecting him to go to san fran....but apparently state taxes may have had an influence :/
san diego, i believe was also a choice. he had wanted the west coast for family reasons.

Philly has a park that suits his swing very much....as evidenced by 14 home runs as a visitor

[SiteWolf]

Originally Posted by yon Beast

baseball (and sports in general) blew it a long time ago...now they are stuck with these ridiculous contracts. Totally their own doing.

I'm surprised more fans aren't turning away out of just spite...

The economics of professional sports has gone off the rails....and fans have to take some responsibility for it as well.

Revenues keep going up because fans continue to stomach the prices.
Salaries keep going up because the money is there for it.
TV contracts get bigger so advertisers pay more.
When advertisers pay more, they've got to get the extra money from somewhere....that somewhere is increased prices on their products.

So, as I've said before, whether you're a sports fan or not, you're paying a part of these exorbitant salaries and as long as fans keep blindly buying more and more expensive tickets, keep stomaching higher product prices....it'll continue spiraling upwards.

You'd THINK it would be flattening out...but nope, not yet.

[rrock33]

Surprised...

We signed him after all the over the last few weeks

That he signed for 13 years, guess the DH is coming to the NL in the next few years

Glad...

He's a Phillie

Hope...

It's worth it and brings another championship


Expect...

Attendance and ticket prices to increase

[P562045]

I find this whole situation a little interesting for several reasons. In two out of the three last seasons Bryce has hit in the .240s. He has only hit 30+ home runs once in the last three seasons. Last season was the first time he has had 100 rbis in a season

Then who was the last great player in their mid to late 30's. I can't really think of one recently. Well Barry Bonds hit 40+ in his late 30's and Bryce has not even got close to 40 home runs in a season yet. And now baseball is in a much different place than it was in the early 2000s which is over a decade ago. Would baseball look away if Bryce did anything like what Barry did back in the day now?

Was it not just this time last year some were saying Stanton would approach the number of home runs Maris hit which was 61. Stanton hit 38 home runs with the Yankees last season

I read something the other day that the Mets are still paying Bobby Bonilla until about the time Bryce's contract will end. If a person is wondering Bonilla last played for the Mets 20 years ago in 1999.

Now I get why some people would react the way that they have with this whole situation.

[bballjer44]

… and yet the players complain.

[rich76]

Originally Posted by bballjer44

… and yet the players complain.

[SiteWolf]

The flip side is.....all that money just goes to the owners if the players don't get it.......because the snowball has already run downhill and that money is still going to come in

[rich76]

Originally Posted by SiteWolf

The flip side is.....all that money just goes to the owners if the players don't get it.......because the snowball has already run downhill and that money is still going to come in

There's a problem with that?

I have a MUCH bigger problem with too many of these stadiums being party or entirely funded by taxpayer dollars.

[SiteWolf]

Originally Posted by rich76

There's a problem with that?

I have a MUCH bigger problem with too many of these stadiums being party or entirely funded by taxpayer dollars.

Well then that depends on your view of the economic benefits a stadium provides a city....a whole different discussion.

Regardless...the question would be...how much too far down the rabbit hole are we to turn this around...even a little. Owners deserve a profit for the work and risks they take. Players deserve big paydays for the work and risks they take. The question becomes...how much is too much and what changes the snowball that continues to roll?

[bballjer44]

What am I missing?
Per WallStreet Sept 2018-
"Any family earning at least $422,000 a year ranks among the top one percent of earners nationwide".
According to MagnifyMoney, the median American household has only $11,700 in the bank. This means that half of the approximately 126 million U.S. households have morethan this, while the other half has less. The median top 1 percent savings account, by comparison, holds just under $1.2 million.
In my book that makes every MLB player more like the owners as opposed to wage earner.

MLBPA in the CBA agreed to an owners tax if a team's payroll was over x amount.
50% is used to fund player benefits!!!!!!!
25% is used to fund baseball development in countries that don’t have high school baseball
25% goes to the Industry Growth Fund

My proposal would include a luxury tax on any player making over x amount. Not sure how to allocate use but something like:
75% to pay bonuses to minor league players that never received a signing bonus over x amount.
25% to provide baseball gear to children.

[SiteWolf]

well that's very definitely another issue in baseball....but one could say it mirrors the real world relatively...............minor leaguers get paid CRAP in comparison

The average (as in not one having been paid a signing bonus as a top pick) minor leaguer earns in the 6k/month range at the A level, 10k/month at AAA. OK, in the 'real world' that extends to 72-120k/year....only they don't get paid 12 months a year, sometimes as low as 3.

So you've got kids in the lower levels who may not even make 20k for their season playing with kids who got multimillion dollar signing bonuses.

[yon Beast]

Originally Posted by bballjer44

...
In my book that makes every MLB player more like the owners as opposed to wage earner.

this is because players are not employees, but rather sub-contractors. this is where the problem lies. the players own their own business (themselves) and 'rent' it to the highest paying customer.

My grandfather ran his own business. he offered jobs at 'x' dollars per hour and performance bonusses. no union.
you show up on time...do what you were hired for...show respect...collect pay.
you miss any of those first three and you were in big trouble...as in danger of losing that job.

sports....'employs' many with the same fears but haven't the same effect because of these wordy contracts.

Its well past the point of fixing...it would take a monumental effort by one owner to try but as long as someone else out there will pay them more, then loyalty is only measured by the size of the contract :/