White Sox Minor Keys: July 26, 2022
As long as the protracted negotiations over the MLB-MLBPA collective bargaining agreement lasted, they didn’t start the season with all loose ends accounted for.
The biggest was the idea of an international draft, which the league attached to the qualifying offer. If the union acquiesced to their wishes for a draft that eliminated the current loophole-ridden, scandal-plagued system, then the league would remove any compensation for free agents.
Monday was the deadline for reaching a deal, and no deal came close to being reached.
MLB’s offer from March — one it says had been on the table since July 2021 — called for a 20-round, hard-slot draft that would guarantee $181 million to the top 600 international players, with up to $20,000 to spend on an unlimited number of undrafted free agents. MLBPA made its first counterproposal on July 8, marking the first time the union had formally agreed to any version of an international draft. It sought at least $260 million for the 600 picks, with slots acting as minimums, and up to $40,000 to spend on undrafted players.
When the league’s counterproposal on July 15 didn’t move a single dollar, MLBPA did the same, keeping its number at $260 million during a face-to-face meeting Saturday in New York. A day later, MLB submitted its final offer with hopes that it would be submitted to player leadership for a vote. It never got that far — and the union stresses that money was only part of the problem.
ACL Mariners 2, ACL White Sox 0
- Luis Pineda went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Chase Krogman, 1-for-2 with a walk and an HBP.
- Dario Borrero singled, walked and struck out twice.
- Victor Quezada wore the golden sombrero.
- Cam Butler struck out twice and was plunked once.
- Manuel Veloz: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
DSL D-backs Red 9, DSL White Sox 3
- Guillermo Rodriguez went 1-for-4.
- Erick Hernandez, 1-for-3.
- Ryan Burrowes was 0-for-2 with two walks and a strikeout. He was picked off.
- Loidel Chapelli was 0-for-2.
- Carlos Jimenez, 1-for-4 with a double and a strikeout.
I like the idea that Jim hinted at Carlos Jimenez falling off the updates, and it was the wake-up call he needed. I picture him slowly lowering his phone and turning his head to stare thoughtfully out the bus window before his expression hardens into resolve…
It just occurred to me that there are likely some analogues between the NCAA’s NIL evolution and the discussions going on regarding minor league compensation, the international draft, and probably a bunch of things I don’t know about like junior league tennis or something.
In one of our earlier discussions, I analogized minor leaguers to others that endure undesirable working/employment conditions for one reason or another and someone responded something to the effect of, “these guys aren’t truckers; they’re world-class athletes.” I let it drop in the moment, but the fact of the matter is that most of these guys are closer to truckers than major leaguers in terms of life-time earning potential and it’ll be interesting to see how the move to treat those that have star potential trickles down to those that are playing out the proverbial string but don’t yet want to give up on their dream.
In NCAA football we’re seeing it in the consolidation of mega-conferences. Herbstreit (among others) is predicting something like a 50-60 super-division with a handful of mega-conferences, while the lower end of the P5 and all but the best G5 will be relegated to something akin to FCS status. So the NIL money will go to the elitest of the elite athletes and most of the rest will retain something like amateur status.
In baseball, I wonder if the move to pay minor leaguers more results in more contraction of minor league teams with clubs focusing exclusively (or more) on the top-30 or top-60 type prospects. I get that baseball is a different animal and it’s better for Montgomery to beat up on age-appropriate opponents, so the ecosystem needs those guys that aren’t going to make it for Montgomery to become a star or we end up with Courtney Hawkins. But the boxing prodigy’s sparring partner doesn’t get paid as much as the prodigy, so we’ll be left with the bad choice of either a two-tiered system (which seems unfair to the less-talented and just as hard-working non-stars) or a smaller system (which would impact local culture and economy throughout the markets served by minor league teams).
The teams should simply be forced to pay all their guys more. They should be making a living wage, as should everyone working for a living.
MLB just lost a big lawsuit because of minimum wage and overtime pay laws, but it’s a lot more complicated than “pay a living wage.” Should teams be required to invest in fringy guys in the off-season? If the answer is, “yes,” then teams are going to establish a system with fewer fringy guys. Should players be expected to invest something in their own development (like paying tuition or performing an unpaid internship until you’ve proven yourself). If the answer is, “no,” then teams are going to establish fewer opportunities overall because they aren’t going to overpay for guys who are betting on themselves.
Major league teams maybe care about 2,000 guys in the minors and are willing to invest in them. If teams feel like they’re being asked to overpay for guys with less than a 1% chance of making it to the majors then those positions are going to get contracted. Maybe no job is better than a bad job and it forces would-be players to find higher and better uses to society, but the fact that underpaid guys keep trying to play baseball tells me they find some non-financial reward in the transaction.
By โany compensation for free agentsโ, do you mean supplemental draft picks or is there more?
It would be nice to have something in writing that eliminates loopholes and scandals, though. ๐
It should read โIf the union acquiesced to their wishes for a draft that eliminated the CURRENT loophole-ridden, scandal-plagued system and replaced it with a BRAND NEW ONE!โ