So today, I think Scott Boras let the cat out of the bag.
Now, I don't think Boras did it with what he said directly. Scott Boras said that the victory by the Atlanta/Cobb County Braves in the World Series this year was, at least in large part, due to what he calls the "Competitive Cancer" of tanking -- as it also relates to the trade-deadline "sellers" who dump their best players to the "buyers".
Boras, in an annual November address laced with a December 1 deadline, at which point Major League Baseball will go on strike or lockout, said that he believes only about half of Major League Baseball is even trying to win at all.
According to CBS Sports:
"We don't ever want a system that rewards being a lesser team. We have got a real cancer in this game. Now we know clubs will sacrifice seasons," Boras said, adding baseball is now a "race to the bottom" and "17 (teams) at most" are trying to compete.
He then notes that, in the first 110 years of Major League Baseball as we've known it, there was only one season (2002) in which four teams lost 100 games. It has now happened in each of the last two full 162-game seasons.
He points the finger square at the Baltimore Orioles, who have lost 108 games in the last three full seasons.
Boras is basically demanding major changes in the next CBA which will benefit winning teams and penalize losing ones. Short of promotion-relegation or folding long-time losing teams, this is seen as a non-starter.
However, if you've been paying attention, you see the Boras has let the cat out of the bag...
Yes, tanking did help the Braves. But it was also basically tanking to ensure that the Dodgers had to play high-pressure baseball, injuring (at least one intentionally) several key members of the team.
That said, it's not that Boras is wrong here. But it's as much the backdrop behind it -- that the tanking actually serves two purposes, and both aided the Braves in their championship, much to the pleasure of FUCK ROB MANFRED.
Austin Riley: competitive balance 2015 1st round pick...but from the Padres in a trade involving Craig Kimbrel
ReplyDeleteMike Soroka: supplemental 2015 1st round pick...from the Twins signing Ervin Santana
RAJ: international free agent 2014
Ian Anderson: 3rd pick in 2016, yes, but a very weak top tier draft pool with most current stars from that year being 2nd round or later
Albies: international free agent 2013
everybody else instrumental to the team winning the world series came from other trades or free agency, and out of the players listed who were drafted only one was their own original 1st round pick. so tell me, where were the Braves tanking
Scott Boras made that claim. I think he's close (if you chose to read properly), but no cigar. I think the backdrop behind all of this (which I stated before in the post you slammed) is as least as much, if not more, to do with all of this.
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