38 minutes ago, EloyJenkins said:

This league is broken

Baseball is yet again a reflection of the country.

"Juan Soto is on the Mets because Cohen is a much, much richer man than Steinbrenner. Suddenly, the Mets, long a baseball punch line for their frugality under old ownership and their propensity for wonky controversy, are all grown up. They’re not just sitting at the adult table but commanding it with ungodly gobs of money. Cohen once spent $244 million on a pair of statues; Soto is pocket change for him.

Money, in sports as in life, matters only as far as what it allows or restricts one from doing. Giving Soto a king’s ransom won’t alter how Cohen lives (lavishly) or how his baseball team does business (assertively). Whether Soto is worth $765 million doesn’t really matter, not in the big picture and not to Cohen. He’s good for it. If Soto doesn’t live up to the contract — whatever, it’s all just cash.

Steinbrenner, whose fortune comes directly from the success of the Yankees, simply cannot operate in that hemisphere. And if he had outbid Cohen’s offer, surely Cohen would have re-upped the ante.

That dynamic signifies a significant changing of the guard, both in the Big Apple and across MLB. The Mets and Dodgers are in a financial league of their own. The Yankees are a level below. Such a statement would’ve sounded preposterous 15 years ago, when the Mets were run by the stingy Wilpon family and the Dodgers were bankrupt by a clueless owner.

But times have most certainly changed, and the Yankees, now Soto-less, must find a way to adapt to this new, unforgiving reality."

https://sports.yahoo.com/for-the-yankees-losing-juan-soto-to-the-mets-is-about-more-than-baseball-054725381.html

Edited December 9, 20241 yr by caulfield12

Could Soto literally out-earn the entire Sox payroll this year?

Pretty ridiculous contract, but we knew this was what it was going to take.  15 years is wild.  I can't imagine Soto opting out after the fifth year.  $51 million a year (for another 10 years) would be hard to top.

However, I'm glad he signed already.  This should allow the winter meetings to be much less of a snooze fest than last year.

We need a diehard Sox fan who happens to be Hedge Fund Manager to buy out JR.

Are there any headhunters in the forum? get er done. 

Edited December 9, 20241 yr by Falstaff

2 hours ago, hi8is said:

Baseball is yet again a reflection of the country.

The Gilded Age 2.0

37 minutes ago, hogan873 said:

Pretty ridiculous contract, but we knew this was what it was going to take.  15 years is wild.  I can't imagine Soto opting out after the fifth year.  $51 million a year (for another 10 years) would be hard to top.

However, I'm glad he signed already.  This should allow the winter meetings to be much less of a snooze fest than last year.

Apparently he can choose between an opt out and a $4 million a year salary increase.

2 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

"Juan Soto is on the Mets because Cohen is a much, much richer man than Steinbrenner. Suddenly, the Mets, long a baseball punch line for their frugality under old ownership and their propensity for wonky controversy, are all grown up. They’re not just sitting at the adult table but commanding it with ungodly gobs of money. Cohen once spent $244 million on a pair of statues; Soto is pocket change for him.

Money, in sports as in life, matters only as far as what it allows or restricts one from doing. Giving Soto a king’s ransom won’t alter how Cohen lives (lavishly) or how his baseball team does business (assertively). Whether Soto is worth $765 million doesn’t really matter, not in the big picture and not to Cohen. He’s good for it. If Soto doesn’t live up to the contract — whatever, it’s all just cash.

Steinbrenner, whose fortune comes directly from the success of the Yankees, simply cannot operate in that hemisphere. And if he had outbid Cohen’s offer, surely Cohen would have re-upped the ante.

That dynamic signifies a significant changing of the guard, both in the Big Apple and across MLB. The Mets and Dodgers are in a financial league of their own. The Yankees are a level below. Such a statement would’ve sounded preposterous 15 years ago, when the Mets were run by the stingy Wilpon family and the Dodgers were bankrupt by a clueless owner.

But times have most certainly changed, and the Yankees, now Soto-less, must find a way to adapt to this new, unforgiving reality."

https://sports.yahoo.com/for-the-yankees-losing-juan-soto-to-the-mets-is-about-more-than-baseball-054725381.html

I’m gonna call bullsh*t on this sympathy for the Yankees.

In 2004 the Yankees payroll crossed $200 million for the first time, I think with the ARod trade. At the time, their payroll was about 5% of league revenues, estimated about $4.3 billion.

MLB revenues should cross $12 billion this year.

The $300 million payrolls of the Yankees and Mets will be about 2.5% of that, half the rate of two decades ago.

Were the Yankees bankrupt in 2004? If not, this is a massive proportional payroll cut by them. Even if their revenue is growing more slowly than the rest of the league (didn’t YES premier after this?), that’s easily $200 million more their owners are taking home per year.

