FanGraphs Baseball

Another week, another development on the minor league salary front. Less than six days after a federal antitrust lawsuit was filed challenging the minor league salary structure, Minor League Baseball’s (MiLB) vice president, Stanley Brand, announced at the Winter Meetings on Thursday that his organization would launch a vigorous lobbying campaign in 2015, asking Congress to pass legislation protecting the industry from federal minimum wage and maximum hour laws.

Brand’s announcement comes in response to two other class action lawsuits filed earlier this year alleging that the minor league pay scale violates the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (Wendy Thurm previously discussed the first of these suits here). These cases – filed on behalf of two groups of former minor league players – contend that once all of the hours minor league players work each year are accounted for (including spring training, the regular season, and fall instructional leagues), most minor leaguers are effectively paid less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. And despite often working more than 50 hours per week, minor league players do not receive overtime.

Interestingly, like the minor league antitrust lawsuit filed a couple weeks ago – which appears to be covered by baseball’s antitrust exemption – professional baseball is arguably already exempt from the FLSA as well under an exception covering “seasonal amusement and recreational establishments” (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(3)). Under the exception, any amusement-related business (theme parks, carnivals, circuses, and the like) that operates on a seasonal basis – basically seven months or less per year, although the law is a little more nuanced – is not required to pay its workers minimum wage or overtime. Read the rest of this entry »

Chase Headley has agreed to re-sign with the Yankees, reportedly for about $52 million over four years. We’ve written pretty extensively about Headley over the last month or so, so before I continue, I’ll just direct you to a few links for further reading about his abilities.

Comparing Chase Headley to Jacoby Ellsbury
Looking for the Real Chase Headley
The Bargains of the 2015 Free Agent Class
What Happened to Chase Headley?

Headley is a polarizing guy, with those of us who put a decent amount of value on the defensive side of the game seeing him as an above average regular, while many others see him as an underpowered corner guy whose best days are behind him. The Yankees used that diminished perception of Headley’s value to sign him to a deal for slightly less than what our crowdsourcing project suggested, which is pretty rare, given that the crowd is generally low on free agent contracts.

But that shouldn’t be a huge surprise, since people reading FanGraphs and contributing to the crowdsourcing project are more likely to use the metrics found here on the site, which suggest that Headley is still a pretty good player. While the Yankees and a few other teams — there was a reported $65 million offer on the table that he turned down, though we may never know if it was actually made or not — may agree with that assessment, there are enough Major League teams who think there are better ways to spend $10 to $15 million per year on a four year deal. So, as a point of comparison, let’s look at how Headley stacks up with other hitters who have signed similar contracts over the last couple of winters.

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The news:

Sources: #Yankees close to signing free-agent 3B Chase Headley to four-year deal.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 15, 2014

headley signing with yanks. 4 yrs, a little north of $50M

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) December 15, 2014

The crowd had estimated 4/$56M for Headley, while I guessed 4/$60M, so this looks like a win for the crowd. And, from my perspective, a win for the Yankees, since I thought Headley would be a bargain at more than he apparently signed for. Last week, I compared Headley to Jacoby Ellsbury, noting that Headley is essentially Ellsbury minus the baserunning abilities, and it seems unlikely that the value Ellsbury can create through that one aspect of the game should be the difference between $50 million and $150 million.

Of course, Tony Blengino has offered some less optimistic opinions about Headley’s future, and I’d suggest you read his piece from last week as well. We’ll have a full post up on the deal once the terms are known, but safe to say I’m going to be a fan of this one for New York.

First, a brief bit of background for those who haven’t kept up with this minor contract dispute. Back when the Nationals were negotiating with Bryce Harper on deadline signing day in 2010, the haggling went down to the last minute before both sides agreed on a five year, $9.9 million dollar Major League contract. While such deals have since been outlawed by the CBA, they were pretty standard for the best draft picks at the time, and Harper was obviously a pretty great prospect with some significant leverage.

Because he signed a Major League deal, the contract specified guaranteed salaries for 2011 through 2015. However, because the Nationals called him up to the big leagues just a few weeks into the 2012 season, Harper would now qualify as a Super Two arbitration eligible candidate this winter if he wasn’t already under contract for $1.5 million from his original deal. Generally, players who signed these contracts were granted opt-out provisions in case they became arbitration eligible, so that the guaranteed salaries were essentially guaranteed minimums instead, with the player being able to choose the path of arbitration if it would get them higher salaries at that point in the deal.

For example, Rick Porcello used just such a clause to opt-out of the $1.3 million he would have been owed in 2012, choosing to go to arbitration as a Super Two eligible instead. The Tigers ended up paying him $3.1 million to avoid arbitration, which not only gave him more money in that season, but set him up for a higher base to get arbitration raises from, significantly increasing his total salary over the last four years.

Now, that brings us back to Harper. According to the Nationals, Scott Boras forgot to ask for that clause to be included in the deal; Boras denies this, and refused to sign the paperwork when it was sent over in the wake of the agreement. The two sides kicked the can down the road at the time, agreeing that if it became an issue, they would resolve it through independent arbitration. Since Harper is Super Two eligible, it became an issue, and the two sides were scheduled to have their grievance heard tomorrow.

