OT: Trout to get $430mm from Angels

[FlippinCrazy!]

Waaaay harder. Baseball is almost like nine individual sport athletes playing along side one another at the same time.

Also a ton more stats and analytics in baseball, and players aren’t affected as much by who’s playing around them. If anything I think baseball has it the most figured out of any sport.

Take Christian yelich for example. Has good stats in Miami, but nothing spectacular. But every GM around the league knew this guy was a guy you’d want to shell out to get, due to his advanced stats like hard hit rate, line drive rate, others

Except when the analytical people talk about fielding, but who cares about fielding anyways

 

[HuskyHawk]

Read that if he lived in Cali (he doesn’t), he would owe $216 million in taxes. And would only take home $214 million.

He will earn over half his money in CA (Angels home and A's road), so will be subject to state income taxes. It has nothing to do with where you live.

 

[storrsroars]

Except when the analytical people talk about fielding, but who cares about fielding anyways

As a Pirates fan who had to suffer through horrible up-the-middle defense the past three years, I care. I also miss watching "Web Gems".

But yeah, defensive analytics still have a ways to go to be reliable as a predictor. Shifts make that difficult. It's the one area of the game where the old eye test is still valuable.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I don’t know if that’s true. Rovell on twitter seemed to think different. I honestly have no idea, just passing along what I saw

Sports people on Twitter should still to what they actually understand. Anybody who works in one state and lives in another (like NY and CT) knows how it works. Income Taxes For Pro Athletes Are Reminder Of How Complicated U.S. Tax Code Is

 

[the Q]

Also a ton more stats and analytics in baseball, and players aren’t affected as much by who’s playing around them. If anything I think baseball has it the most figured out of any sport.

Take Christian yelich for example. Has good stats in Miami, but nothing spectacular. But every GM around the league knew this guy was a guy you’d want to shell out to get, due to his advanced stats like hard hit rate, line drive rate, others

Except when the analytical people talk about fielding, but who cares about fielding anyways

Star cast will hopefully help with fielding. Especially since a huge part of fielding is pre pitch positioning

 

[the Q]

I don’t know if that’s true. Rovell on twitter seemed to think different. I honestly have no idea, just passing along what I saw

He’s right. 162 home games.

81 at home and I think 9 In Oakland.

Add In the Mets and you have close to 100 games In brutal tax areas.

 

[Towney007]

Trout's greatness is incredibly underrated. He's by far the best player in baseball and to me it's not even close.

He really is.

If you look at him at each age since his big league career began...

Mel Ott was a tiny bit better through age 21.
Ty Cobb was a little bit better through age 25.

Trout is the greatest 22 year old. Greatest 23 year old. Greatest 24 year old. Greatest 26 year old. And I know this is freaky for people because he's posting 9-10 year seasons. He just getting into his prime. He will probably get a little better.

Provided he's healthy, she should smoke everyone in his generation by a lot. So long as he *maintains*, he'll be a top five player ever with relative ease. I have *zero* qualms about them giving him this deal. In five years, he's going to be another bargain.

 

[the Q]

He really is.

If you look at him at each age since his big league career began...

Mel Ott was a tiny bit better through age 21.
Ty Cobb was a little bit better through age 25.

Trout is the greatest 22 year old. Greatest 23 year old. Greatest 24 year old. Greatest 26 year old. And I know this is freaky for people because he's posting 9-10 year seasons. He just getting into his prime. He will probably get a little better.

Provided he's healthy, she should smoke everyone in his generation by a lot. So long as he *maintains*, he'll be a top five player ever with relative ease. I have *zero* qualms about them giving him this deal. In five years, he's going to be another bargain.

I will say that now guys are peaking earlier than ever. 27 isn’t the magic number anymore. It’s entirely possible we’ve already seen the peak for guys like Bryant and Yelich too.

 

[ucp990411]

Per espn 12 years. Wow.

I am as big a sports fan as anybody, especially baseball and I know Trout is the best player and a good guy but the amount of money these guys make is disgusting. So many people don’t know where their next meal is coming from. I know a major league player and his family and they say it is a different world these guys live in.

 

[Towney007]

For some context, he's tied with Tony Gwynn in WAR now, for all intents and purposes. A 7 WAR season for him would vault him past:

Ron Santo
Rafael Palmeiro
Scott Rolen
Pudge Rodriguez
Gary Carter
Jim Thome
Larry Walker
Johny Mize
Carlton Fisk
Lou Whitaker
Carlos Beltran
Paul Molitor
Ozzie Smith
Willie McCovey
Barry Larkin
Andruw Jones
Robin Yount
Tim Raines
Manny Ramirez
Mark McGwire
Harmon Killebrew
Craig Biggio
Graig Nettles
Edgar Marinez
Tony Gwynn
Dwight Evans...


.............for career WAR.

Career. WAR.

