For today I will ask two trivia questions that have
two answers each. First, what do the
following list of players have in common:
- Robinson Cano
- J.J. Hardy
- Mike Trout
- David Ortiz
- Clay Bucholz
- Justin Verlander
- Chris Sale
- Mariano Rivera
- Bartolo Colon
- Yu Darvish
- Hasashi Iwakuma
- Jesse Crain
- Joe Nathan
- Glen Perkins
- Prince Fielder
- Torii Hunter
- Jhonny Peralta
- Dustin Pedroia
- Nelson Cruz
- Alex Gordon
- Joey Votto
- Brandon Phillips
- Troy Tulowitzki
- Carlos Beltran
- Bryce Harper
- Patrick Corbin
- Adam Wainwright
- Jordan Zimmerman
- Aroldis Chapman
- Craig Kimbrel
- Jose Fernandez
- Buster Posey
- Everth Cabrera
- Matt Carpenter
- Allen Craig
Not doing so well with the second thing they have in
common? How about this list of players
who also have two things in common:
- Derek Jeter
- Eric Hinske
- Huston Street
- Evan Longoria
- Andrew Bailey
- Netafali Perez
- Jeremy Hellickson
- Wil Myers
- Rafael Furcal
- Albert Pujols
- Ryan Howard\
- Hanley Ramirez
- Ryan Braun
Give up?
The first list consists of many of the players who
appeared in the 2013 All-Star Team. That
part was easy. What’s not so easy is the
second part – that they all played April baseball as rookies.
Given that answer, go back and look at list number
two. They’re all former Rookie of the
Year winners who also began their careers in the spring.
The point here is that the lists include
representatives from 23 teams – 77% of major league baseball – who don’t
indulge in the Super Two boondoggle when they have a player who they think can
help them win. They promote that player
in April to try to help win ballgames right away when the season begins. Many pundits dismiss the Mets' approach as, "All the teams do it!" The numbers would seem to indicate otherwise. Furthermore, these players represent the best and the brightest of each of the included franchises. Furthermore, you also see a trend with multiple players from the Reds, Cardinals, Yankees, Red Sox, A's, Rays, Braves and other winning franchises.
Food for thought…
Reese - I have a question...
ReplyDeleteWho got up to this point? Was it the 'Moneyball' braniacs that woke up the world to 'Super 2' of was it just reserved for cheap ass teams?
Since Oakland is one of the teams with multiple players in these lists, I tend to think your latter point -- cheap ass teams -- is your answer. I found that the 2012-2016 CBA changed the Super Two status from the top 17% to the top 22% of players, but I can't seem to find when this whole fiasco started.
ReplyDeleteReese -
ReplyDeleteI try hard to be a good chief moderator of this site and, along with those duties, is to sometimes play both sides of the fence.
I have defensed Sandy Alderson and his rebirth of the '2010' Mets throughout the ups and downs of the Mets payroll numbers, but I can't seem to wrap my mind around not playing someone who, one, has the talent, and, two, is ready.
Almost every other team operates differently than Alderson and Wilpon and I just can't come up with anything to defend them on this subject.
It's just wack.
I see it as part of what I would term MLB's slow, methodical attempt to diminish the power of FA. Team's are locking up young players to long-term contracts usually covering their prime years. This act of adding another year of team control via Super 2 is just another example of this. By adding that year of control also makes the player a year older when eligible for FA, and with less of their prime years available to them. This creates FA classes of older, less impact players hitting the market every year. Sure you'll always have a few A-level FA's but most are B or C-role players signed to short-term deals. At least that's how see the rationale behind it, that's not to say I agree with it. The next CBA should be interesting.
ReplyDeleteI don't like to digress from the topic, but I was drawn to the positional battles list to the right. It is amazing how bad the 1B and SS groups are, especially SS. Has Stephen Drew become a guest writer and compiled that list of SS candidates?
ReplyDeleteMets Dreams -
ReplyDeleteA very good observation...