Revenue Sharing is Working According to Rosenthal

Articles such as Spreading the wealth spreads the talent, too are not journalism. Ken Rosenthal, the Expert's Choice, plays both sides of the fence. If one wants to take him to task for his proposition that revenue sharing is working, he tosses out

No doubt, the system remains flawed when low-revenue teams such as the Pirates and Royals operate without hope.

If one takes the other side, then Rosenthal states

Yankees this, Yankees that — enough already. Major League Baseball's revenue-sharing plan is working, with several have-nots demonstrating greater spending power than in the past.

So, what does Rosenthal actually bring to the discussion?

Nothing.

Just the facts …

  1. The Marlins beat out the Mets for free-agent first baseman Carlos Delgado, signing him to a four-year, $52 million contract.
  2. The Reds signed free-agent lefthander Eric Milton to a three-year, $25.5 million contract when the Yankees wouldn't give Milton more than $21 million.
  3. The Brewers signed free-agent catcher Damian Miller to a three-year, $8.5 million contract and traded for left fielder Carlos Lee, who will make $8 million this season.
  4. The Twins accomplished their chief priority by re-signing ace righthander Brad Radke to a two-year, $18 million contract.

  1. The fourth year on Delgado's contract, methinks, is going to be an albatross.
  2. $25.5 for Milton is not a smart signing. Rosenthal would say that because the Reds were able to spend that kind of money, revenue sharing works. Rather, all teams can throw money about, but it is the poor signings, such as this one, which hamper the team from overcoming a mistake. Only a few teams can swallow such money on a mistake once it fails.
  3. The Twins signing Radke, just like the A’s locking up Chavez last year, is not evidence revenue sharing is working. If the team can afford no one else, then what does it prove? Will the Twins be able to afford Johan Santana?
  4. The Brewers spent $ 16 million . . . but they had to. Even basement dwellers have to spend something. Together they still didn't match the Unit or Rocket's contracts, but hey, revenue sharing is definitely working.

    The Yankees finally reached their financial limit this offseason, choosing lefthander Randy Johnson over center fielder Carlos Beltran rather than simply swallowing both. Their limit remains far above the next-highest club's. But the way the tax works, the more they spend, the more they pay.

    Yes, the Yankees do pay a hefty fine and perhaps that was the reason for not acquiring Beltran. Or perhaps Beltran was not worth the expense. Time will tell. That the Yankees did not seriously battle for him does not mean they couldn't afford him, but I suppose the story does not work quite as well that way.

    A salary cap never is going to happen, nor should it, given the health of the industry.

    While I agree that a salary cap is unlikely, I find it disingenuous for Rosenthal to say so after equating the A's inability to keep everyone to the NFL. Don't play both sides. Doing so waters down everything a person has to say.

    Also blogged on this date . . .

    Tags:

Post a Comment

By submitting a comment here you grant ladow.net a perpetual license to reproduce your words and name/web site in attribution.