Around MLB: 2024 Edition

Major League Baseball and high-ranking club officials have discussed limiting how much teams can spend in areas other than player salaries, such as technology, player development, scouting and health, multiple people briefed on such discussions told The Athletic.

Different pockets of management have talked about the potential cost controls, whether it be owners speaking to one another, or in similar conversations between club higher-ups. But MLB’s executive vice president of baseball operations, Morgan Sword, is said to have discussed the concept again last week on a call with club financial officers, an official briefed on the meeting said.

A league spokesperson said MLB’s focus has been on technology vendors, rather than staffing.

“There is nothing happening on that front,” the spokesperson said. “What we are focused on is gathering information on vendor costs to find potential cost savings through efficiencies and to ensure equal access to all technology.”

But multiple officials who have been briefed on or participated in some of these conversations said the thinking extends to personnel, as well. At least some clubs would enjoy seeing caps on spending in any area that can influence on-field success, player salaries or otherwise. Executives with smaller-market teams have long lamented the task of keeping up with the spending capabilities of larger market teams.

Just before Opening Day, commissioner Rob Manfred told a story about an owner who was puzzled by how large his analytics staff had grown.

“I heard (the idea of limits) discussed at the ownership level,” said a different club official this week. “I don’t know where it originated. It’s about competitive balance. … I’ve been in the game 20 years. The number of people we have in our clubhouse working with the players has tripled, quadrupled in size.”

But with roughly 40 percent of the season complete, the standings suggest concerns over market size and competitive balance could be overwrought. Entering Tuesday, four revenue-sharing recipients — the Rays, Twins, Pirates and Diamondbacks — were in first place. Three others — the Marlins, Brewers and Orioles — were in position for wild cards.

Likewise, some teams would abhor the idea of spending limits, arguing that investing in technology or player development is a way of creating a fair advantage over other teams.

“Enough on the expense side,” another executive lamented of the league’s continued effort to tamp down costs. “You should be encouraging people to learn how to make money.”

Multiple club officials suggested that spending limits on non-players might make the most sense to pursue as part of a larger overhaul — including a salary cap for players, too. Whether the commissioner’s office and the owners will actually push for a player salary cap when the current collective bargaining agreement expires following the 2026 season is to be seen.

A cap on player salaries would require the approval of the Players Association, which has said it will not grant that approval. Most other employees in the sport, meanwhile, are not unionized.

If MLB does eventually try to restrict employee spending in some capacity, the league almost certainly would be leveraging the benefit of the sport’s antitrust exemption. The 30 teams likely would be collectively deciding not to compete with each other, in some way, in their hiring practices.

polo007 · Post #148 » by **polo007** » Tue Jun 20, 2023 10:42 pm

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polo007 · Post #149 » by **polo007** » Fri Jun 23, 2023 12:09 am

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Raider917 · Post #150 » by **Raider917** » Sun Jun 25, 2023 2:52 am

i dont think the angels are losing tonight. 23 run lead after 4 innings

Parataxis · Post #151 » by **Parataxis** » Thu Jun 29, 2023 4:17 am

Holy hell. Glad I stayed up to watch that. Domingo German with a perfect game against the As.

Post #152 » by **Cyrus** » Thu Jun 29, 2023 4:38 am

Parataxis wrote:Holy hell. Glad I stayed up to watch that. Domingo German with a perfect game against the As.

Question is, was he cheating with that sticky stuff.

Parataxis · Post #153 » by **Parataxis** » Thu Jun 29, 2023 2:12 pm

Cyrus wrote:
Parataxis wrote:Holy hell. Glad I stayed up to watch that. Domingo German with a perfect game against the As.

Question is, was he cheating with that sticky stuff.

If it was any team but the As, I'd be suspicious.

polo007 · Post #154 » by **polo007** » Wed Jul 12, 2023 6:22 pm

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao shared plans with MLB to keep A's - ESPN

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred met with the mayor of Oakland to discuss possible stadium plans designed to keep the Athletics from relocating to Las Vegas.

Mayor Sheng Thao requested and was granted a meeting with Manfred before the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Seattle, she told multiple media outlets.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Thao presented Manfred 30 bound copies of a report she wanted all MLB team owners to see, detailing negotiations between the city of Oakland and the A's, including a detailed timeline. Thao wanted a complete outline on the failed Oakland negotiations to be shared before owners voted on whether to approve the Athletics' relocation to Las Vegas.

"I did feel it was important to meet with the commissioner in person, given the importance of this upcoming vote by the relocation committee," Thao told the Chronicle. "This decision isn't just about business. How they vote will have a lasting impact on a multi-generational fan base of working families who love this game of baseball and have a deep connection to the Oakland A's. Before undertaking this very consequential vote, I wanted the commissioner and the MLB owners on the relocation committee, and all the owners, to have the true facts, so they can make an informed decision. I continue to fight until the shovel is actually in the dirt."

The Athletic included links of the documents Thao presented to Manfred, including the summary of terms, infrastructure financing plan, preliminary development plan, design guidelines and tentative tract map.

"For me, it was very important that [Manfred], and not just him, but the [league's relocation] committee and the owners had a copy of all that we are presenting, for transparency purposes," Thao told The Athletic. "Through the press, we have heard that Manfred has stated there was no proposal. We wanted to dispel that notion. If people were misinformed, we wanted to make sure everybody had all the real-time information of how close we were to a ballpark."

Thao said Manfred's comments and other public sentiment chiding Oakland for not having a stadium proposal at hand were false.

She said the relocation proposal could be voted down by owners, and Oakland would be ready to move forward with plans to keep the team. Las Vegas would then likely be in play as an expansion team. Manfred said the league will begin discussing possible expansion from 30 teams to 32.

polo007 · Post #155 » by **polo007** » Thu Jul 13, 2023 3:52 pm

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hyper316 · Post #156 » by **hyper316** » Fri Jul 14, 2023 1:47 pm

Ohtani to Yankee gonna be bad for Jays, but at least we get to see Ohtani more

linery88 · Post #157 » by **linery88** » Sat Jul 15, 2023 12:42 pm

hyper316 wrote:Ohtani to Yankee gonna be bad for Jays, but at least we get to see Ohtani more

If he goes anywhere I hope its to SanFran.F-Ny.

polo007 · Post #158 » by **polo007** » Sun Jul 16, 2023 9:48 am

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SharoneWright · Post #159 » by **SharoneWright** » Tue Jul 18, 2023 12:03 am

A great pleasure to have Tabby calling the Guardians game tonight.

Seasontickets · Post #160 » by **Seasontickets** » Tue Jul 18, 2023 3:56 pm

Thought experiment:

If Shohei Ohtani was available and agreeable to coming to Toronto (unlikely)- how much could the Jays pay him?

We have

Chapman - 12
Ryu - 20
Belt 9.3
KK - 9

Coming of the books at 50 million total.

Do you pay Shohei Ohtani 50 mill+ a year? You get a starter - Gausman, Bassitt, Berrios, Ohtani, Manoah, Kooch

Martinez fills in for Chapman, or Barger, or Otto Lopez
Ohtani - fills in for Belt
Varsho for KK
Find a cheap Left Fielder

Heck, I'd pay the man his 60+ million

Springer
Ohtani
Vladdy
Bichette
Whit
Varsho
Martinez
Kirk/Jansen
LF

Dear jesus. Rogers center would be sold out every night. Jack up my 500 level seasons by 1 k for this dream.