By now I'm sure we're all aware of the news that broke earlier this week, when Major League Baseball and Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league agreed to cap player posting fees at $20 for the next three years.
But what is MLB Commissioner Bud Selig really trying to accomplish with this move?
Coincidentally (wink), we've recently learned Japanese super-free agent Masahiro Tanaka will likely no longer be posted by his current employer, the defending Nippon champion Rakuten Golden Eagles.
This, I have to think, is not what Selig had in mind when he was advocating for the new cap.
What Selig likely had in mind was parity, something one can now find overflowing in towns like Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Kansas City (had to). These are towns where meaningful baseball is rarely played past Labor Day, much less well into football season.
But now, hope abounds.
Indeed, parity has been great for baseball. And Selig has made it abundantly clear in the form of a competitive balance lottery, slot money for draft picks and continued revenue sharing that the league's front office will continue to make an effort to help the little guy.
But what Selig has also made abundantly clear is his wish for baseball to expand its global reach, having overseen perhaps the most successful era of international stars baseball, or any sport, has ever witnessed.
It's become a relatively mundane practice to sign an international player to big money lately. Young international players like the Dodgers' Yasiel Puig and Marlins' Jose Fernandez are bursting on to the scene more frequently now than ever.
Shoot, Japan alone has produced three of the highest paid outfielders... of all time! You know, guys like Ichiro, Matsui and... Fukudome? Why would anyone want to cap this!?
Selig is setting the wrong example here. His heart is in the right place, never wanting to leave out the Marlins and Astros of the world, but this time he blew it. Plain and simple.
Regardless of who would have inked Tanaka this offseason, there's no doubt it's a better story than his not posting because the number was too low.
Is it too early to say I miss the good old days?
careeryearblog@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment