Red Sox/MLB Buffalo Blue Jays - Mookie Betts agrees to sign 12-year, $365 million contract extension with LA

[Johnnyduke]

It's a real bad look if he gets his surgery while others are being made to wait.

Just to clarify something, we're talking routine surgeries that can be delayed. The Drs that do TJ surgeries...do they even do them in facilities that do other types of surgeries?

 

[Johnnyduke]

There's no chance he's gonna wait for surgery until after the Coronavirus stuff goes away. There is no timeline on that.

 

[Johnnyduke]

Will MLB season ever begin? And how might that impact Mookie...

... Betts is 102 days shy of free-agent eligibility, and if a delayed or canceled season causes him to fall short, he would have to enter the open market at age 29 instead of 28. That’s a meaningful difference given teams’ emphasis on youth, and the fact Betts has made all of his business decisions up to this point assuming free agency in 2020. If the season is shortened, the number of games constituting a full season could be adjusted easily enough, but is that what’s going to happen?

[According to Ken] Rosenthal ... the ongoing talks between the league and players association:

Still, two people with knowledge of the talks said service time was the most contentious of the issues under discussion, mostly due to differences over how much time players would receive in the worst-case scenario – a canceled season. The union obviously would want the players to collect as much time as possible. The clubs, coming off a season of virtually no revenue, likely would push for relief on a variety of fronts.


Although the current situation with COVID-19 could tilt the advantage toward the Dodgers in relation to Mookie, there might be an advantage for the Sox as it relates to Price.

A shortened season is perhaps a more clear-cut windfall for the Red Sox regarding the other player they surrendered in the deal. To trade David Price, the Red Sox had to pay half of his salary each of his remaining three years. If the 2020 season is cut in half, then that’s a sunk cost for this year. The Red Sox could have paid Price $16 million not to pitch for them, or pay him $16 million not to pitch for the Dodgers. If the entire season is wiped out – assuming his contract through 2022 remains a contract through 2022 – then $32 million of the Red Sox payment, a full two-thirds of what they’re giving the Dodgers, will have been a sunk cost.

Thank you. Oh, and what a clusterf*** this will be.

 

[BigGoalBrad]

Serious question;

Is TJ Surgery considered non-essential surgery during this crisis?

I assume it would be done by a specialist who isn't going anywhere near COVID patients. Sale also has more resources than anyone to navigate where/when/how its done. He was gonna likely fly somewhere private and coordinate with Andrews or whatever surgeons availability to do it anyways even if this wasn't going on not drive down the street and waltz into the ER. With the uncertainty he should be getting it done somewhere that isn't overwhelmed in 2 days vs putting it off 2 months.

My guess is hes our trade deadline bullpen help for 2021. And then 3 years after that as a starter.

 

[DKH]

The Cubs Just Traded a Catching Prospect to the Red Sox … for a Pitcher the Cubs Don't Actually Get

 

[LouJersey]

Sources: Mets' Syndergaard to have TJ surgery

Good times indeed.

 

[N o o d l e s]

Sources: Mets' Syndergaard to have TJ surgery

Good times indeed.

Was this expected at all? Seems so out of the blue

 

[LouJersey]

Was this expected at all? Seems so out of the blue

Totally out of the blue in true Mets-like fashion. It's the most Mets thing that could possibly happen actually. Well DeGrom but he's had TJ before so it would have been less surprising had it been him.

 

[N o o d l e s]

Totally out of the blue in true Mets-like fashion. It's the most Mets thing that could possibly happen actually. Well DeGrom but he's had TJ before so it would have been less surprising had it been him.

Ya I saw nothing even remotely close about this during my fantasy draft preps

 

[KesselBuiltMyHotrod]

So if the season is cancelled Mookie could sign back with Boston having never played a game with LA. Wild.

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

Yes, but I’m pretty sure if the season isn’t played the luxury tax isn’t getting reset so I can’t imagine they would have the room without going back over the threshold and getting dinged as a repeat offender.

 

[Mathews28]

How did they mismanage this so bad? The Red Sox doctors are inept and Sale is too stubborn for his own good. Should've been done months ago.

Good luck being admitted into a surgical unit at this point in time in our country anyway.

Once they gave him that contract after his then recent trips to the DL, nothing else surprises me about the situation. Yeah I know DD is gone but the deal wasn’t on him alone. Brilliant move by the FO.

 

[CDJ]

So if the season is cancelled Mookie could sign back with Boston having never played a game with LA. Wild.

we’d have to reset the luxury tax again unfortunately as this year would not count

 

[KesselBuiltMyHotrod]

If JD opts out and we trade Sale there's plenty of room.

