The Park Avenue Alchemist
Manfred and Boras signal the return of baseball as only they can
Welcome to Warning Track Power, a weekly newsletter of baseball stories and analysis grounded in front office and scouting experiences and the personalities encountered along the way.
Have you ever found yourself, say, in your kitchen late at night when you stumble upon a pie that had already been wrapped up? And have you ever decided that — despite the time of day or intricate plastic wrap covering — it was the right time for a slice? Of course, you don’t want to dig into the pie aggressively because you don’t want any other members of your household to observe the pie in a state of less than it was when traditional pie-eating hours concluded.
As someone who has — on more than one occasion — thin-sliced a pie into disappearance, I marvel at the knife skills of Commissioner Rob Manfred.
In the waning days of the quickly forgotten lockout, Manfred and MLB sold Apple the rights to a weekly Friday night doubleheader for a reported $55 million plus an additional $30 million in guaranteed Apple advertising money. The ubiquitous tech giant will broadcast about 50 games per season for the next seven years — and with no local blackouts.
Additionally, it sounds like NBCUniversal has joined the streaming parade. MLB has sold the rights to 18 Sunday games throughout the season at an earlier-than-usual time slot. Some east coast games might feature an 11:30 am first pitch. As someone who wakes up in the Pacific Time Zone, I can’t complain about this. But it looks like bad news for Daniel Tiger.
MLB will receive a reported $30 annually over the course of this two-year deal that grants Peacock exclusivity for the games.
Meanwhile, the MLB.TV subscription, which boasts every out-of-market game, is presenting itself in the windowsill as if it’s still the whole damn pie. The streaming package is currently available at — dig this — the limited-time promotional price of $129.99, which was the cost for the 2021 season.
Before Opening Day, the price of MLB.TV will increase to $139.99. This casual price hike allows us as fans and consumers to get a small taste of how the players may have felt during the CBA negotiations. How many more games will be rationed out before MLB.TV ends up on blocks in the chop shop?
Well, there’s no time to ponder that question because players take the field for Spring Training games today — TODAY!
Kris Bryant, who spent the lockout in free agency limbo, has found a new home in Denver. Agent Scott Boras must have convinced Bryant that October baseball is overrated; don’t forget, players are only paid through the regular season.
Bryant and the Rockies agreed to a seven-year, $182 million deal yesterday. I have to wonder if it was all the great things Nolan Arenado said on his way out of Colorado that made Coors Field seem like such an attractive destination for the 2016 NL MVP.
Last offseason, the Rockies sent a disgruntled Arenado and the remaining $214 million and seven years on his contract to the Cardinals in exchange for pitcher Austin Gomber and prospects. Colorado also sent about $51 million to St. Louis to help cover the third baseman’s salary.
We don’t need to break out our calculators to see that Bryant’s guaranteed money plus $51 million is greater than what remained on Arenado’s deal.
I won’t try to explain what’s (still) happening in Colorado — I can’t, but I’m happy to see that baseball’s owners didn’t let their 99-day lockout change who they are.
Plus, with word breaking last night of Freddie Freeman’s six-year, $162 million pact with the Dodgers, the Bryant deal looks all the more impressive for Boras.
Freeman reportedly turned down a richer offer elsewhere to play in Los Angeles. Bryant, on the other hand, looks to have been blinded by dollar signs.
Hey, great news: There’s baseball in Florida and Arizona today. I received an on-the-ground report from the Warning Track Parents, who told me earlier this week that fans were lining up to buy tickets for Grapefruit League action.
Baseball’s back! Just don’t leave Manfred alone with the pie.