LEAGUES News
How much money have 'tanking' teams spent on free agents this winter?
Tony Clark, the head of the Major League Baseball Players Association, and agent Scott Boras both agree that a third of the league tanking is at the heart of the slow-moving free-agent market.
"This year a significant number of teams are engaged in a race to the bottom," Clark said earlier this week. "This conduct is a fundamental breach of the trust between a team and its fans and threatens the very integrity of the game.''
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred strongly disagrees, however. While he acknowledges that disparity exists between talent and payroll across the league, Manfred also argues that it's unrealistic that all 30 teams will exist in the same window to win.
While Manfred is right about the difficulty of having every single team in the same competitive window, there's also plenty of evidence to confirm that teams with no ambitions of winning are not spending this winter, and it's hurting free agents.
Money spent by rebuilding teams this winter:
| TEAM | AMOUNT SPENT ON FAs | SIGNED FAs | 2018 PAYROLL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | $0 | 0 | $116.4M |
| Marlins | $0 | 0 | $87.4M |
| Padres | $9.3M | 3 | $70.3M |
| Pirates | $0 | 0 | $84.1M |
| Phillies | $94.25M | 3 | $63.7M |
| Rays | $0 | 0 | $79.8M |
| Reds | $9.5M | 2 | $98.3M |
| Royals | $4.025M | 2 | $110.2M |
| Tigers | $7.75M | 1 | $122.5M |
| White Sox | $4.75M | 1 | $69.5M |
Looking at the amount of money spent on free agency this winter by rebuilding clubs and it's easy to see why Boras and Clark are upset. Nine of the 10 teams considered to be rebuilding have spent a combined $35.325 million on just nine free agents. The Phillies are the exception, but even after committing more than $90 million in salary, they still have one of the lowest payrolls in baseball. While it's not unexpected that contending teams spend more than rebuilding clubs, the contrast in spending this winter has been enormous.
2017 postseason teams:
| TEAM | AMOUNT SPENT ON FAs | SIGNED FAs | 2018 PAYROLL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Astros | $23.5 | 2 | $155M |
| Cubs | $89M | 5 | $159.8M |
| D-Backs | $9.1M | 2 | $120M |
| Dodgers | $2M | 1 | $185.4M |
| Indians | $16M | 1 | $130.2M |
| Nationals | $21M | 3 | $178.3M |
| Red Sox | $13M | 1 | $204M |
| Rockies | $114.5 | 4 | $131.7M |
| Twins | $33.4M | 4 | $104.5M |
| Yankees | $10M | 1 | $161.8M |
In addition to these teams not spending money, they've also helped slow the market down by trading away veterans to teams who would have otherwise spent on the open market. The Pirates dealt Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole, while the Rays moved Evan Longoria. The Marlins have almost single-handily blocked the free-agent outfield market. The club traded away Giancarlo Stanton, Dee Gordon, Christian Yelich, and Marcell Ozuna - all players who will be used as outfielders by their new clubs. That takes away four outfield jobs for free agents, while the Marlins have yet to sign a player to take those players' places.
There are a number of factors that have resulted in this historically slow market, but the excessive number of rebuilding clubs seems to be a major contributor.
