CARLSBAD, Calif. – As agent Scott Boras concluded a press conference at the General Managers Meetings on Wednesday, where he faulted the league’s structure for incentivizing tanking, he said at most 17 teams were actively trying to construct a roster to win a World Series title.
“Many others are in transition where they’re trying to say we’re going to see if we have enough to take the next step,” Boras said. “Then by June, many of those teams revert to, ‘No, we have to retool, so we’re going to save money.”
Boras didn’t single out any clubs, but the National League Central may be the poster child. The Milwaukee Brewers won 95 games and the St. Louis Cardinals used a historic winning streak in September to reach 90 wins.
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The Cincinnati Reds already have a weaker roster after they traded Tucker Barnhart, placed Wade Miley on waivers and saw Nick Castellanos opt out of his contract as they lower payroll. The Chicago Cubs are rebuilding after trading their core of star players at the trade deadline and the Pittsburgh Pirates lost 101 games.
“Now we have half the Major League teams,” Boras said, “at some time during the season being non-competitive, trading off their players, making the game and the season very different than what it was intended to be – and that was having an incentive to win every game that you play.
“We should never ever talk about payroll. What we have to talk about is revenues and we have to talk about the success of the game in its total.”
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Boras attributed the trend of tanking – teams OK with losing because it meant a higher draft pick – to the sport’s collective bargaining agreement in 2012 when limits were implanted on how much teams could spend on MLB draft picks. It was a reason, Boras says, why the Atlanta Braves were able to win a World Series title.
“It’s not about the Atlanta Braves, their general manager or ownership; it’s really about the rules,” Boras said. “The rules allowed them to be a less than .500 team at August 1st and add five players from teams that no longer wanted to compete and for very little cost change the entirety of their team and season. We saw this unfold to the detriment of teams that created vast expense, planning and intellect and won over 100 games.”
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Boras, who doesn’t support a salary floor for teams, hopes for a revamped draft system. Most American-born Major League players come from the first two rounds of the draft. One solution, he said, would force teams to win a certain number of games, like 75 games, to assure themselves of their high draft pick. If a team didn’t reach the number of wins, maybe they’d be penalized to a lower pick.
Plus, it could give fans another reason to watch teams with losing records at the end of a season.
“If it was best for them to win 75 or 80 games, and they knew they had to strive to win draft picks, you would not see this type of conduct because there would be motivation for them,” Boras said. “Ownerships have strong reasons to say I’m not giving you my core players because I have to make sure I am winning and achieving the proper reward for winning in draft and development.”
It’s a top-heavy sport, Boras said. Six teams lost at least 95 games. Two teams lost 110 games. Rebuilding cycles can take five years.
“Obviously, we’ve got problems,” Boras said. “We’ve got problems now because we’ve got great players being moved around in the middle of the season that hurt the teams they left with the design that they’re going to be weaker. We don’t ever want a system that rewards being a lesser team.”
So, how many of the 17 clubs building toward a championship reside in the NL Central?
“I think you know the answer to that,” Boras said.
QUICK QUIP: Boras, who represents free agent Nick Castellanos, is known for his one-liners when he speaks at offseason meetings. When he was asked about teams' interest in Castellanos, he looked at his phone and grinned.
"I advised all of you two years ago that Ol' Saint Nick was going to bring a lot of presents to Cincinnati," he said. "Frankly, we're just going to sit back and see what teams have been naughty and nice."
FALL STARS: The Reds had three prospects selected to the Arizona Fall League’s Fall Star Game on Saturday: infielder Ivan Johnson, outfielder Michael Siani and right-handed pitcher James Marinan. Siani and Marinan will be unavailable to play in the game.
Johnson is hitting .269 with six homers, three doubles and 10 RBI in 15 games. The 23-year-old finished last season at High-A Dayton. Siani, 22, hasn’t played in November, but he had a .333 batting average with three doubles, one homer and 10 stolen bases in his first 12 games.
Marinan has allowed 11 hits and eight runs in 13 1/3 innings while striking out 14 and walking six.
TEAM AWARDS: The Reds announced the winner of their 2021 team awards, which was voted by the local chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Castellanos was voted as the Ernie Lombardi Most Valuable Player. He hit .309 with 38 doubles, 34 homers and 100 RBI, selected to his first All-Star team.
Wade Miley was named the Johnny Vander Meer Most Outstanding Pitcher after he posted a 12-7 record and a 3.37 ERA across 28 starts. Joey Votto earned the Joe Nuxhall Good Guy Award.
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