Baseball history can change constantly, but some things never change
The history of baseball, like all history, certainly changes constantly, but some aspects of the game have remained unchanged for more than half a century. There are a few reasons for this: over time, the basic rules of the game have for the most part remained unchanged; the development of essential skills continues to involve an investment of time and personnel on the part of baseball clubs; And fans have always flocked to see money gamblers and exciting teams.
In 1976, Major League Baseball (MLB) changed forever with the birth of free agency. Since its inception, the owners had had power over all the players. They could trade with anyone at any time and control, with relative ease, what people would be paid. Great players like Babe Ruth used to ask for solid salaries, but with free agency players could negotiate their contracts and go to a team willing to pay its price.
Still, as it always had been, players had to have the skills a team needed to get its price. The only major difference was that players could now sign guaranteed contracts, which stated that they would be paid their salary no matter how they performed and even if they were injured.
Seventy-three years before free agency, professional baseball underwent a change that would influence the way Major League Baseball conducted its business and found players. In 1903, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Leagues, better known as the Minor Leagues, was formed in order to create an order in which Major League teams acquired players from small market clubs. In the 1930s, the great Branch Rickey developed the structure of what we know today as the “Minor Leagues.” Rickey’s formalization of the “minors,” which was devoted to developing players who could perform in the majors, was jokingly called the “farming system” because small-town clubs were raising young players “like corn” on the farm.
Since the 1930s, MLB has relied on affiliated farm teams to develop players for the major leagues to provide promising prospects for trades, or simply provide suitable replacements when needed. Today, the minor league system is highly developed, bringing players through ball A, AA and AAA. When a team is looking to trade for a solid Major Leaguer, one way they can sweeten the deal is by including minor league prospects. Also, one way owners can keep costs down is to bring in players from the “farm team” when they are ready. By doing this, an MLB team can save millions of dollars.
Bringing in a suitable second baseman from the minors and paying him a minimum of $ 327,000 for the season may prove more valuable than paying a veteran infielder $ 2.5 million. Using a certain number of non-veterans allows a team to spend more money in other positions, especially pitching, which is always very expensive and comes at a high price.
The minor leagues have always been a cost-saving enterprise for clubs, but with today’s exorbitant salaries, the strength of the players’ union, and most clubs with payrolls of less than $ 100 million, the strategic use of Minor league players can make a difference. both in making a profit and in winning the World Series.
Using farm club players actually gives owners more power, as team members who have been educated are not eligible for salary arbitration until they are three years in the majors and cannot become free agents. until they have accumulated six or more years in the big leagues. Today, for a brief part of a player’s career, American and National League owners have the power they used to possess over all players prior to 1976.
Teams looking to win a championship and attract as much revenue as possible have often invested money in key players. Throughout the history of baseball, there have been owners willing to pay more than others. In 1919, some of the Chicago White Sox, owned by Charles Comiskey, decided to pitch the World Series to their National League counterparts, the Cincinnati Reds.
The White Sox players felt underpaid and underestimated by their boss and thought that if they bet on the underdog Reds and made sure the National League would win, they would make a good profit. They did just that, but they also got caught. It became known as the Black Sox scandal of 1919, and it is a constant reminder to homeowners of how a man like Comiskey, who had a lot of money, could be a penny and a fool.
Of course, spending a lot of money does not ensure that a team wins the World Series or even the League Championship. Since the New York Yankees’ payroll topped $ 100 million five years ago, they haven’t been able to win it all. In recent years, Steinbrenner and company have been handing out more than $ 200 million in salary per team. Last year’s champions, the Chicago White Sox, paid out just over $ 75 million to their players. It was ironic, because they hadn’t won the Series since 1917, before the big scandal.
Most analysts agree that a major league club needs to spend around $ 70 million wisely to be competitive. That’s why some experts believe the Toronto Blue Jays, who hit that magical salary mark this season by adding quality players and some $ 30 million to their payroll, are a club to watch.
The basic idea at work regarding salary before free agency is that a happy player, one who feels treated and paid fairly, can match a happy owner with a winning team. After free agency, it was thought that in order to compete a team had to pay a player what the market dictated, and the owners, to some extent, had the ability to control that market. These are, in essence, two sides of the same coin.
If we could resurrect Cy Young, Shoeless Joe Jackson and Home Run Baker and bring them to the stadium, they would certainly understand the game, even though it has changed. Since his time, there has been the development of special pitchers, the creation of artificial turf, and the addition of the designated hitter to the American League. The mound, strike zone, and markers are also different.
The player’s abilities remain fundamentally the same, except that they are more advanced. They would have the idea that a better player should earn more money than a less skilled player. But the general economics of the game would likely baffle those big players. That has added a new kind of off-the-field strategy that owners who want to win must master. Since the early 1800s, it has been the biggest change MLB has seen.
