DIAMOND NOTES: March 30
It is not the same as 1994 and the plight of the Mariners or the Giants. The Indians have shown that teams can't be among the rich on ballpark revenues alone, for local television revenues have changed. And the chasm between the revenues of the Yankees, Red Sox and Mets will only further widen in the next four years, especially when Boston's business side is brought out of the lemonade-stand era.
Did Bud Selig politicize this week? Of course. Look, no one is suggesting that Selig has the statesmanship of an FDR or the slick charisma of a Bill Clinton, and there are times when his public style erodes his substance. Does Selig right now have the lowest approval rating of any commissioner in any of the three major professional sports in memory? Yes.
But don't paint the Players Guild as being the last defenders of democracy. Baseball owners do have the right to suggest that they want some changes, as happened in football and basketball, and it's up to the players to decide whether or not they want to strike to preserve the golden fleece. The MLPBA politicizes just as much as Selig; if you went to MLB.com on Friday, there was no mention of Selig's no-lockout pledge, no pro-management propaganda of any kind, but if you went to the Guild's BigLeaguers.com, the third item is the "reading list," their approved slants on labor with all the objectivity of Teamsters.com.
The MLBPA is trying to avoid the reality of negotiating when the owners have the hammer of the postseason implementation by making Selig the issue, which isn't hard. They have strong arguments about the competence of some of Les Petites Miserables, like Kansas City and Minnesota, and they have legitimate questions about several areas of financial disclosures. But throwing mud against the wall and suggesting that every small-market team has pocketed its revenue-sharing money doesn't wash in most cases.
If you take the bottom revenue teams since '96 -- and throw out Milwaukee, Detroit and Pittsburgh, who all got new stadiums, although Detroit and Pittsburgh have not had significant reversals of fortune -- and take the average annual increase in revenue-sharing and the combined costs of payroll and scouting and development, Florida has outspent its revenue sharing by $10 million (actually, that's only '98-'01, because they thoroughly outspent their shared revenues in '97), Kansas City has outspent its shared revenues by $12.5 million, Oakland by $9 million, Montreal by $700,000 and only Minnesota has taken in more than it spent, by an average of $500,000.
There is no question that several teams need a complete business overhaul. One agent who is a Players Association loyalist and worked in the NBA lockout knows that the baseball player leadership will never pull an I-Me-My sellout like the NBA player leaders. But two different major agents, longtime strong union allies, both suggested privately this week that it will be harder than before to get the players to walk for any long period of time if the issue is just supporting the elite five percent of highest-paid players. "There are a lot of players who've been non-tendered or gone to camps at $500,000 so that Alex Rodriguez can make $26 million," says one agent. "That hadn't happened before. This is a thin line. There are owners who cannot afford a shutdown, but there are a lot of players who feel the stratification of the union."
So what both sides should do is forget the politics, go to the Isle of Elba and talk this out, without threats, without public sighs of anguish. Twins owner Carl Pohlad cashed in his bank for $1.1 billion last winter, and the average player salary is closing in on $3 million. So shut up, play and be realistic. This is not about player rights, but about money. It's not just about Bud Selig or Donald Fehr, it's about everyone making his fair share. So Selig and his cabinet should treat Fehr as an equal, figure out what partnership means, and the Players Association should think about a deal, not the NLRB.
Those who pay $229 a game for a family of four don't want to hear about billionaires Jello-wrestling with millionaires, and to do so publicly is arrogance of the lowest degree.
Around the majors
There aren't many positives for the Orioles these days. But they have a lot of pitching coming, which requires that Syd Thrift creatively deal Scott Erickson and another starter to begin an influx of young positional talent, which they currently lack. Left-hander Erik Bedard is very close, Rick Bauer flourished when he came up with a changeup, Sean Douglass is coming fast and Jorge Julio was a major spring training surprise and could soon be the O's closer.
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| Barajas |
Another spring surprise was the jump Diamondbacks catcher Rod Barajas seemed to take, going back to his start in Game 5 of last year's World Series. "Barajas looks like he will hit," says one opposing GM, "and he's one of the few legit sub-2.0 throwers around."
