JUPITER, Fla. — Just because Manny Machado signed that monster 10-year, $300 million deal with the Padres on Tuesday, don’t think all is well with MLB players and management.
“Obviously, the collective bargaining the last contract was for five years,’’ Cardinals reliever Andrew Miller said Wednesday at Roger Dean Stadium. “Part of this is that you have to play with the contract you have. That’s the reality for all of us, whether it’s baseball or whether it’s the CBA, it is concerning. Obviously, it was nice to see Manny come off the board, but ultimately it is a lot more than one player. It’s the big picture. Even the guys getting deals that they are happy with, the timing of it is unique to what we saw in the past. It used to be a couple of guys maybe played the long game, now it seems like a lot of guys have no choice.
“The stories that we are hearing when guys show up to camp is that they have no offers,’’ Miller said. “Teams said they will check in, but they are really not getting a realistic offer or firm numbers exchanged until camp begins, and that is a problem. There are a lot of different angles we have to be concerned about. The work stoppage stuff has been bandied about a little bit, ultimately that is bad for everybody. We all lose in that situation. But you are fighting for bigger-picture items. Hopefully we can sort it out. Last year we were told by the MLB side basically that free-agent class wasn’t as good as this year’s class. That class maybe overpriced themselves and wait until this year, and then this year comes and it’s kind of more of the same.’’
On Twitter, meanwhile, after Sports Illustrated suggested “free agency is fine’’ because of the Machado signing, Nationals reliever Sean Doolittle reacted by writing: “Spring training started with 2 of our biggest stars unsigned. All-Stars and proven MLB vets are still without a club … MM’s deal is good for the game but don’t spit on my cupcake and tell me it’s frosting.’’
Miller signed a two-year deal with the Cardinals worth $25 million with a vesting option for a third season at $12 million.
“I am one of our [MLBPA] reps, and it’s really important to me that everything is done well,’’ Miller said. “I want baseball to do well. I want there to be fan excitement, and I want there to be a good product on the field. The last couple of offseasons have built to this.
“Understanding the markets obviously is above a lot of players’ heads,’’ Miller, 33, said. “We have a lot of really good lawyers and economists on our side that are supposed to help us, and things aren’t functioning the way they expected it to. That’s a lot of red flags.’’
The relief pitcher market is strong, but Miller said, “I am not going to sit here and celebrate because relief pitchers are doing well yet we have outfielders who can’t find jobs. That’s not how it works.’’
How much a role does analytics play in this new market?
“That’s the, I don’t want to say excuse, but that’s the reasoning for the way things are going,’’ Miller said. “The first time we started hearing about analytics was the ‘Moneyball’ situation. What I remember from it, Billy Beane’s perspective is that whatever everybody else is paying for, we need to do the opposite. Now we seem to be in a world where everybody thinks alike, so they are all paying for the same thing or not paying for it, you zig when [they] zag. You find market inefficiencies and then you take advantage of them. Right now it seems like a lot of groupthink.’’
As for closer Craig Kimbrel still on the market, Miller, an ex-Yankee who earlier praised the Yankees’ super-talented bullpen, said, “I have no idea where negotiations are with him, but he makes every team better. He could fit in with the Yankees’ bullpen.’’
