I like the NBA’s in-season tournament. Getting beyond the obvious, that no league does anything unless there are chances to make money, the concept was to convince the players to care earlier in the season and thus to get fans to care before Christmas as well.
Mission seems accomplished.
It is not the playoffs. But the best players are generally playing rather than load-managing, and the games have had a greater intensity than normal in November. Players reach the highest level, in part, because they have outsized competitiveness to fuel their outsized talent. So give them a reason to intensify — money, a trophy, bragging rights — and the result often will be a better product.
Baseball should take a cue from the NBA and create greater reasons for clubs to put their best players on the field regularly and for fans to invest at a higher level throughout the season.
I will offer two concepts below, but would love feedback on other ideas. But for this week, this covers my “If I were in charge”:
1. I would reward the team that has the best record each month.
The players would get an amount to share, let’s say $10 million. And the organization would get a draft pick between No. 6 and No. 11 in the first round.
That would be $60 million in prize money for the players over the course of a season — an investment of $2 million per franchise. The players would hold a share meeting in advance to decide how to spread the money around. And though it is not much, I am heartened by what Bucks star Damian Lillard said about trying to win the in-season tournament:
“I think it’s a situation where it’s a tournament, you want to win that first of all, but for us, in our position, guys like myself, Giannis [Antetokounmpo], Khris [Middleton], Brook [Lopez] as well, we’ve made a lot of money, but I think as a leader and somebody who cares about your teammates, especially your younger teammates, you got guys on two-way contracts, guys who are trying to earn their stay and that prize in the end could change their family’s lives.”
He added, “You don’t want to make everything about money, but that’s something we can do for people around us. Our coaches, they get a percentage of the same thing. Like I said, it gives you something to get up for and be excited about, even if it’s not for you individually.”
Props to Lillard for seeing a financial picture beyond his own paycheck. This could be a place in which MLB players — as they often do with postseason shares — recognize that $25,000 or $50,000 to a clubhouse chef or clubhouse attendant, etc., carries great meaning and builds terrific internal goodwill.
For example, the Rangers decided to be extremely generous with the $38.8 million pool they received for winning the World Series by handing out 64 full shares ($506,623 each) plus 12.56 partial shares and $48,000 in cash awards.
My friend Ken Rosenthal recently wrote a terrific piece in The Athletic about how the NL champion Diamondbacks voted 71 full shares of $313,634 plus 11.49 partial shares and took care of workers such as the clubhouse food attendants.
Also, I just made up $10 million as the prize. Perhaps there could be sponsors for each month and the amount handed out could rise.
As for the teams, here is something to remember: The idea of having the worst teams draft first was decided by executives and did not come from a burning bush. The draft can be rigged in any way, and rewarding franchises that are going for it seems to me a good idea.
Leave the first five picks intact. But the six monthly winners would have a lottery to determine the order for picks Nos. 6-11. And one added quirk: Allow those picks to be tradeable to provide a further asset.
Last season, the best winning percentages by month belonged to the Rays (.793) for March/April, the Rangers (.667) for May (the Yankees were second at .655), the Braves (.840) for June, the Orioles (.654) for July (I had forgotten that amid their selloff, the Mets actually were at .609 that month), the Dodgers (.828) for August and the Padres (.741) for September/October.
I believe as we get toward the final week each month, there will be an increased interest as teams have a magic number to chase every 30-ish days. Ties can be broken by record vs. common opponents, then run differential.
Come September, this setup could convince teams that already have clinched playoff spots or are hopelessly out of it to continue to play aggressively. The non-playoff Padres had the best record for September/October followed by the under-.500 Tigers.
2. I might use the first idea even in conjunction with others. But how about an actual in-season tournament?
As in the NBA’s version, designate a set of games that count for in-season group play. For example: the first game of every intra-division series through June 30. That would be roughly eight games per team.
So if you looked at the AL East through June 30 last season, the Orioles would have won this group by going 6-2 in the first games of a series within the division. The Rays and Red Sox were 5-3. The Blue Jays and Yankees were 2-6.
The winner from each division (again, tie-breakers are head-to-head then run differential within these games) has its players again share a monetary award.
The two teams from each league with the best records (same tiebreakers, if necessary) play a single-elimination semifinal on the Monday of the All-Star break at the site of the Midsummer Classic. The championship game is the next night after the Home Run Derby. Move the All-Star Game to Wednesday. Start the second half on Saturday so the participants of the tournament get sufficient time off.
Would there be concerns about the crowd size at a neutral site? Probably. But that is why the popular Home Run Derby serves as the appetizer to the championship game. And perhaps something intriguing can be added prior to the semifinals, such as a three-inning legends game. It feels as if all of these are events for which MLB can get sponsors.