 

[CDJ]

I don’t think they are going to make him the biggest offer either way tbh

 

[N o o d l e s]

we’d have to reset the luxury tax again unfortunately as this year would not count

• The ESPN duo also notes that 2020 luxury tax payrolls will be assessed “base[d] it on what full-season salaries were supposed to be, not prorated salary payment.” This is notable in that a team like the Yankees, who are way above the luxury tax threshold, will still be taxed even though they will actually pay out much less than $208MM in salaries. The actual tax paid will be prorated, according to Passan and McDaniel. The writers also explain, “And if there is no season, there will be no taxes owed, implying every team would reset to the lowest competitive balance tax threshold.” Before the coronavirus struck, teams such as the Red Sox and Cubs basically devoted their offseasons to getting under the threshold and resetting their tax rate for the future.

 

[CDJ]

• The ESPN duo also notes that 2020 luxury tax payrolls will be assessed “base[d] it on what full-season salaries were supposed to be, not prorated salary payment.” This is notable in that a team like the Yankees, who are way above the luxury tax threshold, will still be taxed even though they will actually pay out much less than $208MM in salaries. The actual tax paid will be prorated, according to Passan and McDaniel. The writers also explain, “And if there is no season, there will be no taxes owed, implying every team would reset to the lowest competitive balance tax threshold.” Before the coronavirus struck, teams such as the Red Sox and Cubs basically devoted their offseasons to getting under the threshold and resetting their tax rate for the future.

it does bring us closer to the expiration of the CBA though and that in itself may make the Sox more willing to violate the luxury tax if they think it’s gonna be the wild Wild West post 2021

 

[Gator Mike]

 

[BigGoalBrad]

Nomar hit .313 for his career I kinda think he belongs in the HOF since they’ve lowered the bar so drastically recently.

 

[McGarnagle]

Nomar hit .313 for his career I kinda think he belongs in the HOF since they’ve lowered the bar so drastically recently.

I loved Nomar back in the day, but he has no business being anywhere near the HOF. The bar has been lowered, but not that far.

 

[McGarnagle]

In the absence of new things to talk about, Buster Olney has kind of turned the Baseball Tonight podcast into an interview series going over classic moments, and there's a good episode from last week where he interviews Dave Roberts about the steal and being part of the 04 team. I'd recommend giving that a listen if you have time to kill.

 

[sarge88]

• The ESPN duo also notes that 2020 luxury tax payrolls will be assessed “base[d] it on what full-season salaries were supposed to be, not prorated salary payment.” This is notable in that a team like the Yankees, who are way above the luxury tax threshold, will still be taxed even though they will actually pay out much less than $208MM in salaries. The actual tax paid will be prorated, according to Passan and McDaniel. The writers also explain, “And if there is no season, there will be no taxes owed, implying every team would reset to the lowest competitive balance tax threshold.” Before the coronavirus struck, teams such as the Red Sox and Cubs basically devoted their offseasons to getting under the threshold and resetting their tax rate for the future.

More evidence that Every. Single. League. makes the salary cap infinitely more complicated than it needs to be.

Its not important enough to be so involved.

 

[CDJ]

More evidence that Every. Single. League. makes the salary cap infinitely more complicated than it needs to be.

Its not important enough to be so involved.

MLB would be so much better off with a hard cap, they basically have one without calling it that anyway. With a firm hard cap I wouldn’t have to listen to people bitch about how cheap the team is.

 

[BigGoalBrad]

MLB would be so much better off with a hard cap, they basically have one without calling it that anyway. With a firm hard cap I wouldn’t have to listen to people bitch about how cheap the team is.

Union is too good. They have successfully thwarted every attempt to improve the game.

My guess is they will lose the most from the pandemic because their players will refuse to play in empty stadiums staying in their own hotels where everyone has been tested.

Ratings would be through the roof if MLB network had a game on at all times. But it won’t happen their union is too strong.

Every team has an amazing regional sports network deal so they don’t really need fans. Pretty much the case across all 4 major sports even NHL which had little to no TV money relatively speaking when Jacobs destroyed the union in 2004.

 

[McGarnagle]

MLB has the strongest union of any pro sport, and they have leverage because of what happened in 1994. They'll never accept a hard cap until financial instability threatens to take down franchises and eliminate jobs (threatening to contract Minnesota and Tampa was Bud Selig's last bargaining chip when they almost went on strike in 2002, but he caved). When guys like Bryce Harper get $35 million a year, it helps every player from Machado to Tzu-Wei Lin because of not only setting the market, but also things like escrow and pension implications inside the player's association. Hard cap is more logical, but the union isn't going to give in, for good reason.