In two years - if he gets 7 WAR this year and next, he'll also pass

Miguel Cabrera
Frank Thomas
Eddie Murray
Rod Carew
Arky Vaughan
Luke Appling
Reggie Jackson
Fred Clark
Derek Jeter
Ed Delahanty
Paul Waner
Frankie Frish
Johnny Bench
BIll Dahlen
Ken Griffey Jr.

Another 7 and we start getting into just stupid territory. Pujols, Boggs, Brett.... I mean basically he'll be as good or better as all of them at 29 than they were in their entire careers. That's just mind bending.

 

[FlippinCrazy!]

I am as big a sports fan as anybody, especially baseball and I know Trout is the best player and a good guy but the amount of money these guys make is disgusting. So many people don’t know where their next meal is coming from. I know a major league player and his family and they say it is a different world these guys live in.

Yeah but these guys earned it. The whole “it’s a privilege not a right” talk is insane to me. Their careers weren’t handed to them, they had to out train and out compete millions of others to get a chance at the pros + all the uncertainty of getting hurt or just simply not panning out.

The people complaining about how much money athletes make don’t understand these guys have talents and traits that are valued over whatever talent they can provide themselves, and that these athletes didn’t just magically win the lottery

 

[the Q]

Yeah but these guys earned it. The whole “it’s a privilege not a right” talk is insane to me. Their careers weren’t handed to them, they had to out train and out compete millions of others to get a chance at the pros + all the uncertainty of getting hurt or just simply not panning out.

The people complaining about how much money athletes make don’t understand these guys have talents and traits that are valued over whatever talent they can provide themselves, and that these athletes didn’t just magically win the lottery

People also don’t understand how brutal the minor leagues are.

Baseball players aren’t the nfl or NBA where you immediate walk into huge salaries and fancy lifestyle

 

[Towney007]

Yeah but these guys earned it. The whole “it’s a privilege not a right” talk is insane to me. Their careers weren’t handed to them, they had to out train and out compete millions of others to get a chance at the pros + all the uncertainty of getting hurt or just simply not panning out.

The people complaining about how much money athletes make don’t understand these guys have talents and traits that are valued over whatever talent they can provide themselves, and that these athletes didn’t just magically win the lottery

Athletes get paid what they do because there aren't many humans on Earth who can do what they do. It's easier to be a lawyer or doctor than a baseball player.

As for people's 'worth' in broader society - I mean. Thousands upon millions tune into baseball 162+ times a year or go to their games. Not a lot of businesses can say that. So i'd say it's pretty worthwhile. Recreation is actually undervalued, if anything.

We're on a basketball board RIGHT NOW. Why?

 

[ZenConn]

People also don’t understand how brutal the minor leagues are.

Baseball players aren’t the nfl or NBA where you immediate walk into huge salaries and fancy lifestyle

True for most of the players. The players that are drafted in the first, say 5 rounds, have a signing bonus.

Trout got a 1.215 million signing bonus so that would have paid for his expenses for a few years at least.

 

[Towney007]

There's also a broader context to this, too. Baseball players are asked to do a lot of things other than play the game - and there's a lot that comes along with the job whether they want it to or not.


Imagine at your job that you had to do it live, in front of hundreds of thousands of people every night. Then on your drive to work the next day you got to tune into radio stations with shows about your job discussing whether the job you did last night was good enough or not. You're traveling almost a 1/4 of the year - of which you're away from your family on a 9-5, but your 9-5pm is 1pm to 11pm, basically. Assuming you don't immediately have to get on a place to fly however many hours to go do your job in another city however many hours away,

And when you go to the other places you work, the people there *really* don't like you and berrate you and say all sorts of crazy things. A few might even threaten you. You're doing this while knowing that if you don't do your job well enough - that you won't get fired, you just won't have a career anymore and you'll be going into the job market with no measurable skills outside of what you do already. You could also be randomly transferred or traded - not because you stink - but because someone likes you more than your current employer - or that your current employer likes someone else so much that he will move you just to get another guy. Then you get to move your family (some don't), get used to a new city and all of it.

All that as a 'thank you' for having a skill that literally 0.0000000000001% of humans have or have a shot at acquiring.

So if teachers would want to do all that. Or cancer doctors want to perform surgery in front of a live audience of thousands... then they'd get paid like baseball players. But in addition to lacking that kind of a specialized skill, none of them are willing to do any of that. I mean I really don't want to pick on them, but teachers in many places don't even have *basic* performance metrics and in some cases - their unions fight against them. But you can look at baseball players all day and get everything down to what count they like to swing at. My point is - they have a rare

So again, there's a reason they get paid what they get paid. In addition to all of this gobeldygook.

 

[the Q]

True for most of the players. The players that are drafted in the first, say 5 rounds, have a signing bonus.

Trout got a 1.215 million signing bonus so that would have paid for his expenses for a few years at least.

And then they make a grand per month riding 7 hour bus rides. Just like everyone else. With crappy nutrition (pbj is a Normal postgame spread), living with host families, or 5 guys in a 2 bedroom.

It blows. The guys who make it absolutely deserve it.

