Jacob deGrom Refuses to Sign Contract (Feels Undervalued)

[QuevedosTongue]

Boo Hoo. It still takes the average person 10 years or more to earn what he's earning in one, despite being "underpaid". It just amazes me how out of touch pro athletes continue to be. Maybe he should set up a Gofundme page for himself. I couldn't imagine having to survive off if $600k a year.

 

I'm so tired of this argument, not to mention that deGrom didn't say anything other than that he felt undervalued by the organization. At a little over $600,000 in 2016 he is way undervalued by somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 million this season. It's painful for a guy like deGrom, who wasn't a high draft pick and received a $95,000 signing bonus in 2010.

 

So, for the guy who isn't a bonus baby the system sucks. In an industry awash in money deGrom has pitched since 2010 and earned somewhat less than $1,000,000. Yes that's more than I'll ever make, but I'm not one of the best pitchers in the world, so that kind of money isn't there for me. But if I was one of the top pitchers in the game for a season and a half and wasn't getting paid, I would probably be a little pissy about it as well. I don't blame teams for paying players that way, as it's working within the agreed on system. But for a guy like deGrom, the system sucks.

[1992casey]

We have an existing discussion on minor league salaries if you'd like to use it:

 

Minor League Wages -- A Major Issue in the MLB Boom Era

 

It has links to lots of articles, and any news updates are likely to be placed in that thread.

 

Regarding deGrom, I don't see any big deal. Jacob is using the only recourse available to pre-arby players, which is not to sign and to let the team renew him. When you read the quotes and watch the interviews, it appears that Jacob's not pissed, his agent isn't pissed, and Alderson isn't pissed.

 

While nobody actually says this, I don't believe he's thinking that he should be bumped to the next pay scale. Rather, I think he would have been pleased had the Mets recognized his contributions with a salary in the $700–750,000 range. The Mets are actually already recognizing his contributions, though, as it's unusual to pay a pre-arby player $100,000 above the minimum.

[logan82]

The Mets are actually already recognizing his contributions, though, as it's unusual to pay a pre-arby player $100,000 above the minimum.

Are they? I thought some teams had a pay scale for guys in their second and third years. Lat I remembered the Brewers did.

[1992casey]

The way I read it, Jacob's $100,000 above the minimum right now. Most pre-arby players are paid within $20,000 or so of the minimum. Many are only $1–2,000 above.

[GAME05]

The pay system is theoretically balanced already. I'll support a system where great pre-arby players like DeGrom gets lots of money if veterans' contracts can become non-guaranteed and we can release the Jeffrey Hammonds of the world.

 

Similarly, I'll support a salary increase for minor leaguers if most of the huge signing bonuses we currently give to top draft picks is used to do so. Last year Trent Clark was given $2.7m to sign, Kirby got $1.25 and Ponce got $1.1. Spread that over six levels of the minors and that's about another $34k per player.

[homer]

The way I read it, Jacob's $100,000 above the minimum right now. Most pre-arby players are paid within $20,000 or so of the minimum. Many are only $1–2,000 above.

 

 

Pittsburgh Pirates ace Gerrit Cole on Monday agreed to a one-year deal worth $541,000 in base salary -- the same amount he earned last year which included an All-Star bonus, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

 

Cole had little choice other than to sign the deal. He has less than three years of major-league service, meaning the Pirates have broad authority to set his salary as long as it conforms to the major-league minimum of $507,500.

 

"They even threatened a salary reduction to the league minimum if I did not agree," Cole told Biertempfel.

 

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/pittsburgh-pirates-gerrit-cole-grudgingly-accepts-2016-contract-022916

[1992casey]

The pay system is theoretically balanced already.

 

"Theoretically" is the operative word. In theory, it's balanced as long as the players get their fair share of the profits. How the money is distributed is subject to debate.

 

In the last CBA, MLB and the union moved a little more money into the pockets of younger players when they expanded the number that qualified for super-two. Of course, super-two isn't performance based. That's not necessarily a bad thing. We saw how goofy things got when baseball attempted to rank free agents by performance. The system wasn't accurate enough to work very well, and even with much better stats being available nowadays, I don't see a replacement system working a whole lot better.