Poor Yankee ownership can’t keep up though.

On 12/3/2024 at 12:00 PM, southsider2k5 said:

Yeah and five years from now when the going price is a billion, people will look back on it and think how cheap this deal is.

 

Yep.  If he stays reasonably healthy and produces this price isn't going to look all that crazy in 5-10 years.  I wish we were a year or two further along in the rebuild and had a serious owner to get involved here.  

7 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

I’m gonna call bullsh*t on this sympathy for the Yankees.

In 2004 the Yankees payroll crossed $200 million for the first time, I think with the ARod trade. At the time, their payroll was about 5% of league revenues, estimated about $4.3 billion.

MLB revenues should cross $12 billion this year.

The $300 million payrolls of the Yankees and Mets will be about 2.5% of that, half the rate of two decades ago.

Were the Yankees bankrupt in 2004? If not, this is a massive proportional payroll cut by them. Even if their revenue is growing more slowly than the rest of the league (didn’t YES premier after this?), that’s easily $200 million more their owners are taking home per year.

Poor Yankee ownership can’t keep up though.

Forbes estimates their Operating Income to be $2.1M last year.  Again, no idea how accurate those figures are, but I do think you are probably oversimplifying things quite a bit.  For example, how much has revenue sharing changed over the past 20 years?  Also, I’m guessing on a relative basis all the new national TV is bigger for a small market club than it is for the Yankees.

I won’t root against a player like this, but I do hope one day one of these insane contracts completely falters and isn’t covered by insurance.  Without a cap I’m not sure it would be that crippling to teams like the Mets & Dodgers, but it would certainly sting and hopefully reign them in a little.

Just think, by halfway through next season, the Mets are contractually obligated to pay Soto more than any contract the White Sox have given out.

10 hours ago, PaleAleSox said:

Hot take but both are wrong. 15 years is insane. 

 

They'll undoubtedly take a hit at the end but that's the price of landing a future HOFer at age 26.  Should deliver plenty of surplus-value seasons in the meantime.  And who knows, maybe he makes a run at some records at the end.  

2 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

Steinbrenner, whose fortune comes directly from the success of the Yankees, simply cannot operate in that hemisphere.

One of these days, maybe a mega superstar in their prime who can single handedly make your team more successful will become available.

16 minutes ago, Snopek said:

One of these days, maybe a mega superstar in their prime who can single handedly make your team more successful will become available.

Like Robert?

1 hour ago, hogan873 said:

Pretty ridiculous contract, but we knew this was what it was going to take.  15 years is wild.  I can't imagine Soto opting out after the fifth year.  $51 million a year (for another 10 years) would be hard to top.

However, I'm glad he signed already.  This should allow the winter meetings to be much less of a snooze fest than last year.

If Juan Soto can get $765 million today, in 5 years he will be 31 and if he continues to produce like he has I would imagine he could get a lot more than he just got yesterday if he opts out. Might not be that crazy a thought.

28 minutes ago, poppysox said:

Like Robert?

To me this is the interesting thing.  If Soto is worth $50+ per year, is a couple of years of Robert at $20 million really that big of a risk?  At the very least it looks a lot better today than it did at the same time yesterday.

1 hour ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I won’t root against a player like this, but I do hope one day one of these insane contracts completely falters and isn’t covered by insurance.  Without a cap I’m not sure it would be that crippling to teams like the Mets & Dodgers, but it would certainly sting and hopefully reign them in a little.

Rendon, Pujols, Hamilton

The Angels are the poster child for this

This s%*# is out of control.....

2 hours ago, poppysox said:

Like Robert?

 

He said mega superstar.  

13 minutes ago, bighurt574 said:

 

He said mega superstar.  

We aren't going to pay for an established superstar.  Our best chance is a potential superstar.

2 hours ago, poppysox said:

Like Robert?

Unfortunately, Robert is no Soto and has never been on that tier of players.

6 minutes ago, poppysox said:

We aren't going to pay for an established superstar.  Our best chance is a potential superstar.

We had one of those.  Unfortunately, Rick Hahn in all his wisdom traded him for the already decaying corpse of James Shields in a futile attempt to make the playoffs.

We also could have signed a star player in Harper.  The Sox could have afforded him and his contract looks like a bargain now.  But Jerry got stage fright.

Edited December 9, 20241 yr by WhiteSox2023

47 minutes ago, JoshPR said:

This s%*# is out of control.....

If I've done the math right, this is likely <0.3% of MLB revenue during the time period of his contract.

Jerry might sign a 30 mil per year player.  I said might.  He is not signing a 30 million dollar per year player for 10 years.  Our best path is to spend the money on as many GOOD  players as 200 million will allow.  Sorry...I'm a realist.