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I said I’d get my thoughts organized here for use in a feature down the road, and that’s just what I did. My latest for Baseball Prospectus — titled “Baseball in the Future, Tense” by the wonderfully witty editors I work with over there — published on Thursday.
Within, I give some background on how things stood in the league, regarding spending in relation to the luxury tax threshold, back before the 2019 season, and where it stands now. Which is all a build up to show that there’s a growing divide between the teams willing to spend — which barely existed six years ago, in the runup to what MLB and its owners knew would be a defining labor battle with the Players Association over the new CBA — and those who are not. One that’s only going to worsen for sure as the new broadcasting arrangement comes into play in 2028 and requires a heavier revenue-sharing load for the “big” market teams to carry in order to subsidize the “small” market ones, and might worsen further depending on the ability — or lack thereof — of Rob Manfred’s successor as commissioner to keep everyone unified despite said growing divide.
There’s quite a bit to chew on there, but you’ll need a subscription to do so. However! Baseball Prospectus is once again doing their BP360 deal, where you get a year-long subscription, a copy of their annual season preview/review book, and a t-shirt for $105. Or! You can just get the subscription for the next year for all of $45.95, which would be a steal even if I weren’t affiliated with the site in some way. It’s not that I write for BP regularly that compels me to tell you that you should subscribe, or that it’s a great deal, or that it’s loaded with tremendous and insightful work. It’s that BP is the kind of place that would bother to have me write regularly for them, which I hope would tell you something about them, given you can’t exactly find venues willing to let me explore what league tensions in 2028 might be like around every corner.
And hey, if you already have a sub, you can always buy a gift subscription for a friend in need of enlightening. I’d buy my dad one, but he dedicated himself to never using the internet decades ago, so there’s nothing doing there. Maybe your parents are a different case.
The Rays ended up getting approval from Pinellas County for the sale of bonds that will finance their new stadium, which is annoying enough just on the surface, but then executive Matt Silverman decided to whine publicly about how the delay in the decision caused construction to spill over into 2029, which has increased costs — costs that the Rays refuse to be responsible for. Perfect, no notes, etc.
The Pinellas County commissioners are getting what they deserve here — a reminder that part of the reason this took forever in the first place, and not just in 2024, is because Rays’ executives are maybe not up to the task of interacting with other human beings without coming off looking like This, as well as chaining themselves to this group for years and years going forward — but it’s a shame that the real cost is going to come at the expense of taxpayers. Well, at least there’s nothing that their tax money should be subsidizing instead of a new baseball stadium for a guy with a net worth of $800 million who’s in the midst of a decade-spanning tantrum where he threatens to leave whenever someone local in power doesn’t properly greet him.
This is the last edition of Marvin Miller’s Mustache for 2024, as I get set for my usual year-end holiday break. The sport ends up breaking at this time, too, but if anything notable does happen to pop up that’s worth covering between now and when I return the first week of January, I’ll be sure to get to it then.
Thanks once again for subscribing to this newsletter, and, if applicable, for pledging to my Patreon, as well. I haven’t said much about this, but I lost the part-time editing gig I had for the last few years back in January, so freelance work and Patreon pledges have been it for me as far as income goes. Hopefully, 2025 will be better on that front, but in the meantime, thanks for your support — this newsletter (and my other one) literally would not happen with it
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