Votto with "Moneyball-ish" comments on business of game

[caulfield12]

“As ridiculous as it sounds, it would be unfair to the Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies to have the same salary structure as Kansas City, Pittsburgh or Cincinnati. We’ve got 500,000 people to please here. They’ve got 18 million to please in New York,’’ he said.

 

Votto isn’t an expert on moneyball, but he’s well versed. He has thought about it. He knows that ownership gets the better deal for the first six years of a major leaguer’s career, before the pendulum swings dramatically.

 

He knows that NFL and NBA players reach some form of free agency at least two years sooner than baseball players do. He says, “Over that first six-year span, you’re probably paying a guy 15 to 25 percent of what he’s worth. He’s getting the minimum for three years, then 40, 60, 80 percent, roughly’’ of what the market says he’s worth.

 

“You get to call a player up, whenever you want. You get to delay his (arbitration) clock. It can be very fair for all the small market teams. Look at Minnesota. Tampa Bay has had a pretty good stretch. Payroll matches market (size), with some exceptions. Baseball is doing a pretty good job,’’ Votto says.

 

This is all snooze-button stuff. Until your team loses its best player because of it.

 

The Reds will do all they can to keep Votto. Without a significant payroll increase, keeping him would weaken their team. You can’t devote 20 percent of your payroll to one player.

 

As Votto says, “You’re never going to win if you put too much emphasis on your superstars. It’s such a shared responsibility to win. I won the National League MVP, and in 85 percent of the games I wasn’t changing the game. In the NFL, if I’m the MVP quarterback, I’m changing 12 out of the 16 games, maybe higher. Superstars can be overrated in this game.’’

 

Teams such as the Reds have a limited window of years to get everything right, before their best players emigrate to larger markets. That’s the worst thing about this disappointing summer: The Reds are in one of those window years. And they’ve squandered it.

 

Joey Votto will continue to be a very good hitter, no matter his circumstance. “I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but I see the pitcher’s best,’’ he says. He’ll continue to grow and improve. He took a piece of advice this summer, from Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder.

 

“I was frustrated I wasn’t hitting homers,’’ Votto recalls. “(Fielder) said, ‘Don’t worry about it. Homers aren’t hit. Homers are thrown to you.’ That changed the way I thought about hitting. It was like a let-go.’’

 

www.cincinnati.com/sports

[knightni]

I wonder if they could do a Premier League thing with MLB.

 

Have 16 premier teams and 14 lower teams. Demote/promote after every season.