Know what’s wrong with MLB? The talent trickles up. It heads to big markets and big money. It’s akin to European soccer.
Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton has 44 HR. He’s on pace to hit 61. Legit. Without juice. Probably. We hope.
Stanton is currently baseball’s most electrifying player. He’s homered in 10 of his past 12 games. He has 23 HR in his past 35 games.
Yet Miami is trying to trade him. Stanton has cleared waivers.
Stanton makes an average of $25m per year through 2027. He’s 27.
Yeah, sell high. I get it. In some respects, trading Stanton makes perfect sense.
But that’s why fans don’t trust teams, and fewer get attached like they used to. Consider the Pirates: Attendance dropped a quarter-mil last season and will drop another quarter-mil by the end of this season.
That’s what happens when you win 98 games in 2015 and cut payroll. Wonder what will happen when the Pirates trade Andrew McCutchen.
The trust just isn’t there with a lot of mid- and small-market baseball teams, especially for the casual fan.
Sure, they’re happy in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. For MLB, the big markets are all that matters.
So Stanton may go to a contender before month’s end. That’s not fair. For a player of his caliber to move this late in the season skews things improperly. MLB shouldn’t even bother having a trade deadline.