Who should take the blame for Major League Baseball’s current mess?
Q: The next time you talk to Nolan Arenado please tell him the “fans” know exactly what is going on. Ask him how players can expect 100% of their salaries, prorated or full, from the owners who have lost 48% of their revenue stream sans fans. We know the problem of not having any baseball this year, clearly the MLBPA is totally at fault. — Jerry, Parker
PS: Jerry, you are not alone in your criticism of Arenado in the wake of my story in Tuesday’s edition of The Post in which Arenado had strong comments about the war of words between MLB and the players union. I had numerous emails similar to yours.
I understand the frustration of fans who love their team and the players but cringe at $15 beers at the ballpark and consider players whose average salary is $4 million a year to be selfish when so many are without work.
But hear me out. The owners have to carry the biggest part of the blame in the current mess. The players simply do not believe owners who claim the sport is not highly profitable.
I share the players’ skepticism. The players noticed that the Kansas City Royals sold for $1 billion last year after being purchased for $96 million in 2000. They are aware that MLB got a huge revenue boost last weekend in its new deal with Turner Sports for a portion of postseason TV rights.
According to Forbes, the average value of an MLB franchise in 2020 is $1.85 billion, a 20% increase from just three years ago. It’s the players, not the owners, who would have to play baseball during a global pandemic. Owners have to take some responsibility and carry the weight for the fans and the city that houses them.
Q: After this draft, I can’t help but think back to a few years ago when we drafted Kyle Parker out of Clemson. Whatever happened to him? He seemed like he was well on his way to making it to the big leagues. — Paul, Fort Collins
I had forgotten about Parker until this year’s draft when I noted that Zac Veen was only the third outfielder ever selected by the Rockies with their first draft pick, joining Parker in 2010 and David Dahl in 2012.
Anyway, Park was the first athlete in NCAA Division I history with 20 homers and 20 touchdown passes in the same school year. He produced throughout his minor league career before recording a .513 OPS in 132 big-league at-bats.
Parker played in 64 games for the Rockies in 2014-15 but hit just .182 and struck out 39% of time time. He signed with the Reds in April 2016 but was released months later. He spent part of the 2016 season in Double-A ball but and then called it quits.
Q: We’ve had some very strong starting pitchers who tailed off at the end of their run in Colorado. Ubaldo Jimenez was a beast. Jason Jennings had signs of being a legitimate staple in the rotation. Heck, even Mike Hampton qualifies to some degree. Is it diminishing skills? Overwhelming mental exertion pitching at altitude? A little of both? — Keith Bader, Los Angeles
Keith, it’s a combination of many things. I’m not sure it’s so much “diminishing skill” as it is the physical wear and tear of pitching in Denver. But you are correct that mental exertion is a big part of it.
As for Ubaldo Jimenez, a lot of his problems with the Rockies during his final season with them in 2011 were due to his funky mechanics.