Alex Rios agrees to one-year with royals

[Crazysilver03]

One thing is for sure, though. Baseball economics are broken and only getting worse.

This might be the most agreeable thing you have ever said. I like the sport but it is entertainment. The "values" that are being assigned to these athletes is beyond ridiculous. To me it is really taking away from the game. To know that Clayton Kershaw is making more money pitching 5 innings than Schoop makes for the whole season is cringe worthy.

[Elbren]

Demand just went down, not up. One less landing spot available. Remember what Cruz ended up signing for last year?

Cruz got what he did because he was on the wrong side of 30, coming off a PED suspension and would have also cost a high draft pick. He also had a history of hitting well in Arlington, but disappearing when he hit outside of that stadium.

Also, yes, it's "one less landing spot", but this was already a weak year for offensive FA's ... and it just got weaker. If you're a team like the O's, with OF spots open and multiple holes in the lineup, your options are disappearing quickly.

With that said ... no way in hell I give Rios double digits. lol They can have him at that price. If they were willing to overspend like that, why not just keep Aoki?

[sportsfan8703]

Colby Rasmus price just went up.

Maybe not. That takes away a landing spot for Rasmus or Aoki. Seems like Rasmus wouldn't go back to Toronto. With the Royals out of it we could be using a Seth Smith trade to lower Rasmus expectations. We all know what's going to happen. We're going to wait and see who is leftover and try to get them on the cheap, and in between that have trade talks where we try and do the same. I aint mad. Just what we do.

[atomic]

Demand just went down, not up. One less landing spot available. Remember what Cruz ended up signing for last year?

There were a ton of quality hitters on the market last year. This year the pickens are slim to say the least.

[atomic]

I don't see it that much of an overpay. Guys who can play every day at an above average level who are free agents are getting at least that. Morales was an overpay as he was absolutely awful last year and has a history of injury problems.

[Chavez Ravine]

I don't see it that much of an overpay. Guys who can play every day at an above average level who are free agents are getting at least that. Morales was an overpay as he was absolutely awful last year and has a history of injury problems.

The conclusion at the end of this longish article is that the MLB inflation rate for WAR in 2015 will be about 7.3% Not surprisingly, this is more than the projected 3% growth in base salary for the economy as whole. A cynic might find cold comfort in the fact that player salaries have been declining relative to overall MLB revenue, proving that everyone has their own 1 percenter that they can be bitter at.

http://www.hardballtimes.com/predicting-major-league-baseball-salary-growth/