Kyler Murray Is The Cost
MLB owners wanted to restrict bonuses given to draft picks. They got it.
MLB owners want to pay minor league players well below a living wage. They can.
MLB owners have concurrently determined players like Manny Machado, Bryce Harper, Yasmani Grandal, and others are not worth giving large free agent deals. It’s their prerogative.
While this is happening Kyler Murray played out his Junior year as the quarterback of the Oklahoma Sooners. He won the Heisman Trophy.
If he’s a first round pick in the upcoming NFL draft, he’s going to receive a signing bonus of at least $5 million plus a salary far surpassing the roughly $4,000 he would make playing short season minor league baseball.
Systematically, MLB owners have put barrier after barrier in place to suppress player wages. They’ve buttressed the Wilpons thereby having a New York team, who once had a top five payroll, spending like a mid market team. This further drives down player salaries.
When it comes to player contacts, the owners seemingly get what they want each and every time.
Well, they may be getting what they want on that front, but they’re a day closer to losing Kyler Murray. They’re also a day closer to losing the next Kyler Murray and the next one after that.
Overall, we can point fingers at Murray, Scott Boras, or the Athletics. It’s not about them. It’s about the money. Other sports are offering it, and baseball won’t.
I agree with you that they keep hurting themselves but owners are still making money. Maybe if idiots like me and everybody else who buy overpriced tickets and overpriced merchandise maybe they would change but we do and they won’t.
Owners are no doubt happy even if they’ll have eggs on their faces over this.
Are other sports really guaranteeing that much more money? Football/Hockey gets you CTE and arent the NFL contracts not guaranteed with injuries and such? After the first 2 years baseball players seem to do pretty damn well in arbitration. I don’t know how much baseball is losing for what they pay. The average was $4+ million. Basketball has some really high paid guys but one player there can make a much bigger difference than one player in MLB
Hockey pays much more through the minor league ranks, and football does just through the signing bonus and League minimum salary.