Will Tigers Pony up for Skubal

[NorthWoods]

2 hours ago, Stormin said:

Boras has Petzold on speed dial.

Petzold hasn't loved me since I suggested he should do us all a favor and schedule a trip to Fiji for World Series week.

[oblong]

I can’t keep any of them straight. Aren’t there 3 guys name Evan?

[SoCalTiger]

As for Skubal's arbitration hearing I think the Tigers will just focus on the percent increase they offered is historic and that the players making more than Skubal simply could not have made that much in arbitration. It might not be a winning strategy but could play to a non baseball expert panel and it won't insult Skubal. 

[gehringer_2]

6 hours ago, Stormin said:

The Tigers would be best served by focusing on service time and what pitchers are being paid in 2026.

As I have thought about it, I think that whether implicitly or explicitly, the treatment of service time in arbitration is exactly what Skubal and Boras are making an attempt to change. Skubal, as a leader in the MLBPA, wants to argue about fairness and Skubal's real value. The Tigers - representing ownership, are going to argue for the status quo approach to service time cooked into current arbitration practice and that any break from that is an issue for the next CBA and not something that should be upset by a single arbitration panel decision. Personally, I think a system where players get paid more in line for what they are doing present tense and less about what they did 5 yrs ago is fine in theory, but it's not clear to me how to get there since too many teams probably couldn't afford their young stars on that basis.

Edited 4 hours ago by gehringer_2

[AlaskanTigersFan]

Isn't it amazing. In MLB, there are $60 million per year contracts being dished out. In Hockey, an AMAZING BREAK THE BANK contract is like $10 million a year...... Woof.

[gehringer_2]

17 minutes ago, AlaskanTigersFan said:

Isn't it amazing. In MLB, there are $60 million per year contracts being dished out. In Hockey, an AMAZING BREAK THE BANK contract is like $10 million a year...... Woof.

The TV market is apparently tiny. I find that ironic because the evolution of the hidef 16:9 format and the relatively few in game breaks has made hockey the best TV viewing sport of all.

[Tiger337]

6 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

The TV market is apparently tiny. I find that ironic because the evolution of the hidef 16:9 format and the relatively few in game breaks has made hockey the best TV viewing sport of all.

I would guess it's because there are limited areas in the United States where it is played very much by kids growing up.  

[gehringer_2]

15 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

I would guess it's because there are limited areas in the United States where it is played very much by kids growing up.  

well, judging from the abandonment of diamonds in MI, baseball is doing it's best to match that.

[Tiger337]

20 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

well, judging from the abandonment of diamonds in MI, baseball is doing it's best to match that.

Pick up games are no longer popular, but organized baseball is still pretty popular.  I believe basketball and soccer are the top youth sports with baseball #3.