Cap on what you can pay for foreign players

[logan82]

I just read that there is a cap in the NBA for what teams can pay foreign teams for their players. Is this true? I wonder how that would be recieved by the players union in MLB.(bet they would hate it) It sounds like a fair way for all teams to have a chance at Japanese players since they and other foreign players are not subject to the draft.

[TooLiveBrew]

why should all teams have a fair shot at signing a foreign player? They don't all get one at domestic players. Oh, that's right - I forgot, we offered Soriano 8 yrs./$184 mil. but he just wanted to play in Chicago.

[JoeHova]

Yes, the NBA has buy-outs capped at $500,000 (it used to be less, but they upped it in the newest CBA). A team is only allowed to contribute that half million towards a player's buy-out. There is a serious caveat though. If the player's buy-out is more than that, the player has to pick up the rest. This has meant that some foreign players are basically playing for nothing in their first couple years in the NBA and has prevented more than a few from coming over (Luis Scola, the Rockets new power forward, was prevented from coming over to play with the Spurs a couple years ago because his Spanish team wanted a $10,000,000 buyout. They lowered their request this offseason and so Scola will play in the NBA this year).

[ILuvDaBush]

Mind you, there is also a hard-slot for what each rookie can and will be paid. If only Bud were so lucky...

[Invader3K]

It would all be a moot point if they'd just instituted the international draft.

[Brian the Automator]

It would take a strike or something severe for players ever to agree to capping or pretty much anything to limit player salaries. Unlike the NFL or NBA, the players union in baseball seems to have all the leverage they need.

[endaround]

This has absolutely nothing to do with the union, the union would welcome caps on foreign players since it would increase the money available to current union members. Its why they were fine with a world wide draft. The people against this are large market owners and teams with large Latin American camps. Its all Bud being unable to get 26 teams to agree on it.

[Brian the Automator]

This has absolutely nothing to do with the union, the union would welcome caps on foreign players since it would increase the money available to current union members. Its why they were fine with a world wide draft. The people against this are large market owners and teams with large Latin American camps. Its all Bud being unable to get 26 teams to agree on it.

A world-wide draft only limits the team that a player can initially sign with, not the amount of money they'll end up paying out for him. It'll work just as well as "recommended" slot money works.

The way salaries have escalated, I don't think paying money out to int'l players will decrease the amount of money available to owners. Every time the bar is raised, it stays raised.

 

[Invader3K]

Exactly, which is why I think it's funny every off-season when people say that the free agent is "inflated". When is the last time contracts paid out have actually gone down? I'm guessing never, or maybe only after a strike year.

[bjkrautk]

Exactly, which is why I think it's funny every off-season when people say that the free agent is "inflated". When is the last time contracts paid out have actually gone down? I'm guessing never, or maybe only after a strike year.

Arguably, the market peaked around the time of the A-Rod and Manny Ramirez contracts (I think Giambi's signing marks the downturn....as well as the inherent risk), as there haven't been many other deals promising big money for more than 5-6 years. On the other hand, one could counter that there haven't been that quality of free agents since then.

 

The Soriano numbers mentioned earlier are about as close as we've seen to those deals (although, admittedly, I can't remember how much the Mets paid for Beltran). While the market has come back toward the earlier deals on a $/year basis, the real value of the early deals gets a bit of a bump due to inflation. That the top contracts are coming back to that level, almost by implication, means that there was a dip in the market.

 

I also tend to think that all the 3 yr /$27 million contracts for mediocre starting pitchers a few years ago (Jaret Wright is the only one that comes to mind) represented a bit of a high-water mark in that segment, but only time will tell.

[Ennder]

International draft is a good way to go. Hopefully baseball never falls for the salary cap idea (I mean league wide not just on international players) because they hurt the league as much as they help it.

[TooLiveBrew]

Beltran's was a 7/$119 deal, signed in 2005. I still think this was a great signing - but I am very partial. I really think Beltran is the best all-around OF in baseball.

[logan82]

International draft is a good way to go. Hopefully baseball never falls for the salary cap idea (I mean league wide not just on international players) because they hurt the league as much as they help it.

 

An international draft wouldn't work without a cap on what teams can pay to foreign clubs in my opinion. We would have situations like the one the Bucks had with Yi this year every year in baseball if they don't. I think they first institute a cap then a few years latter they put n the draft requirement.

[Crewin06]

I also tend to think that all the 3 yr /$27 million contracts for mediocre starting pitchers a few years ago (Jaret Wright is the only one that comes to mind) represented a bit of a high-water mark in that segment, but only time will tell.

 

Good post all together but I can't let this go.

 

Did you not see the Jeff Suppan, Gill Meche, Jason Marquis and Vicente Padilla signings of a year ago?

 

Now Gill Meche and Jason Marquis have pitched well above historical patterns. However those 4 represent a total of 15 years and $151.75 million of salaries

[bjkrautk]

I also tend to think that all the 3 yr /$27 million contracts for mediocre starting pitchers a few years ago (Jaret Wright is the only one that comes to mind) represented a bit of a high-water mark in that segment, but only time will tell.

Good post all together but I can't let this go.

 

Did you not see the Jeff Suppan, Gill Meche, Jason Marquis and Vicente Padilla signings of a year ago?

 

Now Gill Meche and Jason Marquis have pitched well above historical patterns. However those 4 represent a total of 15 years and $151.75 million of salaries

I did see the signings....but I also saw the 2004/05 signings of:

Kris Benson,

Carl Pavano,

Matt Clement,

Eric Milton,

Jon Lieber,

Jaret Wright,

Odalis Perez,

Russ Ortiz,

etc., etc.

 

The reason that I consider that FA class to be a high-water mark is because they all got deals at or above 3/$21 mil, despite most of them being mediocre. There may have been a few big signings in the 06 class, but not nearly as many as in 04 (I'd also argue that I would take nearly any of the pitchers you mentioned over the 04 class). Lower supply = higher market price. (I might be off on a player or two, or missed a few guys....I can't go in-depth on the research at work.)

[JoeHova]

Mind you, there is also a hard-slot for what each rookie can and will be paid. If only Bud were so lucky...

This isn't exactly true. The hard-slot is for 1st round picks. 2nd round picks and undrafted guys (which sometimes happens with foreign guys (Nocioni, Garbajosa, Oberto, etc.) or guys who weren't prospects but proved themselves overseas (Lynn Greer, for example)) can be paid whatever a team can afford. This is why it's sometimes much better for a foreign player to be drafted in the 2nd round. That way a team can pay him more to help cover his buy-out.