The financing of a baseball season is going under the microscope this offseason and potentially into next season. There is no question that MLB lost several billion in revenues.
According to Forbes’ estimates from 2019, as gathered by the University of Michigan sports economist Rodney Fort, MLB teams made a total of $9.9 billion as follows:
| REVENUE (IN BILLIONS) UNDER… | ||
| CATEGORY | NORMAL SEASON | HALF-SEASON W/O FANS* |
| Gate receipts | $2.84B | $0.00B |
| Concessions/parking/etc. | 1.65 | 0.00 |
| National TV deals | 1.70 | 1.70 |
| Local TV deals | 2.14 | 1.61 |
| Licensing/sponsorships/etc. | 0.56 | 0.42 |
| Central fund | 1.00 | 0.50 |
| Total | 9.90 | 4.23 |
*Assumes teams retain all of their national TV revenue, 75 percent of their local TV and licensing/sponsorship/etc. revenues and 50 percent of their central fund revenue. SOURCE: FORBES
The same Forbes numbers from above, estimated that teams spent a total of $8.7 billion in operating expenses in 2019, generating a net operating income of $1.2 billion. Of that expense, $4.6 billion went to paying player salaries, and $4.1 billion went to “other” expenses — which include front office and staff payrolls, minor league costs, stadium expenses and the cost of operating MLB’s central office.
If teams spent the same as last season but with the reduced revenue illustrated above, they’d be on the hook for a total loss of $4.5 billion. This is undoubtedly the logic used by owners in their estimation of operating losses in excess of $4B. But paying the players a prorated version of their full salaries in a projected half-season would cut those losses by $2.3 billion.
Of course some of the “other expenses” would also be reduced, limiting the losses even more. The cash losses were probably closer to $1.0B to $1.5B. Still significant even in a billionaire’s playground. During a recent appearance on “Evolve,” Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten revealed that the organization lost more than $100 million this season and will look for ways to save money until things return to normal, via CNBC Events:
“Our cash loss this year were well north of $100 million, and there’s no way to predict that. Any team is prepared to have a downturn, lose $5 million, lose $10 million. No one can be prepared for an unexpected cash loss of $100 million or more a year. We have enough strength and depth in our organization that we’re going to get through this, but it’s going to take a while to catch up.
“It won’t happen overnight, and that is going to become a part of our mantra as we look for continuing economies. We’re looking at all areas on both sides of our house; on the baseball side and the business side. I can’t tell you all the techniques we’re going to use, but we’re going to look too save money wherever we can while we are trying to dig out of this hole. Hoping that a return to normal is right around the corner, because when it does return, the customer experience — which we focused on right from Day 1 — is going to be better at Dodger Stadium than it’s ever been.”
The Dodgers estimated to have reported revenues in the amount of $556MM with a net profit of $96MM. Kasten was very careful in reporting cash loss well north of $100MM and not operating loss. I would surmise that a very fair amount of those revenues would have been utilized to pay down any principal portion of their estimated $408MM debt. It is also difficult to know how the major and minor capitalized improvements were financed. If financed through operating revenues and not separate loans, those expenditures would be included as a component of the “cash loss”.
All national network TV revenues were paid pursuant to the contract calling for full payment even without a full season. Ironically, this is something the owners chose to ignore with respect to the players’ salaries. National network TV revenues are split evenly with each of the teams.
Local revenues are also subject to revenue sharing; As defined by Article XXIV of the CBA, the basis for the revenue sharing plan is a percentage of each team’s “Net Local Revenue”, which is basically the money a team makes in its local market (mostly ballpark and media related receipts) minus the cost of stadium expenses, including debt service. However, because of the lack of local revenues that were not sufficient to cover stadium expenses, there was no local revenue sharing for 2020. Thus, teams with very little local revenue lost their revenue sharing, and it could be further impacted in 2021. Also teams like LAD and NYY with huge local revenues apparently lost quite a bit in this area. Until the owners open their books for full audit review, neither MLBPA or the rest of the world will know what each of the teams actual losses were: operating and cash.
