This week there was not one but two long strange trips for
pro ballplayers. One of them directly impacted
the New York Mets and one may just be a blueprint for future prospects who are
not happy with the financial restrictions offered by the provisions of the
Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
On Wednesday veteran outfielder Rajai Davis was in the midst
of his warmup drills in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania when he learned he was
needed at Citifield with Brandon Nimmo hitting the IL for his yeat unspecified
neck pain issues. He immediately showed
one of the huge advantages of having your AAA team in closer proximity to the
big club as he was able to travel by Uber for 2 hours to get from the minors
back to the majors. Arriving during the
third inning he apparently had gotten lost in the search for the Mets’
clubhouse and wound up dressing for the game not long before he was summoned to
pinch hit in the 8th inning.
He channeled his inner World Series heroics against Aroldis Chapman when
that night instead he took out his only occasional long ball vengeance on
Nationals’ closer Sean Doolittle which capped a six-run inning and gave him one
of the most memorable debuts of any player in Mets history.
However, his long strange trip to the majors is pablum
compared to prospect Carter Stewart who may have indeed found a win-win
situation that others will seek to emulate as they make the transition from
high school or college to the major leagues.
The 6’6”, 225 pounder hits the mid 90s regularly and touches the upper 90s
with his fastball while freezing batters with a hard-thrown curve. The
Braves spent their first round pick on Stewart but were unable to come to terms
with him and he went to college, planning to reenter the draft after being
eligible to do so next month.
You can’t fault a guy for doing what’s best for his career
and in his own way being crazy like a fox ought to pay off in spades. The 18 year old has signed a contract to play
for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in Japan.
By most accounts the Nippon Professional League is about what we would
consider AAAA compared to the United States, but we’ve seen a number of high
profile successes come across the Pacific to star here.
Why this particular case is interesting is the $7 million minimum
guaranteed money offered by the Fukuoka ballclub. The CBA limits American initial contracts to
a maximum of $2 million (and there’s no guarantee he would even get that
much). He turned down the lesser money (along with
the long bus rides and mediocre living conditions) to start his professional
baseball career in Japan which normally had been the last hope for minor
leaguers and fringe major leaguers hoping to cash in towards the end of their
careers.
Here’s where it gets really interesting. At the end of his 7-year deal the young man
will be just 25 years old and a free agent once again. At that point he will likely turn his head
towards the USA and a huge payday from teams looking for young starters to
propel them into contention. If he has
succeeded in Japan, he will get exactly what he wants. If he doesn’t, then he will have been paid
rather handsomely in better living conditions than had he opted to sign with an
American club.
Going into negotiations for the next CBA the powers that be
had better starting thinking long and hard how to address this scenario lest it
become far more commonplace. Recently
the St. Louis Cardinals reached over to Japan to pluck starter Miles Mikolas
who was a bit older but still in his 20s.
How’d that work out for them?
Unless the USA can become more competitive in its initial offerings, you
will see a talent drain as the global marketplace offers greater
opportunities.
4 comments:
Salaries are inequitable. Edwin iaz makes $609,000 This year, 2% of what Scherzer gets. Players need all the leverage they can get.
Diaz, that is. Luv my phone.
Rajai Davis and Carlos Gomez...two exclamation points this week, when desperately needed.
I think this model will entice a great many draft picks in the future -- 7 years to cash in NOW in Japan or Korea, followed by free agency at age 25 to try their hand back in the USA.
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