SAVAGE VIEWS
THINKING OUT LOUD
PETE ALONSO - ICON
There have been nasty rumors speculating that our Polar Bear will sign a contract with another club. The idea of Pete going elsewhere is rather silly.
Pete has a chance to be the Mets all-time home run champion and break other records on his way to wrapping up his career as a Met.
When he eventually retires, his number will be hoisted up to the rafters. He is a potential HOF candidate in a Mets Jersey.
Why would he give all that up to begin anew with
a different franchise? He will never be
loved and appreciated as much as being a lifelong Met.
ROKI SASAKI SWEEPSTAKES
I understand that Roki gave clubs interested in bidding for his services a homework assignment. The first question was: “provide me with details on your projected move to the west coast, including your plans on trading for Ohtani”.
If you cannot answer in the affirmative, you will be
eliminated from consideration.
Turns out the whole process was a sham. I don’t understand
why the Phillies and Reds sent international money to the Dodgers to enable
them to complete the transaction. In return neither got a good prospect.
Not only did the Dodgers get Sasaki, but if he is half as
good as projected, the Dodgers will get a compensatory draft pick next year.
I do wish Sasaki well, as they say on Broadway – “break a leg”.
And I mean it.
DODGERS ARE GETTING WAY BETTER
The Dodgers have signed two time Cy Young winner Blake Snell and perhaps the best left hand pitcher to a contract. They have also signed what’s considered to be a generational talent in Roki Sasaki to a major league contract and now have added the top free agent lefty reliever, Tanner Scott.
None of the Mets projected starting pitchers would make the Dodgers rotation.
The Mets may be playoff bound but it’s hard to imagine them making the World Series in the foreseeable future. Not only do the Dodgers have a great team, but they have a terrific farm system.
Steps need to be taken to make baseball competitive again.
I
suggest:
· A hard salary cap of $275M that
cannot be exceeded. Teams currently over the cap will be allowed 5 years to comply.
During the compliance period, teams will forfeit draft picks during the first
three rounds.
· Players from Japan and Korea will be
subject to the major league draft once they declare.
· The minimum salary for any team will
be 60% of the cap.
· Add a new team called the Nippon
Orientals consisting of players solely from Asia.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Mets need to add at least one more top-notch arm to the pen. Nearly every pitcher on the Mets has concerns.
I wish I felt more hopeful.
Ray
January 21,
2025
25 comments:
Break 5 key legs on the Dodgers and we’ve got a shot.
Baseball should move to your cap model Ray. Excellent proposal.
Ray
One more time...
It is the Pete camp that keeps saying no
Can't someone please criticize him?
There will never be a hard salary cap
The players will never agree to that
Why would Pete give all that up? Money, money, money
Mack, I’ve come to understand that SOMETHING is needed. Problem is the TV deals. The Dodgers have a $8B deal, the Twins can’t even get one. This isn’t good for the game. The Dodgers are working with inflationary numbers but if this sports bubble bursts, there will be many players that are wearing egg because this team will go bankrupt and I wonder if the league is obligated. However, for now, the integrity of the schedule is a joke to many fans and that is not what a league needs to be. Attendance this year will be down in the NL, and maybe everywhere, and it will be because fans aren’t enthused. Wait until next year’s winter meetings, they will be a hoot!
A Ray of hope is needed. The Dodger situation is out of control and must be addressed ASAP!
I agree, but...
The owners don't care if the Twins can't get a TV deal. That's their problim
What do you expect? The Dodgers to turn down the TV money offerred?
Cities like Nashville and Charlotte are praying for small market teams to go under
All the players care about is their next NIL deal
and the Commish will just continue to invent silly new rules to get himself off
THIS is the game you love
It can't be. That's what the players union and league have agreed to
No new agreement someday will recind that TV deal
Unfortunately, both Ray and Mack are correct.
Ray, I had the same miscalculation about Pete's career finishing up as the all-time greatest Mets hitter and the number retirement and the hall of fame, etc. etc. etc. I now know for a fact that it will never happen. If the Mets don't want to extend him for 10 years at age 30, there is no way that even if he does somehow manage to spend the next 3 in Queens that there is any way they will sign him again at age 33 I suppose if he has three years with 55 homers and 130 RBI and hits .280, they'll give it a cursory look for another 2 year contract, but I can't see any way that he'll be on the Mets at age 38.
I agree that both Mack and Ray are correct, but for the good of the game, the finances need to change. The owners don’t want to open their books and this the players won’t cry a single tear. The NHL was closed for a year and a half as they switched from their former way of doing things that was like baseball does, to the way NBA and the NFL do it. This has made the NHL more profitable and a better league.
I’m telling you, attendance will be way down, especially the NL WEST. Why should fans pay these ticket prices for teams that don’t have a chance? This will make it hard for those teams to pay their bills…. I think the smaller teams will out vote the behemoths and next year free agents are REALLY going to have a hard time finding deals. Soto is blessed and Alonso better get at least two or three years.
Baseball was simpler prior to free agency. You could only move to another team via trade. Pete would have been a Met for much longer, and paid drastically less. Who says it shouldn't be treacherous for these multi-millionaires?
One change baseball can make is prospectively NOT allowing deferrals to lower a contract's AAV. If you sign for $250 million for 5 years, but half is deferred, it hits your payroll for tax purposes at $50 million per season anyway.
Preach Tom! Preach!!
The deferrals rule was just plain stupid
Wouldn’t that be so cool?? LOLLL, I ain’t crying.
Ray, your ideas are creatively wonderful and would help our National Pastime (or what once was our Nat'l Pastime) considerably. However, as Mack mentioned, a cap is unfortunately never going to happen as long as the players' union wields the power it currently possesses (and the owners' prioritize their zealousness above anything else). Shame that GREED is more important than fairness and integrity, in the game we all once loved.
We're Mets fans here and rather fortunate to have Uncle Stevie as our owner in comparison to fans of (teams like) the White Sox and their cheap owner (Reinsdorf).
Can you imagine how fans of franchises like the White Sox feel?
Yates to LAD
Yates, too???? Where is Iglesias to hold up the OMG card?
Apparently, the top tax level of 110% is not nearly high enough? Make it 250% over $350 million.
I am voting for Ray to become commissioner of baseball.
He's too smart and way too young
I used to be smart and getting older day by day. Yates to the Dodgers, does it ever stop. Guess we get the sloppy leftovers.
Ray, he’s 38 and often injured. I’ll take Carlos Estevez and Rune Stanek!
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