What does all this lead to for the 2020-2021 offseason? Every year I like to monitor the FA signings and use the MLBTR top 50 FA as the standard. For 2018-2019, there was one who accepted the QO (Ryu and LAD), 6 (including two top ten) signed before and during the Winter Meetings, 15 more after the Winter Meetings and before New Year’s. For 2019-2020, 2 accepted QO, 12 signed before or during the Winter Meetings (including 3 top 10), and 21 signed between the Winter Meetings and New Year’s (including 5 top 10). Eight of the top ten 2018/2019 FA signed before New Year’s.
Thus far in 2020-2021, two have accepted QO (both top ten), six signed before or during Winter Meetings (Trevor May top ranked at #28), and thus far 3 have signed subsequent to the Winter Meetings (James McCann top ranked at #16). This excludes three free agents outside of the top 50 who signed one year deals.
Last year by December 16, not including the two qualifying offers, 22 free agents signed for a combined 73 years and $1.443B. 17 free agents signed for multi-year deals, including 11 for three or more years and 8 for four or more. The nine free agents who have signed thus far in 2020, they signed for a cumulative 15 years and $133.75MM. Only four signed multi-year deals, and only 1 for more than 2 (James McCann – 4 years, $40MM).
Last year three players (Gerrit Cole, Anthony Rendon, and Stephen Strasburg) signed individually for more than all of the 2020/2021 free agents combined.
There is obviously an evident slow pace to free agent signings this year, but there are other signs that present a very strange end to a very strange year.
●While some teams may be able to cope with the loss of game day revenues for 2020, the unknown game day attendance situation for 2021 has many (if not most) teams more concerned with making large financial obligations.
●Tampa Bay declined the $15MM option for Charlie Morton.
●NYY has listed DJLM as their #1 priority, but are a reported $25MM under DJLM’s contract “demands”. Normally this would not raise an eyebrow, but the Yankees have stated they WILL be below the CBT, and they need starting pitching. Many think NYY needs a SS more so that Gleyber Torres can move to 2B, where Brian Cashman thinks is his best position. Do they sign Andrelton Simmons for one year and set themselves up for one of the mega-five next year? Do they bring back Didi Gregorius?
●Cincinnati – Non-Tendered Archie Bradley and then trade Raisel Iglesias and his $9.125MM salary for Noe Ramirez and his $1.1MM salary as a salary dump. They have told everyone that Sonny Gray is available for trade. The Reds and Nats have discussed Eugenio Suarez. If Suarez is available, the Dodgers might want to swoop in. While everyone was pushing for Arenado or Bryant, I brought up Suarez who is tied up through 2024 (7 years $66MM) with a very team favorable 2025 option ($15MM with no buyout). Former SS who transitioned very well to 3B. And he is another Venezuelan.
●Cleveland – Non Tendered Brad Hand. Has told everyone that they will trade Francisco Lindor this winter.
●The ChiSox needed a left hand hitting OF and signed Adam Eaton for one year. Why not the more expensive but probably better fits with Michael Brantley? Or even Joc? They will not be players for any of the top FA, but they are very much interested in Liam Hendriks.
●Philadelphia – Shows more signs of stepping back and regrouping rather than continuing to spend stupid. Spending stupid got them Bryce Harper and no playoffs. Now they need more starting pitching, much much much more relief pitching, a SS, and a catcher. And without much of a farm system. But they currently are not showing any signs of reaching out to JTR or Didi to re-sign. Dombrowski loves to stir things up and I doubt that he would have accepted the position with Philadelphia without knowing he could spend. So Phillies watch is on hold, but when rumors about Zach Wheeler being available, and knowing that Middleton’s money is primarily from the Phillies, questions about finances are legitimately raised. After selling his tobacco company and subsequent litigation, his secondary source of revenue has dried up.
