|
Winners and losers in baseball's labor agreement reached Friday:
Winners
Well-run teams in small markets. While no labor deal could make
up for poor management decisions that have plagued small-market
teams in Kansas City, Milwaukee and Detroit, this agreement does
help the well-run teams compete with the big spenders. Increased
revenue sharing will help shrewd general managers like Oakland's
Billy Beane, Minnesota's Terry Ryan and Cincinnati's Jim Bowden
keep more of their young talented players and upgrade their teams
with deals they might not have been able to afford under the old
agreement.
This year's contenders. Instead of suffering the fate of the
1994 Expos -- whose first-place season was cut short by a strike --
this year's contenders will get a chance to finish what they
started. Atlanta hopes an 11th straight playoff berth turns into a
second World Series title before Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux can
leave as free agents. Anaheim tries to end a 16-year postseason
drought, the Yankees shoot for their fifth straight AL pennant,
Arizona hopes to become the first NL team to repeat as World Series
champs since Cincinnati in 1975-76, and Oakland and Minnesota hope
to outplay the big spenders in October.
Cities of Washington and Minnesota. Management agreed not to
eliminate any teams through the 2006 season. That means the Twins
will probably stay in Minnesota, and the Expos might be able to
move to Washington as early as next season, giving the nation's
capital a team for the first time since 1971.
Fans. Instead of hearing more doom and gloom from Bud Selig,
fans can concentrate on what's good about baseball: Barry Bonds
going for the career home run record; Alex Rodriguez's day-to-day
brilliance, Curt Schilling's unmatched control and Alfonso
Soriano's explosiveness.
Losers
New York Yankees. George Steinbrenner's bill for the revenue
sharing and luxury tax will probably be between $50 million and $55
million next year, almost twice last year's revenue-sharing total.
The Boss will still be able to outspend the competition but he'll
have to think twice before adding an $11 million outfielder.
Fans in large markets. Fans of the big-spenders can no longer
count on their teams to add whatever player necessary to fill their
needs. Then again, those fans could save money if they don't have
to buy $175 World Series tickets every year.
Average players looking to go to big markets. The big spenders,
like the Yankees, still will go after the superstars but might
think twice before paying $12 million for a sixth starter (Sterling
Hitchcock) or $22.25 million for a set-up reliever (Steve Karsay).
Mets and Rangers fans. Instead of having a strike mercifully
end miserable seasons, fans in Queens and Texas will have to endure
another month of watching an overpaid, underperforming team.
| |
|
