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Post by Rog on Oct 7, 2015 19:18:15 GMT -5
Were the Giants cheap this season, as has been suggested by more than one poster? Let me answer that in two words: Luxury Tax.
Yes, with the late acquisitions of Mike Leake, Brandon Byrd and Alejandro DeAza, the Giants passed the luxury tax threshold. And what does MLB imply that threshold means?
It basically means that MLB considers salary spent above that level to be too much. Certainly there is no salary cap in baseball as there is in other sports, but the tax is designed to make teams think twice about going over what might be called a soft cap.
I think it is clear that calling a team that enters the luxury tax "cheap" is pretty foolish.
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Post by donk33 on Oct 8, 2015 0:36:29 GMT -5
Were the Giants cheap this season, as has been suggested by more than one poster? Let me answer that in two words: Luxury Tax. Yes, with the late acquisitions of Mike Leake, Brandon Byrd and Alejandro DeAza, the Giants passed the luxury tax threshold. And what does MLB imply that threshold means? It basically means that MLB considers salary spent above that level to be too much. Certainly there is no salary cap in baseball as there is in other sports, but the tax is designed to make teams think twice about going over what might be called a soft cap. I think it is clear that calling a team that enters the luxury tax "cheap" is pretty foolish. dk...and if you had read my post, they also exceeded the luxury tax for foreign ball players. They had to pay a tax egual to the last bonus they paid to sign an international player. |
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sfgdood
Long time member 
stats geeks never played the game...that's why they don't get it and never will
Posts: 90
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Post by sfgdood on Oct 8, 2015 0:58:48 GMT -5
The Luxuy Tax argument might be valid if you're talking about a medium or low revenue team with no real expectations for a championship. If you are a "dynasty" team in the top 4 revenue-wise in baseball, the luxury tax should be a given. I mean if you DON'T go over the luxury tx, THAT would be news.
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Post by rxmeister on Oct 8, 2015 6:57:44 GMT -5
In other "Giants cheap" news, the Giants who were thought to be signing number one Cuban prospect Eddy Julio Martinez, have now lost him over 500K. It was believed at one point that he would get a 10 million dollar bonus to sign, and the Giants thought they had an agreement at 2.5 million, but apparently he wanted 3 and is once again a free agent. Hard to believe this amount would cause the Giants to balk, especially when they don't have a decent CF prospect in the minors.
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Post by Rog on Oct 8, 2015 14:44:17 GMT -5
Regarding Eddy Martinez, I wonder if something like a health issue came up. Although the Giants would have needed with the tax to spend an extra $1 million rather than half a million, I too wonder why they wouldn't have gone higher. It is also possible that they had a handshake deal and felt they were given a bait and switch.
It may be that they valued Martinez at $5 million (bonus plus tax) and didn't feel he was worth more. In that case, they were right to stick with the $5 million ($2.5 million bonus). If a team pays more than they think a player is worth, they're not getting maximum value for their buck.
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Post by Rog on Oct 8, 2015 14:45:51 GMT -5
Interesting that we're criticizing a top-4 revenue team for being "only" a top four payroll team.
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Post by rxmeister on Oct 9, 2015 7:20:35 GMT -5
The Cubs apparently saw nothing wrong with him and signed him the next day for the three million. The Cubs were subject to the same financial penalty as the Giants. Haggling over 500k for someone who is compared to a young Andruw Jones is a bad sign,
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Post by Rog on Oct 9, 2015 7:44:06 GMT -5
The ultimate was when the Giants lost out on Barry Bonds in a quibble over $5,000. (That's not five million.)
Apparently he wanted an $80,000 bonus and they would give him only $75,000, so he went to Arizona State and signed a few years later with the Pirates. I believe the Giants had to spend "only" $42 million to get him back as a free agent.
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