●Atlanta has paid $26MM for two back of the rotation starters leaving them with holes at 3B and a LH hitting OF, and hope that Travis d’Arnaud can have another good year.
●San Diego seems ready to pounce on a pitcher, but they are focusing more on a trade because of their deep farm system. I think they will be leaning on relievers in FA and not starting pitching. Some have indicated that Yadi Molina is on their radar, which makes sense. But it is probably more like them raising the cost for St. Louis.
●Why aren’t Yadi Molina and Adam Wainwright re-signed with St. Louis?
●Nationals – Have denied talking with Cubs about Kris Bryant
●Two teams that appear that they could be in on FA in a big way are NYM and Toronto. I know Mets fans are hoping for George Springer and Trevor Bauer, but all signs are that Cohen will authorize one. Cohen has also said that most of the big deals for NYM will come via FA and not trades, so Lindor may not be wearing a Mets uniform next year. Mets have made two good FA signings in Trevor May and James McCann, and did not have to overspend for JTR or Liam Hendriks. They have enough available for Springer who they covet. Will they also swallow hard and sign Trevor Bauer also?
●Toronto is supposedly a player for all of the FA including, Bauer, DJLM, JTR, Springer, JT, Hendriks… I think they will make a significant bid for one of the players, but which one, who knows.
●With Dave Dombrowski leaving Nashville and Billy Beane returning to Oakland (with David Forst and Billy Owens), it is clear that MLB expansion is not anywhere close to fruition.
The Giants got a good second tier starter in Anthony DeSclafani (1 year $6MM). The Rays have replaced Morton with Michael Wacha (1 year $3.00MM). Thirteen of the top fifteen FA are not signed, and the only two that have been, were accepted QO (Gausman and Stroman). 28 of the top 32 FA are still available, and the two that have signed (other than the two QO) were both signed by NYM (McCann and May).
When NYY and Boston and apparently LAD are out not heavily involved in FA bidding, then the market sort of dries up. All of the top FA will get signed, but undoubtedly not for what they expected. A vast majority of teams will spend on peripheral talent like KC has. KC has signed four FA: 1B/DH Carlos Santana (2 years $17.50MM), RHSP Mike Minor (2 years $18.00MM), RHRP Greg Holland (1 year $2.75MM), and OF Michael Taylor (1 year $1.75MM).
Way out guesses:
Dodgers will re-sign JT for no more than two years guaranteed, and one of Brad Hand, Trevor Rosenthal, and Kirby Yates. Dodgers will not initially go over CBT.
- Trevor Bauer – LA Angels
- JT Realmuto – Washington Nationals
- George Springer – NYM
- DJLM – NYY – He is a perfect fit for LAD, but Brian Cashman will not let AF outbid him.
- Marcell Ozuna – San Francisco Giants
- Masahiro Tanaka – NYY on a much smaller deal than anticipated. With Severino due back, NYY will have the offense to carry them, and they should be able to slide under the CBT with DJLM and Tanaka.
- Liam Hendriks – Chicago White Sox
- Ha-Seong Kim – Texas Rangers
- Corey Kluber – Boston
- Francisco Lindor – Toronto (along with second tier starting pitching)
- Nolan Arenado – Colorado
- Trevor Story – Colorado
- Kris Bryant – Atlanta
The owners are going to take a very slow step into FA without knowing when fans will be allowed back in the stands. MLBPA will not trust MLB again, and they will show up for ST and be ready to play 162 games. The owners will have to lock the players out if they want a delay in the season. If the owners do that, look for Congress to remove the antitrust exemption for MLB. They are already on thin ice when it comes to how they have treated MiLB, which is another story for another day. For now, FOLLOW THE MONEY.
Discussion (119)
Disagree, not disagreeable
It’s time for Dodger Baseball ! Well, not yet, but soon.
NorCal!!! That says it all.. Just move or secede…
Badger again thanks for your thoughts… God knows every state has it’s warts…
This will get me a comments closed for sure…
Enough with the politics.