The participants receive a monetary prize. But what to give as a reward to the franchise that wins? Perhaps more draft picks. What about a draft pick if you don’t make the playoffs and an extra home playoff game if you do? And if any team finishes tied for a playoff spot, being a Final Four participant in the in-season tournament becomes the first tiebreaker?
My totally made-up trade
Carlos Correa and Max Kepler to the Mets for Starling Marte, Tylor Megill and Mark Vientos
OK, a few items, beginning with the proviso — in case you missed the heading — that this is a totally made-up trade and meant to highlight issues that could push teams to act. Or I can save lazy aggregators the time: “Crazy idea from MLB insider.”
• In the Twins’ case, president of baseball operations Derek Falvey has said the team has to cut payroll amid the lost income from the bankruptcy of the regional sports network that airs its games. The Twins would love to find someone to take the two years at $20 million owed Christian Vazquez, but the veteran catcher is 33 and coming off a terrible season, so good luck.
Kepler ($10 million) and Jorge Polanco ($10.5 million plus a $12 million option for 2025 with a $750,000 buyout) are tradeable. But the Twins don’t want to think about subtracting without creating room also to add. They won the AL Central last season, ended their 18-game playoff losing streak and even won a postseason round.
They want to keep building upon this and already know they are down two main starters — Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda, who signed with the Cardinals and Tigers, respectively — from last season’s team. They can go with Chris Paddack and Louie Varland as replacements. But surely they want to do better and probably need money to make that happen — and Correa is their most expensive player. He is owed $36 million in 2024 (including $4 million from his signing bonus due in February) and five years at $164 million in total.
The lefty bats of Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner could make replacing Kepler easier, plus the Twins would try to revive the righty Marte, who is due $19.5 million per year in 2024 and 2025, for their outfield. Kyle Farmer can step in at shortstop until touted prospect Brooks Lee is ready, likely during the 2024 season.
Correa has an important leadership role with the Twins, but is the short-term and long-term money savings more valuable to the franchise?
• In the Mets’ case, this would come down to whether they see Marte as a lost cause and Correa as salvageable? If the Mets believe Marte will more closely resemble his 2022 version than the 2023 version, why add greater money/risk with Correa?
After agreeing to a 12-year, $315 million pact with Correa last winter, the Mets — as the Giants had done — failed him on his physical. Both organizations had concerns with the long-term health of Correa’s lower right leg, on which he incurred a significant injury in the minors.
Before Correa agreed with the Twins, the Mets offered a reworked deal of six years at $157.5 million — not that different from the commitment that Correa currently has left and even less with the offset of Marte going the other way in this hypothetical deal. Also, Correa had agreed to move to third base to play alongside his friend Francisco Lindor.
Now, the likelihood is the Mets simply 1) would not want to take on the risk with the extra money owed Correa, and 2) might want to see if a youngster such as Brett Baty or Ronny Mauricio can ascend to the third-base job.
This is probably more just me overvaluing Correa, who hit just .230 last season with a 94 OPS-plus, a drop in his home run rate for the second straight year and a rise in his strikeout rate. In addition, he did not play the last two weeks of the regular season due to plantar fasciitis.
But for the month prior to that, Correa, still just 29, had hit more in line with his career norms and then in the postseason he rose again, hitting .409 in six games. He has an .860 OPS in 85 career playoff games. And Correa has a brilliant baseball mind.
Again, I am sure I overrate him. If he were a free agent, Correa would have trouble getting to five years at $164 million, which is why the return in prospect capital — Megill and Vientos — is not overwhelming and reflects, as much as anything, a return for Kepler, who had a Jekyll/Hyde first half (.688 OPS) and second half (.926).
Free-agent deep dive
The Yankees would love to have a starter who had accumulated the combination over the last five seasons of durability (124 starts ranks as the 18th-most in the majors) and excellence (17.7 Wins Above Replacement is seventh-best).
Yep, if the Yankees had never had Sonny Gray, they probably would have been trying to acquire Sonny Gray, who in those five seasons since leaving the Yankees has finished seventh for the NL Cy Young in 2019 with the Reds and second for the AL Cy Young in 2023 behind Gerrit Cole.
Instead, Gray reached agreement with the Cardinals on a three-year, $75 million free-agent deal.
Gray turned 34 earlier this month, but he does not have a history of arm ailments. He is coming off a season in which he was the best among qualified starters at limiting homers (0.4 per nine innings) and was terrific at limiting walks (7.3 percent).
There is a bias against small righties, and Gray is generously listed at 5-foot-10. But he already has shown MLB durability and excellence.
Aaron Nola just signed a seven-year, $172 million pact with the Phillies that takes him through his age-37 season on a contract that averages $24.57 million annually. A three-year contract through his age-36 season will pay Gray $25 million annually.
I don’t think it is outlandish to believe that for the next three seasons — even with the age discrepancy — that Gray outpitches Nola.
