MLB continues to have a competition problem
Paul Blackburn of the Athletics waits to be taken out of the game against the Astros in the fifth inning at RingCentral Coliseum on Friday in Oakland, Cali. Credit: Getty Images/Ezra Shaw
The Yankees became the first team to 60 wins Thursday night with their 6-5 victory over the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
The Royals and Nationals each had won 30 at the same point in the season.
Scrolling further down the standings, the A’s and Reds still were in the 20s.
Turns out, expanding the playoffs didn’t push a whole bunch of teams any closer to the postseason this year, maybe because they’re not even trying. Clubs pegged as losers in spring training continue to play that role to perfection.
The bottom line is that MLB has yet to find a way to solve its competition problem (or market share concerns), and the new collective bargaining agreement apparently didn’t provide much traction for either one. Especially with some clubs just pocketing the revenue-sharing funds rather than investing them in the roster, a troublesome issue that Hal Steinbrenner was presented this past week during a Zoom call with reporters.
“I think the agreement that we came out with — in the end, after a lot of work — was a fair agreement for all,” said Steinbrenner, a member of MLB’s Labor Policy committee. “All clubs have different struggles, different problems that they face on a yearly basis. But I think that the deal we came out with was fair.
“I am a believer in competitive balance, and for the sake of the fans, we need to make sure there are no teams whose fans show up at spring training knowing they have no chance at making the playoffs. That’s not good for the industry as a whole and baseball as a whole. I think in the last five to 10 years, if you look at the teams in the playoffs or in the hunt, I think we’ve made good progress. But we’re not where we need to be yet. I think most owners would acknowledge that.”
Going to a dozen teams for MLB’s October tournament — up from 10 in 2021 — was supposed to be a win-win scenario for owners, players, fans and, of course, the TV broadcast partners. It was one of the final sticking points in the new collective bargaining agreement, based on the value as a negotiating chip, and the owners ultimately relented in their long-standing push for 14.
Everyone probably is better off. As of Saturday, MLB had exactly 14 teams with winning records, with the Mariners teetering on the brink at 43-42. The Giants (41-41) were right at the .500 mark, the Guardians just below (40-41).
Under the current format, MLB is likely to avoid a .500 team sneaking into October this year, even though the AL East is on pace to send four of its five clubs to the playoffs — and the last-place Orioles (41-44) were just four games out of a wild-card berth.
Also, in a not-so-stunning revelation, there continues to be a direct correlation between spending money and winning baseball games, as 12 of the top 15 payroll teams either held a playoff berth or were within two games of one. Of the clubs spending below the MLB average of $170,322,763, going by CBT calculations (spotrac.com), only the Twins ($166M) at No. 17 sat atop a division. The No. 23 Rays ($123M) were the other with a firm grip on the postseason.
For a team like the A’s, whose $66.9 million payroll is only a few $100k more than the No. 30 Orioles, their 28-56 record clearly was by design, part of their plot to flee RingCentral Coliseum for a new ballpark — either on the Oakland waterfront or in Las Vegas. Their offseason fire sale involved trading away a talented core of Matt Olson, Matt Chapman and Sean Manaea, with Frankie Montas probably headed out the door by the Aug. 2 trade deadline.
As you might expect, the A’s are rock bottom in attendance, averaging 8,627 at RingCentral, well behind the No. 29 Marlins (11,733). Nine teams are below 20,000 for each of their home games, with two contenders — the Guardians (16,406) and Rays (13,927) — in that group.
Steinbrenner’s Yankees rank third on MLB’s payroll list at $262 million, and he’s got to be pleased with the return on his investment to date. As for competitive balance, 13 different teams have played in the World Series in the 12 seasons since the Yankees last appeared in 2009, producing nine different champions.
Getting drafty
In order to move beyond two of the most contentious issues surrounding the new collective bargaining agreement — the qualifying offer attached to free agents and the international draft — MLB and the Players Association decided in March to punt on both subjects by setting a deadline of July 25 to come up with a workable plan.
Currently, international players are signed as free agents, with a minimum age of 16 (and perhaps younger, by illegal means). MLB, which has tried to clean up a system that can be exploitative or worse, insists a draft would help solve those problems; the union (i.e. agents) tends to view a draft as an artificial brake on earning potential.
So as a sweetener to the union, MLB has agreed to drop the qualifying-offer compensation if the two sides can agree on an international draft by the deadline, with the idea of implementing it for 2024. That came up again Friday because the union made a draft proposal to MLB, a source confirmed, that not surprisingly contains more money.
In March, MLB proposed 20 rounds for an international draft, slotted with prices for each selection, with more than $180 million going to those 600 players, including roughly $5 million for the top pick. According to ESPN, Friday’s counter by the MLBPA also included 20 rounds but upped the total payout to $260 million.
Given the typically glacial state of negotiations between these two and the distance apart, having a deal in place by July 25 seems unrealistic. The good news? Unlike the excruciating process over the winter, which delayed both the start of spring training and Opening Day, the status of the international draft talks fortunately has no impact on the current season.
As for MLB’s annual draft, that will take place as scheduled on July 17 in Los Angeles as part of All-Star week.
Nod to Tod
The Mets held a dedication ceremony Thursday to name the Citi Field mailroom in honor of long-time front-office employee Tod Tillotson, who passed away in August of last year. Tillotson was deaf, having lost his hearing at the age of 5, and the ceremony took place before the team’s first Disability Pride Night. He joined the organization on a part-time basis in 1964 at the age of 15 and worked for the Mets for the next 56 years.
The plaque features “LGM” spelled out in sign language, along with the inscription: “In his 51 years of service to the organization Tod delivered so much more than the mail; he conveyed camaraderie, kindness and loyalty to this organization each day he walked the halls of our ballpark.”
Tillotson is the latest long-respected Mets employee to be honored this season. The Citi Field press box was named for former PR guru Jay Horwitz, currently a vice president in charge of alumni relations as well as team historian.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
