CBA is a good deal for Dodgers
Provisions on luxury taxes, spending on international amateurs should help them.
One of the silliest experiments in baseball history died painlessly late Wednesday night. No one mourned.
The “This Time It Counts” fiasco — trying to legislate meaning to the All-Star game by giving the winning league the homefield edge in the World Series — passed away after 14 years.
The stunt has been replaced by common sense. The team with the better record gets home-field advantage in the World Series, the most appealing wrinkle of the new collective bargaining agreement.
Although the language of the agreement still is being finalized, the Dodgers are clear winners.
The Dodgers aren’t trying to run a $300-million payroll any more. What the stiff luxury taxes in the new agreement do is drastically diminish the chances of another team trying to do that.
In the meantime, the Dodgers already have
The Dodgers avoided arbitration with reliever Chris Hatcher and outfielder Scott Van Slyke. Each player signed a non-guaranteed, one-year contract for 2017. Hatcher signed for $1.25 million and Van Slyke signed for $1.325 million.
Friday is the deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players for next season. The Dodgers’ 40man roster includes seven other candidates: catcher Yasmani Grandal, pitchers Luis Avilan, Louis Coleman, Josh Fields, Vidal Nuno and Alex Wood, and first baseman Darin Ruf.
Neither Hatcher nor Van Slyke played a prominent role for the Dodgers in 2016. Both were marred by a combination of injuries and disappointing play.
The team entered the season with Hatcher as the primary setup man for closer Kenley Jansen. Hatcher lost the job by April. He suffered a season-ending abdominal strain in July, and finished the season with a 5.53 earned-run average in 37 appearances.
The Dodgers also hoped Van Slyke could provide right-handed power against left-handed pitching. But his decline contributed to a seasonlong struggle for the team against left-handers. Van Slyke hit one home run and batted .225 in 113 plate appearances. He underwent wrist surgery in August.