Philadelphia Baseball History

The news at the end of Friday was that the Phillies had avoided arbitration with five of the six players eligible this year. That one player with whom the Phillies have not reached an agreement is Aaron Nola. News reports indicate that Nola seeks $6.75 from the arbitrator, while the Phillies want the aribitrator to award $4.5 million. Many Phillies fans are incensed over this. Nola has been the Phillies’ most consistent starting pitcher over the last three years. Last year, he finished third in the voting for the NL Cy Young Award, with a record of 17-6 and an ERA of 2.37. Surely Nola has been the Phillies’ most promising prospect in the latest rebuilding process.  How can the Phillies be so greedy as to let Nola slip into an embarrassing and potentially damaging process of arbitration over two million dollars?  This is especial egregious given that the Phillies May be poised to conclude long-term $300 million contracts with not one, but two free agents, neither of whom are ...

Let the whining begin! I just read an article by Jon Tayler casting aspersions on the Phillies for taking advantage of the market to sign Jake Arrieta to a team-friendly deal, and thereby becoming one step closer to making the play-offs. Tayler accuses the Phillies of engaging in that new dirty word in baseball, “tanking.” The word “tanking” has some seriously negative connotations to it. It creates the notion that a team is essentially throwing games in order to play the rules to get high draft picks and more pool money.  But before getting judgmental, consider who this nomenclature helps. It is designed specifically to arouse fans’ emotions, to push their teams to sign high-priced free agents. That’s right, if you are not signing high-priced, then according to certain sportswriters you are tanking. And who does signing high-priced free agents help?  Sports agents. Sports agents negotiate the deals for the players, and take a cut of the salary as their fee. The ...

It’s the off-season again, and we are heading into the Major League’s Winter Meetings.   Not surprisingly, there are rumblings of “tanking” being heard across the land, and proposals on how to combat this evil.   But before falling for the arguments and the proposals, consider the true source of the accusations.   Are teams really risking their box office draw by being bad?   Or is “tanking” just the latest ruse meant to benefit marginal players reaching free agency years. Free agency is a ticket many players see to greater wealth.   A player spends a few years under the control of their team.   Then, once they have a track record of being a consistent major league player, the door is open to negotiate multi-million dollar contracts.   And of course the representatives of the players, the agents who negotiate their contracts, like this arrangement, as they get a cut of their employees’ pay.   Financially, then, there is an incentive among e...