On Torii Hunter…
So, here’s the plague of the small market team, market forces. A particular player is worth the marginal revenue he brings in. But, here’s the kicker, there is also full market value to contend with.
You see, a player means something different to different teams. For example, the Twins have shown the unwillingness to field a World Series caliber team. The Twins have been a winning team and fun to watch, but Torii Hunter’s marginal revenue is strictly fan based. The Angels, however, are a larger market team where Torii Hunter might be part of the couple of additional players needed to clinch a championship. And so, as Torii Hunter might be part of a championship formula and the additional revenue that means, the Angels are willing to pay more for him.
The Twins said that Torii is worth $15 million a year for three years while the Angels said Torii is worth $18 million for five years. On a year to year basis, that’s a 20% premium, and Torii got the contract length he wanted, which makes the Twin’s offer kind of insulting (or as insulting as $15 million a year can be).
This makes me a little more disillusioned with the Twins franchise. It says to the fans, “Hey, we’re going to be the farm system for championship players, but we’re not going to field the actual championship team. Thanks for the new stadium.” And it says to players who express interest in being a life long Twin, “We expect you to value the Twins uniform at a steep discount.”
The Twins are still a great team to watch. But I don’t think I’ll get as invested in baseball as I have been. Not that Twins baseball isn’t fun, but the Twins organization has pretty much said that they won’t reward loyalty and they don’t want to win *that* much. We can also say good-bye to Santana, Mauer, Morneau, and anyone who exhibits championship caliber talent. In the game of “chicken” that is the free agent market, the Twins flinched and Torii Hunter came out on top. Good for him. I ask the Twins, now what?
You see, a player means something different to different teams. For example, the Twins have shown the unwillingness to field a World Series caliber team. The Twins have been a winning team and fun to watch, but Torii Hunter’s marginal revenue is strictly fan based. The Angels, however, are a larger market team where Torii Hunter might be part of the couple of additional players needed to clinch a championship. And so, as Torii Hunter might be part of a championship formula and the additional revenue that means, the Angels are willing to pay more for him.
The Twins said that Torii is worth $15 million a year for three years while the Angels said Torii is worth $18 million for five years. On a year to year basis, that’s a 20% premium, and Torii got the contract length he wanted, which makes the Twin’s offer kind of insulting (or as insulting as $15 million a year can be).
This makes me a little more disillusioned with the Twins franchise. It says to the fans, “Hey, we’re going to be the farm system for championship players, but we’re not going to field the actual championship team. Thanks for the new stadium.” And it says to players who express interest in being a life long Twin, “We expect you to value the Twins uniform at a steep discount.”
The Twins are still a great team to watch. But I don’t think I’ll get as invested in baseball as I have been. Not that Twins baseball isn’t fun, but the Twins organization has pretty much said that they won’t reward loyalty and they don’t want to win *that* much. We can also say good-bye to Santana, Mauer, Morneau, and anyone who exhibits championship caliber talent. In the game of “chicken” that is the free agent market, the Twins flinched and Torii Hunter came out on top. Good for him. I ask the Twins, now what?
posted by Consecutive Odds @ 7:20 AM
2 Comments:
At 1:38 PM ,
Barb the Evil Genius said...
The big Indians debate is whether we will be able to extend C.C. Sabathia's contract, or whether he even wants to stay in Cleveland. Being the Cy Young winner probably adds to his value. We can't compete with teams like Boston or New York, money-wise, but I'm hoping we'll at least try to be competitive.
At 2:35 PM ,
Consecutive Odds said...
You know, and that's the problem with the Twins, too. They're not going to spend the money to keep the team together. (Yup, Cy Young distinction does add to price.)
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