Boras Complains

Scott Boras complains about non-competitiveness:

“We have a non-competitive cancer that’s ruining the fabric of this sport,’’ Boras says. “And until we change the system, this is going to continue.

“Remember when Bud Selig used to always say that every fan must have hope and faith? That was his legacy. He said, ‘If you remove hope and faith from the fan, you destroy the fabric of the sport. My job is to restore that.’

“Those were Bud’s words, not mine.

“Well, the modern administration is not listening to that credo. Where’s that hope and faith now?’’

Jerry Dipoto throws some fuel on the fire:

“You could argue you’re going to compete with more clubs to get the first pick in the draft,’’ Dipoto told Seattle reporters, “than you would to win the World Series.’’

There is a very simple solution for ending tanking. Eliminate the draft and spending caps on amateurs. I’ll note that we never heard the word tanking before MLB instituted slot bonuses. There is a history of teams with the first pick passing on better players since they felt they could not afford to sign them. In other words, there was a penalty for tanking, the first round pick might cost you more than you could afford.

Slot bonuses subsidize tanking. At least get rid of the bonuses. There is a moral case, however, for getting rid of all these structures. A free market in players, from the youngest amateur to the oldest veteran is the fairest system. It’s time to tear down all these rules on drafting, reserving, arbitrating, and freeing and just concentrate on paying players for their value. Yes, it will be more work for the front offices and the players and their agents, but we won’t have teams intentionally tanking to gain a future advantage.

Hat tip to BBTF. The post there doesn’t like Boras’s plan to solve this situation.

from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2nnQtoU