Regarding money, I wonder if Friedman has any tricks up his sleeve to get a Japanese player on a lower AAV.
Excellent article, Jeff!
Well researched and informative.
The slow progress in the free agent market is understandable once you consider the revenue losses in 2020 combined with the uncertainty for 2021.
While the vaccines are promising, the best case scenario is that the majority of citizens are vaccinated by June. And California, which houses 5 MLB teams, is the most cautious of all states. We are one of the few states that prohibit all indoor dining and even prohibit outdoor dining in most of the state. And the state is very cautious with sporting activities as evidenced by the expulsion of the 49ers to Arizona, the move of the Rose Bowl to Texas, and the lack of any high school football played the entire year in CA.
At this point, it is not unreasonable to assume that fans will not be allowed to attend MLB games in California until at least June, and thereafter even 25% occupancy is not certain. MLB ownership groups are forced to make their financial and budgeting decisions with significant uncertainty, but would be prudent to plan for revenues closer to the 2020 level than the 2019 level. And this year, the MLBPA seems unwilling to prorate salaries if less than a full season is played or if fans are not permitted. If owners are faced with the prospect of revenues at or near 2020 levels, while expenses are closer to full season expenses, the mlb teams could face even higher operating losses in 2021. Based on Jeff’s table above, league wide revenues would be about $5-6 billion compared to operating expenses of about $8 billion in a limited attendance 2021 scenario. This could produce operating losses of $2-3 billion without adjustments to the schedule or to the player salaries. Unlike NFL and NBA which derives most of their revenue from national TV contracts, the MLB revenues are mostly tied to stadium attendance.
Before most owners are going to spend on free agent contracts this year, they will need a framework for this season including fan attendance limits and player salary proration, if any. And if players are unwilling to prorate salaries for games where fans cannot attend, then look for the owners to declare emergency safety provisions to delay the season. Since the Covid cases are much higher now than when the 2020 season was started in July, they probably have grounds to invoke emergency provisions until the Covid prevalence is similar to last summer. But without cooperation between MLB and the MLBPA, the season is not likely to start on time, and the free agency is unlikely to resemble prior years.
As for the Eric / Bear exchange – with my wife being a family therapist and us having 3-opinionated and very argumentative boys. Whenever I was going toe-to-toe with them – she would always ask me who is the adult in the room.
I think both of you are passionate and great Dodger fans and are posting to an awesome site – THANKS to Mark.
Please agree to disagree and keep it civil.
Wish both of you and everybody else a safe and happy holiday season.
Dodgers continue to build up their depth with a pair of defensive specialists in SS Elliot Soto and C Tim Federowicz. Soto is considered to have limited offensive tools but is considered a defensive Wiz, which is why he continues to stick around. He did not make his MLB debut until he was 31 with LAA in 2020. He did go 2-6 with a BB, including a double. He will partner up with Carlos Asuaje and Omar Estevez for AAA middle infield.
Federowicz will be depth but will also be a mentor to Keibert Ruiz. Ruiz should get the bulk of catching duties, but needs a push defensively and some contend work habits. Fedex will replace Rocky Gale as the emergency AAA catcher. This makes perfect sense. The Dodgers have lost multiple catchers over the last 12 months. This probably keeps Stevie Berman back at AA where he will get more playing time. That will leave Ryan January, Hunter Feduccia, Wladimir Chalo, Diego Cartaya, Marco Hernandez, Tre Todd, and Carson Taylor to fill out the rosters.
Besides Asuaje and Soto, the Dodgers picked up 20 year old Venezuelan 3B, Claudio Finol who was waived by Cincinnati. He is not a prospect, but he is 20 and maybe something will click for him in the Dodgers organization.
I have not seen that USC has been assigned a bowl game yet. Teams behind them in the polls have including Oregon.