 

[tzznandrew]

I am as big a sports fan as anybody, especially baseball and I know Trout is the best player and a good guy but the amount of money these guys make is disgusting. So many people don’t know where their next meal is coming from. I know a major league player and his family and they say it is a different world these guys live in.

I mean, sure, I guess. Except that they're making a pittance relative to the owners. People don't come to the game for the owner...

 

[Waquoit]

Jim Bouton said it best when asked if players deserve all that money. "No, but they deserve it more than the owners."

 

[superjohn]

I am as big a sports fan as anybody, especially baseball and I know Trout is the best player and a good guy but the amount of money these guys make is disgusting. So many people don’t know where their next meal is coming from. I know a major league player and his family and they say it is a different world these guys live in.

I would rather them make it than the other lying cheating billionaires out there. At least superstar pro athletes provide enjoyment for millions.

 

[polycom]

I am as big a sports fan as anybody, especially baseball and I know Trout is the best player and a good guy but the amount of money these guys make is disgusting. So many people don’t know where their next meal is coming from. I know a major league player and his family and they say it is a different world these guys live in.

Disgusting in what sense? The market values peoples services, I doubt you'd be able to switch places with a pro baseball player if you had the talent. Just the travel alone would ruin most people, let alone being able to perform at a high level.

 

[superjohn]

There's also a broader context to this, too. Baseball players are asked to do a lot of things other than play the game - and there's a lot that comes along with the job whether they want it to or not.


Imagine at your job that you had to do it live, in front of hundreds of thousands of people every night. Then on your drive to work the next day you got to tune into radio stations with shows about your job discussing whether the job you did last night was good enough or not. You're traveling almost a 1/4 of the year - of which you're away from your family on a 9-5, but your 9-5pm is 1pm to 11pm, basically. Assuming you don't immediately have to get on a place to fly however many hours to go do your job in another city however many hours away,

And when you go to the other places you work, the people there *really* don't like you and berrate you and say all sorts of crazy things. A few might even threaten you. You're doing this while knowing that if you don't do your job well enough - that you won't get fired, you just won't have a career anymore and you'll be going into the job market with no measurable skills outside of what you do already. You could also be randomly transferred or traded - not because you stink - but because someone likes you more than your current employer - or that your current employer likes someone else so much that he will move you just to get another guy. Then you get to move your family (some don't), get used to a new city and all of it.

All that as a 'thank you' for having a skill that literally 0.0000000000001% of humans have or have a shot at acquiring.

So if teachers would want to do all that. Or cancer doctors want to perform surgery in front of a live audience of thousands... then they'd get paid like baseball players. But in addition to lacking that kind of a specialized skill, none of them are willing to do any of that. I mean I really don't want to pick on them, but teachers in many places don't even have *basic* performance metrics and in some cases - their unions fight against them. But you can look at baseball players all day and get everything down to what count they like to swing at. My point is - they have a rare

So again, there's a reason they get paid what they get paid. In addition to all of this gobeldygook.

Give me a break with this. They are paid insane amounts of money to play a kids game/their true passion. Anyone would kill for their lives.

 

[storrsroars]

All that as a 'thank you' for having a skill that literally 0.0000000000001% of humans have or have a shot at acquiring.

Just for accuracy's sake and because I live for this kind of thing, if you go with a 40 man roster and only include MLB teams, your number is 0.00000015936 or 0.000015936%. Which means the average person has a 60% greater chance of being killed by a shark, than becoming an MLBer.

If you add in MLB minor leaguers at an average of 120 per system, then you're at 0.000063745%, or just slightly lower than the odds of being killed by a meteorite.

And if you estimate the number of worldwide players in professional leagues, then you're at something around 0.000157143%, which means you're 4.5x more likely to get hit by lightning.

 

[storrsroars]

Give me a break with this. They are paid insane amounts of money to play a kids game/their true passion. Anyone would kill for their lives.

I used to think so, but that was when you got by on sheer talent and could have a sweet career while drinking and smoking your way into your 30s.

Now that they make you drink kale smoothies, I'd be much less interested.

 

[whaler11]

Read that if he lived in Cali (he doesn’t), he would owe $216 million in taxes. And would only take home $214 million.

I don’t know if that’s true. Rovell on twitter seemed to think different. I honestly have no idea, just passing along what I saw

Baseball’s Highest-Paid Players Face Huge Tax Bills for Travel

Also never read Rovell.

 

[the Q]

Just for accuracy's sake and because I live for this kind of thing, if you go with a 40 man roster and only include MLB teams, your number is 0.00000015936 or 0.000015936%. Which means the average person has a 60% greater chance of being killed by a shark, than becoming an MLBer.

If you add in MLB minor leaguers at an average of 120 per system, then you're at 0.000063745%, or just slightly lower than the odds of being hit by a meteorite.

And if you estimate the number of worldwide players in professional leagues, then you're at something around 0.000157143%, which means you're 4.5x more likely to get hit by lightning.

I freaking can’t like this post enough. I laughed multiple times.