Roster stuff maybe only I notice
To get through this project this offseason, there are going to have to be weeks in which we look at multiple teams. The exercise, in case you do not remember, was to put every player who appeared in a game in 2023 back on the club that signed him to his original contract and then see which organization can make the best 26-man team that resembles an actual roster.
The hope has been to provide a window into which organizations do the best (and worst) at accumulating amateur talent through the draft, internationally and in undrafted personnel.
To date, we have covered: 30. Brewers, 29. A’s, 28. Nationals, 27. White Sox, 26. Mariners.
This week, the Rockies at No. 25 and Tigers at No. 24 join the list.
As you would expect with the Rockies, they simply have not developed quality pitching. They were the only franchise without a single pitcher who had reached at least 2.0 Wins Above Replacement (Fangraphs). The best was starter Jon Gray at 1.8, followed by reliever Jake Bird at 1.5.
The Rockies also had just eight originally signed position players reach even 200 plate appearances, which was tied for the fifth-fewest.
Here is the Rockies original team — we put third baseman Ryan McMahon at first base (where he has played 48 career games) so both he and Nolan Arenado could be among the starters:
C: Tom Murphy
1B: McMahon
2B: Brendan Rogers
SS: Ezequiel Tovar
3B: Arenado
LF: Charlie Blackmon
CF: Brenton Doyle
RF: MIke Tauchman
DH: Garrett Hampson
Bench: Rafael Ortega, Brian Serven, Trevor Story, Alan Trejo
Rotation: Gray, Tyler Anderson, Ryan Feltner, Kyle Freeland, Peter Lambert
Closer: Carlos Estevez
Bullpen: Bird, Bryan Baker, Huascar Brazoban, Karl Kauffman, Justin Lawrence, Sam Moll, Joel Payamps
The Tigers have a much clearer road to having their group look better in the coming years. Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson have established themselves as good players, Casey Mize is in line to return next season after Tommy John surgery and well-regarded third baseman Colt Keith is due in the majors in 2024.
The best original Tigers roster:
C: James McCann
1B: Torkelson
2B: Harold Castro
SS: Willy Adames
3B: Eugenio Suarez
LF: Kerry Carpenter
CF: Greene
RF: Parker Meadows
DH: Nick Castellanos
Bench: Jose Azocar, Curt Casali, Kody Clemens, Ryan Krieder
Rotation: Alex Faedo, Matt Manning, Tarik Skubal, Drew Smyly, Justin Verlander
Closer: Jason Foley
Bullpen: Drew Carlton, Buck Farmer, Chad Green, Joe Jimenez, John Schreiber, Gregory Soto, Will Vest
Last licks
Two more Japanese starting pitchers officially post and can be bid upon beginning on Tuesday: Yokohama Bay Stars lefty Shota Imanaga, who played for Japan’s World Baseball Classic team last spring and is a two-time All-Star in Nippon Professional Baseball, and Nippon Ham Fighters righty Naoyuki Uwasawa.
Imanaga, 30, had a 2.66 ERA and 188 strikeouts in 159 innings in the 2023 season. Uwasawa, 29, had a 2.96 ERA and 124 strikeouts in 170 innings.
A few weeks back, while working on a column about Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the top-rated starter coming from Japan this offseason, I asked a few of the interview subjects about their opinions on Imanaga and Uwasawa, anticipating both also would be trying to come to MLB.
Interestingly, the players who faced them had a much higher opinion of the pitchers than the anonymous scout I spoke with.
Ryan McBroom played parts of three seasons with the Royals before joining the Hiroshima Carp the past two years. His view on Imanaga:
“He is a lefty who attacks. He doesn’t really try to pitch around you. Firm fastball with a good breaking ball. He is a lefty who will come inside to righties. He has a back-foot slider, and he will keep you honest with a changeup. To me, his stuff was very plus.”
My scout on Imanaga: “I thought he was a reliever. I thought he profiled better as a reliever with an average fastball/slider combo. He has a split, too. He has inconsistency in command with his delivery. I thought the three pitches were average and would tick up as a reliever.”
David MacKinnon played in 2022 with the Angels and A’s. In 2023, he was with the Seibu Lions.
His view on Uwasawa: “I see him as a fourth or fifth [starter] or a long-relief guy. He’s good. He’s another guy who is super-deceptive. It took me a couple of times seeing him to square him up. I had troubles. He hides it well. He mainly pitches at 90-92 [mph], but he has a good forkball that is hard to see. And he started working in his curve and slider more toward the end of the year.”
My scout on Uwasawa: “I thought he was a swingman. I think this is a watered-down version of [Kenta] Maeda. The whole is better than the sum of his parts. But there is value in a strike thrower who can pitch multiple innings. There might be some untapped power in the lower half to make him a full-time starter.”
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