Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE

MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:””;
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}

First of all… MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!

Second… I’m trying
really, really, really, really, really, really hard to avoid my natural habit
of commenting on the Yankees latest monstrosity signing. I shall resist. (See… I’m growing)

 

I’ve thought
a lot about the system I introduced in my last blog and I’d like to take it a
step further. I think the time has come where bantering on MLBlogs.com about
the need for a salary cap is over and someone needs to come up with an idea.

 

Is my idea
the right answer? I don’t know. I’m not arrogant enough to believe I have all
the answers, but I do believe that coming up with an idea is, at the very least,
as step toward a solution.

 

I have only
worked the system to figure out the market value of position players so far
(pitchers will be coming soon). Basically, I divide 9 positive stats and 2
negative stats into 3 tiers. The top two tiers are given a value based on
rarity and percentile, the bottom tier receives no value because it is not
considered rare.

 

The
percentile is then taken from the league minimum salary which is $390,000. The
higher the percentile, the more money the player gets. For instance: Players
who hit between 35 and 50 homeruns in 2008 makes up the top tier which is the
top 1.3% in the league. That rarity is valued at $384,800. Therefore, the 10
players that fit into that tier earn that $384,800. Make sense?

 

There are
also “Non-Performance-Based Bonuses” that can help a veteran or former
superstar whose performance may not be what it used to be.

                MVP Award:                                      $1,000,000

                CY-YOUNG AWARD:                      $1,000,000

                ALL-STAR APPEARANCE:           $364,000

                GOLD-GLOVE:                                  $380,640

                SILVER-SLUGGER:                          $380,640

                WORLD SERIES MVP:                   $2,000,000

                ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:                $250,000

                CHAMPIONSHIP RING:                 $750,000

 

                5-YEAR VETERAN                          $500,000

                10-YEAR VETERAN                       $1,000,000

                15-YEAR VETERAN                       $1,500,000

                20-YEAR VETERAN                       $2,000,000

 

Mark
Teixeira just signed an 8-year/$180million contract which makes his annual
salary somewhere around $22.5 million per year (and that’s all I’m going say
about that). Teixeira is a great player, but is anyone worth $20 million a
year?

 

According to
this system, no.

 

Mark
Teixeira would have a market value of $5,214,840. Now, this doesn’t mean the
Yankees are necessarily overpaying, all it does is give an idea as to how Mark
Teixeira compares to the rest of the league. As a matter of fact, here are a
few of the remaining free-agents on the market and how their 2008 market values
compare to their 2008 salaries.

 

Player                                                 2008
Market Value                    2008
Salary

Bobby Abreu                                     $4,248,160                                         ($16,000,000)

Manny Ramirez                               $12,982,520
                                      ($20,000,000)

Garrett Anderson                            $4,585,040                                         ($12,600,000)

Richie Sexson                                    $2,161,680
                                        ($15,500,000)

Nomar Garciaparra                        $4,167,720                                         ($9,516,697)

Ivan Rodriguez                                 $14,722,760                                      ($12,379,883)

Adam Dunn                                        $2,880,560
                                        ($13,000,000)

Ken Griffey Jr.                                   $13,925,480                                      ($8,282,695)

Pat Burrell                                         $3,156,840
                                        ($14,250,000)

Jason Giambi                                     $5,785,600
                                        ($23,428,571)

 

As you can
see, there are some players whose contracts far exceed their value and other
who are worth more. These numbers aren’t exactly going to spark inspiration
from the MLB Players Association (or Adam Dunn’s agent), but it will stabilize the
market. If this system had been in place for the last 10 years, the Yankees
wouldn’t have paid Jason Giambi $23 million a year to under-perform, nor would
the Braves have paid Mike Hampton $15 million each year to sit on the disabled
list.

 

Given this
system, would the Yankees have still paid almost half a billion this
off-season? Probably. But combine this value with a solid salary-cap, and maybe
prices won’t inflate every year and I won’t have to sit at home all summer
watching an alarming number of players earn more money in one game than I will
in the next 4-years.

 

Okay, maybe I still will (I’m still a writer), but
less people will.

 

So let this
post be the start of an official movement. The idea’s not perfect (YET!) but if
you like it, pass it on, tell anyone you feel like telling. It’s a long shot
but maybe, just maybe, someone will hear it who can actually make something
happen. We’ve always heard that the league wants to put us, “the fans,” first.
Now it’s time to see if they’ll listen to us.