Right fielder Jose Guillen was another huge surprise for the D-Backs. But, don't forget, it was just spring training.
Jack Cust showed the Rockies that he's got a chance to be more than just a DH. He consistently ran 4.3-4.35 to first, and worked so hard in the outfield that GM Dan O'Dowd now believes that Cust can, at worst, be a little better than Dante Bichette. "If it were up to the veteran players," says O'Dowd, "Cust would have made the team." And second baseman Brent Butler had such a good spring for the Rockies that they can move Jose Ortiz to third when necessary, although natural-born hitter Garrett Atkins will play third in Double-A this season and could be knocking on the door at this time next year, if he improves defensively.
So, how much was Scott Radinsky hoping to get another shot after being released by the Indians? Not only did he remain in beautiful Winter Haven, Fla., but he kept his arm loose by driving to the local Wal-Mart and throwing balls against a dumpster.
Bret Saberhagen is now working for the Beverly Hills Sports Council, recruiting players to leave their agents. In case you're wondering, the Players Association has no code of ethics for agents.
Expos manager Frank Robinson hopes that he can help Vladimir Guerrero move to another level by pushing him as hard as possible. "Vladimir's a great player," says Robinson, who knows about pushing oneself to greatness. "But he's been allowed to operate on his own. I think there's more there."
Expos GM Omar Minaya is still working hard to find a leadoff/center fielder, like the Mets' Timo Perez.
Poor Mark Smith. He had it in his minor-league contract with Montreal that if Jeff Torborg went to Florida, Smith could opt out of his deal and go, as well. So he went, then got cut in the final days. "He would have made the Expos," says one Montreal official.
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| Wells |
Blue Jays manager Buck Martinez has a narrow line to walk with his four-outfielder rotation. Vernon Wells should play center field because he's in the Torii Hunter/Mike Cameron class defensively, but Shannon Stewart and Jose Cruz Jr. both want to play the field, as well.
Boston's new owners are flabbergasted by how the Red Sox business side was run. No budgets, no ambition, no creativity. There are similar problems on the baseball side, but the scouting staff has welcomed David Chadd as scouting director with tremendous optimism. Once Theo Epstein is in his office in Boston, the Sox are expected to separate their amateur and pro scouting staffs, with Murray Cook the likely new pro scouting director.
Because the Rangers have to add five non-roster players, they face losing some of their good young players, such as first baseman Travis Hafner, second baseman-outfielder Jason Romano and outfielder Chris Magruder. Former GM Doug Melvin left the Rangers with a warehouse of talent.
The Brewers went right down to Opening Day trying to get any team to take Mark Loretta and Tyler Houston.
Music anyone?
Another musical voice heard from. Dave O'Brien of the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel offers this list of boffo spring training releases:
"Big Bad Love" soundtrack: I have no idea if the movie sucks, but the CD certainly does not. It's brilliant, with a couple of new Tom Waits tracks (alone worth the price of the CD) and sublime stuff from the most underrated Delta blues artist of all, R.L. Burnside.
South: "From Here On In" -- Band is called South, but it's the best Stone Roses album since the Roses peaked a decade and a half or so ago and soon fell apart.
N*E*R*D (No One Ever Really Dies): "In Search of ..." -- Intelligent rap with killer beats, something like Dead Prez and The Coup crossed with early De La Soul.)
Shane MacGowan's Popes: "Across the Broad Atlantic, Live on Paddy's Day, New York & Dublin" -- The Pogues sucked since he left, but Shane, remarkably, rolls on. This is some of his solo stuff and great Pogues stuff. You can't understand 10 words he's saying, so bad is his slurring. But, god, is it grand decadence.
Merle Haggard: "Drinkin' " -- Part of a theme-cd boxed set the record label wisely decided to also release separately, much as Johnny Cash's label did with a similar set a year or so ago. It don't get much better than driving from Melbourne to Kissimmee with this cranked at 11 on the car stereo.
In case you tune in ...
Finally, if you watch Saturday Night Live on April 6, you will see the band Jimmy Eat World. The drummer is Zach Lind, son of former Brewers infielder and current Astros scout Jack Lind. Let's see, if the Astros win the World Series, will he change the name to Jimy Eat World?
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