[logan82]

You need the money going to the draft picks so they don't just go to college or back to college.

[paul253]

But if I was one of the top pitchers in the game for a season and a half and wasn't getting paid, I would probably be a little pissy about it as well

 

Except that that is how the system works. And he knows that is how it works. I'm sure he'll be ok with the very same system in a few years when he's making $15 million a year to play baseball. Or at the end of his career when he'll be completely overvalued because some team is desperate for a pitcher. I'm sorry but I have zero sympathy for pro athletes. Zero. Even at a league minimum they make SO MUCH money that any complaint comes off to me as petty.

[1992casey]

Cole's situation is strange. Players generally get a raise of a thousand or two just for showing up. Gerrit wasn't raised at all, despite the fact that he pitched 208 innings and had a 2.60 ERA.

 

Also, this is pretty inconsistent with the fact that the Pirates were generous in regard to his 2014 and 2015 salaries ($12,500 above minimum in 2014 and $23,500 plus a $10,000 All Star bonus in 2015). You'd think that at the very least, another $12,000 and another All Star incentive would be consistent with what was done in the past. I can see where nothing at all would be a shock.

[tmwiese55]

While DeGrom is underpaid now this is the system that was agreed upon by their union (supposedly the strongest in the world) therefore he should accept it. This is the same system that will allow him to make 30+ mil per year at age 34 when isn't any good anymore. It balances out on the backend as long as you get there. But again, it was agreed to in the CBA.

[jjgott]

In what other union do new hires get paid more than the journeyman vets? Seems like a key feature of a union is to protect those who've been around for a while. Not sure why the MLB Union should be any different.

[monty57]

In what other union do new hires get paid more than the journeyman vets?

 

NFL & NBA

 

I agree with your premise, and paying the young guys more would likely mean that older guys would make less. Even though there is a lot of money in baseball, it's not limitless. Teams have budgets, and if you raise the amount the lowest paid workers make, you either have to decrease other expenses (i.e. what the higher paid workers make), or you have to increase revenues. Since the number of tickets are limited, that likely means raising prices.

[pacopete4]

And he'll be overpaid shortly... this is a non-story to me.

[StearnsFTW]

Not sure how below minimum wage is fair.

 

NM. I figured it out.

[Thurston Fluff]

I think pitchers have more of a gripe that hitters with those first three years. They have so much more injury risk than hitters that those first three years are more important to their financial well being than hitters.

[reillymcshane]

This could be avoided by setting up a strict structure of pay that's pretty much the same for everyone - such as:

 

Year 1: $500,000

Year 2: $600,000

Year 3: $700,000

 

The numbers could be changed, but you get the idea.

 

You could also offer bonuses of some kind - things like 25k for winning a Gold Glove or 20k for making the all star team - that sort of thing.

 

Again, the idea is to set up a basic structure that all players adhere to. Then there's no 'negotiations' in the pre-arby years. Everyone knows exactly what they will be making.

 

This means that players all make the same these first 3-4 years - but with a myriad of bonuses a player could receive, that would allow a player who does well to make some extra cash.

 

Just an idea.

[jerichoholicninja]

This could be avoided by setting up a strict structure of pay that's pretty much the same for everyone - such as:

 

Year 1: $500,000

Year 2: $600,000

Year 3: $700,000

 

The numbers could be changed, but you get the idea.

 

You could also offer bonuses of some kind - things like 25k for winning a Gold Glove or 20k for making the all star team - that sort of thing.

 

Again, the idea is to set up a basic structure that all players adhere to. Then there's no 'negotiations' in the pre-arby years. Everyone knows exactly what they will be making.

 

This means that players all make the same these first 3-4 years - but with a myriad of bonuses a player could receive, that would allow a player who does well to make some extra cash.

 

Just an idea.

 

This makes more sense to me than the current system. The way it stands every player gets to have some sort of say in how much they make except for pre-arby guys who are just given a contract based on whatever their team wants. You're still going to have utility players making the same or close to superstars like deGrom but at least their frustration will be with the league or the union instead of their own team.