Eric and Badger, great job at defusing Eric…
Still early in his SF Giants tenure, there is plenty of time for Farhan Zaidi to change direction. At the moment though, it appears a trend has emerged from the pitchers he has acquired on MLB contracts. While MLB bullpens have moved towards premium velocity, the Giants have targetted arms with a low-90s fastball and a secondary offering (usually a slider) capable of generating swings and misses.
Based on that article, maybe Zaid will go after Tanaka and Richards to put into his rotation.
Great info AC.
Oh, one more thing. It takes two to tango. Dancing bears are however always entertaining.
The Rose bowl, which will feature Alabama and Notre Dame has been moved to AT &; T stadium in Arlington Texas.
Colder than a well diggers heinie out there today, wind is blowing like a banshee. Great day for some hot chocolate. Lasorda hoping to go home on Wednesday. That is good news. Reds now also engaged in talks about Castillo. Warren resigns with the Yanks on a minor league deal.
Very interesting article this morning, AC. Thank you. Looking forward to your Minor League report. I want to see Lux, Gonsolin and Turner among others on the team next year. Please do not trade them, or in Turner’s case, not sign him.
Thanks for the information regarding England, Watford. Stay safe and well.
I found a little gem on MLB.TV. You can still go back and watch the games if you like, but they have a lot of video’s on there too On the bottom row there is a collection of World Series Films and I found the one from 1959. It is narrated by Vinny. The quality is not the greatest but when you see how bad those fields were compared to how they look today, you have to wonder how they caught anything. But it is all there. Big Klu’s 3 HR’s, Essegian’s PH homers, Duke’s last World Series homer. Cool film. They also have the 81 and 88 films.
Of course some MLB teams lost money in 2020, although Scott Boras tends to disagree, noting that salaries were greatly reduced as were other expenses. Certainly the loss of ticket sales was huge, although I’m guessing that the Dodgers probably kept most of the season ticket money, rolling it over into 2021. We did that. They gave us a 10 percent bonus on leaving the money with the team, but I’m not totally sure how that works. At some point rolling it over will have an impact, depending how they reflect it on the books.
Whether the Dodgers received full payment for the local Sportsnet TV deal is the question that would tell you if the team made or lost money during 2020. If the team received the full amount there is no way they lost money, the difference between actual revenues and expenses. But there is no question that revenues were greatly reduced without people in the stands, lost ticket sales, food and drink, plus on site merchandising. Then parking, of course.
But most teams don’t have the local TV revenue deal the Dodgers have so they may not be the same position.
The continued investment in the stadium obviously has an impact on the bottom line. Said to be over a hundred million this past year.
So the reality is no one knows for certain except MLB and the franchises. But Dave Roberts believes the Dodgers will play a full season so there is that.
I definitely wouldn’t want to trade Tony Gonsolin. Great stuff. It would have to be beyond a significant return like Blake Snell.
Other than re-signing Justin Turner and picking up some bullpen pieces, I’m good with where the team is going into the spring. But listening to Roberts, maybe there is more to the rumors of a major move.
So Eric and Bear. What are you getting each other for Christmas?
When I typed the original post the relievers and starters were separated. Dk what happened. Sorry a mess.
Dodger starters: Dodgers pen. Possible
Buehler. Jansen. Jimmy ? Starter/reliever
Kershaw. Kelly. Whoever I left out plus other milb
Price. Graterol
Urias. Alexander
May. Floro
Gonsolin. Kolarek
Gray Alvarez
Knebel
Santana
White
Morrow
Af can start with this bunch. I personally feel another Starting pitcher is needed. We run through them like crazy, injuries etc. so depth is huge. This is to get to the playoffs. Af knows when he gets their he can use Urias, May, Gonsolin, gray, white etc. to make a great postseason bullpen. With the development of who we have like, May, Graterol,Urias,Alvarez, and potentially morrow and Knebel we could be better than last year without additions. He signed jimmy Nelson (got it) to be a swing man if healthy. If healthy it would be nice to get wood back. So, Af really doesn’t have to do more with the pitching and if healthy we would probably have as good as staff as anyone and probably better. So, if turner is resigned we have a lineup with: Betts rf, seager ss,turner 3b, bellinger cf, muncy 1b, smith c, pollock lf, lux 2b, and Rios platooning, Taylor , mr. versatile, Beaty or reks lefty bat off bench. Taylor could start at second with lux platooning in lf. Voila WChamps again.
