Yeah, there's a seismic shift coming in baseball, and AA is at the forefront of it.Do what AA is doing. Give them big $ upfront. Things are going to be changing in MLB. They will be like the early 20's RFAs in hockey now.
Yeah, there's a seismic shift coming in baseball, and AA is at the forefront of it.
These players and their agents have to be realizing that the owners are squeezing them on both ends of their careers now. When they're young and in their prime, the owners keep them in the minors, manipulate their service time to maintain team control for as long as possible, pay them a pittance when they don't have arbitration rights and then fight to pay them as little as possible when they do.
And then when they finally get to free agency and their long-promised payday, unless you're one of the elite of the elite, you're then told that teams don't want to commit a lot of term and dollars to an older player and pay them for what they've already done through their declining years.
So if you're a player, giving up a few UFA years both to get paid immediately and get long-term security is a no-brainer. And it should be a no-brainer for the teams too. Lock up your young stars, keep them happy, and then you're not faced with the difficult decision on whether to let them go in their late 20's when they have some good seasons left, or give them a deal that takes them way deeper into their 30's than you'd like to.
Guys, AA is not giving anyone big money up front. He is locking down their arbitration years at a reasonable rate and getting their first few FA years at an absolute steal. He is working within the existing system to maximize value for the team he manages.
AA did a less extreme version of the same thing way back in the day with Aaron Hill and Adam Lind.
It's not a sure thing that guys like Bichette and Guerrero would be obviously risk-averse like Acuna and Albies, considering their dads were both MLB players that made a lot of money (Dante over $40 milllion, Vlad Sr. over $120M). But it's certainly worth a shot, and you know that if AA were here, he would be doing everything to find exactly how much it would cost to get them signed to extensions ASAP. I'm skeptical that the current front office will even try. I'm not even sure they would consider an offer from the player unless it was some kind of ridiculous Albies-esque bargain, and even then probably not for a year or two.
He just started playing last weekend, they'll likely want him to get a week or two of games in before the callup, but it will likely happen during the homestand around April 23 - 26.
This Brito guy really seems to suck at the plate lol
Atkins said this last week:
"Socrates, what has stood out is that there is incredible, incredible upside and potential with him"
That's an actual quote from the GM.
He is watching a different sport.
better question: would we be any worse off than we are now, in any respect (other than rogers' wallet)?
Is Rogers' wallet better when we suck like this?