Instead, however, they have settled on a two year contract that seems like a pretty fair compromise: Harper will get the $2.5 million he was projected to make in arbitration this year, but he also agreed to a guaranteed $5 million salary in 2016, a modest raise that limits the exposure for Washington if he has a breakout season this year. Harper gets a little more money up front, and limits his risk in case of an injury or a disappointing performance, while the Nationals defend against having to give him a huge raise next winter if he goes off.

Harper did skip NatsFest this weekend due to his unhappiness with the situation, but I wouldn’t expect this dispute will do much to the team’s chances of signing him long-term. This is the kind of thing that is fairly easily forgotten, especially when the next time these two negotiate, the asking price will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

After having typically appeared in the very hallowed pages of Baseball Think Factory, Dan Szymborski’s ZiPS projections have been released at FanGraphs the past couple years. The exercise continues this offseason. Below are the projections for the Oakland Athletics. Szymborski can be found at ESPN and on Twitter at @DSzymborski.

Other Projections: Atlanta / Colorado / Los Angeles AL / Miami / Milwaukee / Tampa Bay.

Batters
Oakland catchers combined for the fourth-highest offensive and absolute lowest defensive run totals in the majors last year. In part, the poor defensive record was a result of both John Jaso and Derek Norris making starts at DH (and thereby receiving the attendant negative positional adjustment). In part, it’s because Jaso and Norris aren’t particularly excellent defensive catchers. For ZiPS, at least, the strengths compensate for the weaknesses sufficiently to make catcher the club’s likely most productive position.

Elsewhere, one finds more optimism regarding Marcus Semien’s 2015 season. Not regarding his shortstop defense, of course. ZiPS projects him to concede seven runs there in roughly a full season (which is almost precisely Steamer’s estimate, as well). However, both systems have Semien producing a roughly league-average batting line with roughly league-average (position agnostic) defense. Those estimates conspire to produce a nearly league-average projected WAR.

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If you’re still looking for offense on the free agent market, you’re basically out of luck, other than the still-available Chase Headley. Looking at our Free Agent Tracker, the only hitter left who projects to reach a realistic 2 WAR — i.e., league average — is Jed Lowrie, who is undeniably talented but rarely healthy and probably not a shortstop. (Ignore the overly optimistic outlook on Daric Barton, since this is using Steamer/600, and he’s had 600 plate appearances total over the last four seasons.)

That means that if you’re still in a situation where you need a bat and you don’t have the finances or the flexibility to add Headley, you’re either totally out of luck or you’re looking to the trade market. That’s where the Padres turned in landing Matt Kemp, for better or worse. It’s where the Cardinals went when they landed Jason Heyward, and how the Tigers picked up Yoenis Cespedes, and how Josh Donaldson landed in Toronto, and how Miguel Montero became a Cub.

While we can’t ever truly know for certain who is “available” on the trade market, we can say with reasonable confidence that Justin Upton is. As the Braves signaled their intention to shift from win-now to something resembling a mild rebuild with the firing of GM Frank Wren and the trade of Heyward, moving Upton — who can be a free agent following 2015 — seems like the logical next step. Unsurprisingly, his player tag at MLBTR has been full of activity over the last few weeks.

Upton, for the moment, is still a Brave, and we don’t know whether that’s because Atlanta wants too much or other teams aren’t stepping up — the answer, almost certainly, is both. But with the added information we have thanks to recent moves, can we get closer to finding his true trade value?

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Ben and Sam banter about changes in World Series odds, then discuss how teams value draft picks inappropriately, whether the Marlins are sincere, and Boston’s low-strike strategy.

Anthony Seratelli came into spring training with a chance to make the New York Mets roster in a utility role. Instead, the 31-year-old career minor-league veteran spent the entire season in Triple-A. Now he’s heading to Japan.

Seratelli signed a one-year contract with the Seibu Lions, and the primary reason was money. Nine years after entering pro ball, his big-league hopes slowly fading, it was time to finally earn a meaningful paycheck.

Minor-league salaries are abysmal. The standard salary for first-year players is $1,100 per month. At the Double-A level, players get approximately $1,500 per month. Triple-A players can make markedly more, depending on experience and 40-man-roster status, but some earn as little as $2,150 per month. Major League Baseball’s minimum salary recently increased to $507,500 per year.

Minor-league players only receive paychecks April through August. They aren’t paid during spring training, instructional league, or during the offseason. For seven months out of the year, they’re training on their own dime. According to Garrett Broshuis, the Uniform Player Contract “requires players to perform work throughout the year, but teams aren’t paying them for that.” A prospect-turned-attorney, Broshuis is involved in a class-action suit to improve compensation for minor-leaguers.

Each Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team has a 70-man roster and the lowest-paid player on any roster reportedly earned the equivalent of $44,000 US dollars last year. Seratelli signed with Seibu for $600,000, plus incentives. Read the rest of this entry »

Episode 513
Kiley McDaniel is both (a) the lead prospect writer for FanGraphs and also (b) the guest on this particular edition of FanGraphs Audio — during which edition he discusses OFP, accounting for biases in individual scouts, and the three best jobs in baseball.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @cistulli on Twitter.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio after the jump. (Approximately 51 min play time.)

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