AF strong suit is depth so he will find some extras but with reasonable health we have the talent with what we have providing turner stays. I don’t expect turner to play more than 100 games but he is a playoff beast.
Peterj—-serpentine… move like a serpent.
Let me preface the following with ” I Don’t like USC”… As a kid I liked UCLA because of their use of the single wing and how they would circumtien (?) out of the huddle… Liked the Okies because they drafted Samoan kids out of Carson, Banning etc.
And then was Notre Dame… As I said before it was a Catholic thing…
Kelly lost that game??? Really??? You go against the likes of Clemson and Alabama, you’re going up against the closest you’ll get NCAA semi pro football…
You got it MT!!! I figured corn and a occasional good NCAA basketball program their strong suit in IA…
Wow, that was a spicy exchange Bear and Eric. This place sounds like the corner bar at 2AM sometimes. I always pay attention to AF during his interviews and listen to his quotes and try to decipher and read between the lines because he doesn’t often come right out and say what he’s going to do. When talking about relievers this offseason, he mentioned that he wants guys with different looks than his sinker / slider relievers that dominated last year’s pen. He wants guys that can miss bats. First guy he got was a 4 seam / Curveball guy in Knebel. Look for him to get a high leverage, high K rate guy as his bullpen cornerstone. Rosenthal and Hendricks are obvious choices. They may or may not need another lefty with Alexander, Gonzalez and Kolarek on the roster. Doolittle makes some sense, but he isn’t the main prize. There’s no way he goes after Melancon, he’s not a K rate guy. I’d rather have Soria than Petey, and I wouldn’t be surprised to sign a guy like Soria if he’s still available in February.
Prices for free agents are definitely on the cheap so far this year. This year’s class is not nearly as good as a last year’s class which adds to the slow signing period. The Dodgers are a rich team, there’s no reason for them to not take advantage of this depressed market and there’s a lot of relievers available. I’m expecting them to add at least 2 more guys with names that are well known to the pen.
Ending up with JT and a reliever is not being pigs, so I’m expecting something bigger. AF surprised a lot of people when he traded Matt Kemp and to a lesser extent, Yasiel Puig. I’m hoping he surprises us again and gets someone we haven’t been thinking of.
I’m tepid about bringing back JT. I hear a lot of bashing on the Eric’s geriatric reliever list, but all those guys went to high school with JT and everyone seems to want him back. I don’t think any of those relievers get injections in both knees in Spring Training every year and none of them play every day.
One last thought, don’t get stuck on one statistic. If a reliever’s splits were so damn important to the three batter rule, Kolarek wouldn’t have even had a chance last year. Last year’s splits. .203 OPS v Lefties and .737 OPS v Righties. So, don’t act like a 100 point swing is significant.
I am amazed at how easily some say they trade Lux, a high-end prospect does not have a good start and they already want to trade, on the other hand they see players in other teams with only a good year in their career and they offer a lot of players in their imaginary exchanges.
I am glad that Freidman and his collaborators make the decisions.
I think they are looking for a pitcher in return.
I do not want to trade Gonsolin. He is a key part of the pitching staff – starter or reliever!
I like Ruiz too, but I would include him and Lux along with another payer out of the Dodger Top 10.
Good article.
Will like to se what can RVS do with Suarez.
Gonsolin and Lux will probably make that deal done.
It’s been mentioned several times to package Gonsolin, not a good idea because the DODGERS don’t know what price will look like or if he will be pitching in2021. Also Kershaw pending FA static. Here’s what I envision of our pitching staff will look like in 2022 , Buhler,Urias, May, Gray, Gonsolin. Could I be wrong.
