Tampa Bay's New Economy
Tampa Bay's New Economy
The thriftiest franchise in MLB draws criticism for its ever-changing roster, but it's how they navigate an economy they don’t believe in.
Maybe I should have hitchhiked.
I was already being cost-conscious. I didn’t rent the car in Manhattan because the prices were outrageously high that week. Instead, I carefully planned the timing of my trip: take the crosstown bus to the subway to Penn Station. There, I’d board the New Jersey Transit and ride to the Point Pleasant Beach Station, from which I’d walk to the car rental location.
At some point along this journey, I realized I had crossed over from frugal to stupid. I was embarking on my first assignment as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays professional scouting department. In scouting meetings during Spring Training, it had been stressed to us all that we keep expenses as low as possible.
It was early April 2015, and I was traveling from New York City to the Jersey Shore to scout the Lakewood Blueclaws, the A-ball affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies in the South Atlantic League. For the 10 years leading up to this moment, I had worked for the San Diego Padres and the Arizona Diamondbacks. While neither organization had outrageous payrolls or expense tabs, they might as well have been big-market franchises in comparison to the Rays. The genuine vulnerability behind the repeated message to all pro scouts to watch spending on the road resonated. It worked. So there I was dragging my roller bag down some unknown street in suburban New Jersey, looking for the Avis sign and wondering how the hell I ended up here.
As Blake Snell and his $39 million in guaranteed salary now move to San Diego, my mind returns to the conference room in Port Charlotte, Fla., where Erik Neander, Chaim Bloom, Matt Arnold, James Click and others all led conversations during those 2015 pro scouting meetings. I think about the lively hypothetical scouting debates we had, the likes of which I was unaccustomed to during daylight hours and without a beer in front of me. I think about getting to know some of my new colleagues during breaks in the schedule or back at the hotel lobby. I think about the reminders to search for the best hotel rate.
I wonder how much meal money we needed to save to keep Snell with the organization that drafted him in 2011, 52nd overall, one pick after the Yankees selected Dante Bichette, Jr.
Iconoclasts in MLB’s free market
If Tampa Bay continues to eschew the role of the traditional starting pitcher, are they then naturally overpaying players who exist in a value structure they don’t believe in? Tampa’s starters had the fewest fingerprints on the ball in MLB in 2020, so reallocating financial resources (money) elsewhere makes sense… we just hope that it’s back into the Major League roster.
Tampa went 40-20 in the abbreviated 2020 season, yet their starters won only 15 games total, one fewer than MLB average. (It also bears noting that Rays SP lost only nine games, significantly better than the league-wide average of 19.) Tampa’s quality start percentage was the worst in the league. Only 12 percent of their games featured a starting pitcher who went at least six innings and allowed no more than three earned runs. But this is not because Tampa did not have quality starting pitchers. Quite the contrary.
The way the starters were deployed, however, tells the story. The use of the opener — a relief pitcher who is used to start the game and generally pitch no more than two innings — skews traditional stat lines quickly. We shouldn’t be surprised that, at 71 pitches per start, Rays starters threw the fewest pitches in baseball in 2020.
Again, this isn’t for a lack of talent. It’s out of an effort to exploit matchups up and down the lineup card. Their record tells us it worked exceptionally well.
To pay Snell $39 million over the next three years should be viewed as a steal for the club. Heck, even Rachel Phelps, the penny-pinching owner of the Major League Indians would like that deal. The Rays, however, are already in Florida, and they’re playing a different game within a different economy.
Recent history tells us that they aren’t afraid to sell high, and that same recent history suggests — no, demands — that we trust them. You don’t have to like it, but it’s time to realize that Tampa’s front office is playing a different game, refusing to participate in a salary structure determined by norms they don’t subscribe to.
Thank you for making Warning Track Power part of your day. Have a happy and healthy new year, and we’ll keep this going in 2021.