The second COVID-19 Vaccine from Moderna started being shipped today.
The Moderna Vaccine may, in fact, be easier to distribute as it does not require specialized refrigeration and is much easier to handle.
Between Pfizer and Moderna, 45 Million Doses will be delivered in December and the US government has commitments from Pfizer for at least 100,000,000 doses by the end of June and 200,000,000 from Moderna by the end of June. It appears to me that “herd immunity” can be reached by April or May. Now, if the teams can be vaccinated by March 1st, ladies and gentlemen, I see baseball in our future!
From what I have gathered, the Dodgers want Striker Buehler to have as much rest as possible. I think it’s possible that they use 6 starters.
If there are 5 guys ahead of Gonsolin then that still leaves the 6th spot. I’ve been tracking the starters the past 3 yrs and its rare they go through the rotation every 5 days with the same 5 starters. And with all of them coming off a short season it’s a smart plan to minimize their innings.
On Eric’s relievers:
Doolittle is staying on the East Coast (DC probably), but he had a 5.87 ERA last year and a 4.05 in 2019. I tink Eric believes that Sean will that 1.60 or 2.40 ERA he had in 2017 and 2018.
Soria had a good year last year, but the previous season, he had a 4.30 ERA. He has spent his whole career with up and down years.
Melancon also had a decent year, but you have to go back 5 years where he actually had a GOOD year. He could provide a different “look” than our other relievers.
I would take Suarez in a heartbeat. It would likely take Lux and Ruiz and maybe another lower-ranked player. The Dodgers have the resources to make it happen. Suzrez is not a defensive wizard, but he is solid.
Regarding players. Seems odd to me that the Reds are willing to trade Suarez and/or Gray who are on very team friendly deals and provide terrific value to the team. If they want to reduce payroll then trade Nick Castellanos and/or Mike Moustakas for prospects (Reds may have to keep some of the payroll), each of whom are at $16M AAV. But, if Suarez is available then he would be an excellent target not only for the Dodgers, but the Braves, Cardinals, Rangers, Blue Jays, etc. My preference is for the Dodgers to re-sign Turner and add Ha-Seong Kim.
Wonder how much MLB collectively saved by significantly reduced travel in the abbreviated season and regional play; not having a minor league season,; and, only 5 rounds of the 2020 draft?
Fantastic post, Jeff! I must say that your expertise in accounting/finance really shines through in these posts. Very informative!
A question for you. Do you think that the owners are trying to reset the expectations of the FA market? By moving slowly to sign FAs, are they signaling that they will not sign players to the budget-busting FA deals of the past? I am not saying that this is collusion, but it functions that way by lowering the expectations of what the market will bear. The NY Mets under new ownership is an obvious exception, of course, as they have already signalled that they will spend big.
I’ve settled on 3 free agent relievers and in the order that I list them.
1 Joakim Soria
2 Sean Doolittle
3 Mark Melancon
It’s time to move on from our current ROOGY and LOOGY bullpen, since the 3 batter minimum rule is sticking around.
If Gonsolin is going to be in the bullpen because we have 5 starters ahead of him (Buehler, Kershaw, Price, Urias, May) then I’d like the bullpen to look like this.
Joakim Soria
Sean Doolittle
Mark Melancon
Tony Gonsolin
Victor Gonzalez
Brusdar Graterol
Fill in the rest (probably 3 others) with whoever we have.
5 of those 6 relievers I listed get outs consistently against both sides of the plate. Only Graterol doesn’t, but he hasn’t racked up enough innings to call him a ROOGY.
Many of us small businessmen could only wish we had a tv deal to keep our business’s afloat during this horrible 2020. Many have not survived!
Excellent post Jeff. I knew MLB took it in the shorts. And our country has not had it easy either. I just hope some time in the future the whole country will get back in the saddle.