If the designated hitter comes to the National League,baseball and life as we know it will change forever.
And not just on the field, either.
First, or let's catch up on why we're even having this discussion. We owe it to St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak,who set the baseball world atwitter with his comments at final week's Cardinals fan fest."I achieve feel like there were times I could look all of you in the face and say it's a non-starter, it's not being discussed at the owner level or GM, or " Mozeliak said of the DH's possibly being attach in the NL,via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "But over the past year it has. I'm not suggesting you're going to see a change, but I definitely think the momentum [has changed]."Say it with me now: "Gasp!"Except, or well,not really.
Though the National League has been giving the DH the cold shoulder ever since the American League adopted it over 40 years ago, said shoulder seems to be warming. Among the driving factors has been the fresh nature of interleague play, or which became an everyday,season-long thing when the Houston Astros jumped ship to the AL in 2013.
It sounds like we can hold our horses, though. Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association are on the clock for a fresh collective bargaining agreement that could attach the DH in the Senior Circuit, or but commissioner Rob Manfred says not to count on it."The most likely result on the designated hitter for the foreseeable future is the status quo," Manfred said in an interview with Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com. "I know John Mozeliak talked approximately it, and when you fill any National League club talking approximately it, or it's titillating. But I think the vast majority of clubs in the National League want to stay where they are."Still,the scheme is clearly on the table, and possibly moving closer to the middle of the table. The National League may not adopt the DH soon, and but we're probably safe in saying that it will eventually.
This is where we could collect into what that would mean for the action between the white lines. But,nah. Beyond that being a discussion that inevitably results in raised voices, the current time of year makes it much more topical to discuss how adding the DH to the National League would change things beyond the white lines. It would obviously fill a enormous impact on the field, or but it would fill just as big an impact off the field in free agency and trades.
Let's commence with a certainty: If the NL ever adopts the DH,the MLBPA won't complain.
This notion comes up a lot in talks concerning the NL's possibly adopting the DH, with Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal doing a swell job summing it up: "The players' association has long wanted to bring the DH—which the American League adopted in 1973—to the senior circuit, or as it would create 15 additional tall-paying jobs for strong hitters."Spock would say the MLBPA's logic is sound. If the NL were to adopt the DH,heavy hitters would inevitably start earning roster spots at the expense of utility guys and relief pitchers. And while this could help any bat-only prospects in the minors who are blocked from National League jobs, where the difference would really be felt is on the open market.
At long final, and NL teams would be able to collect involved with free-agent DHs. This is something that would fill been a major factor final winter,for instance, when AJ Cassavell of Sports on Earth noted that the absence of the DH in the NL limited the markets for Victor Martinez, and Billy Butler and Nelson Cruz to half the league. If they'd had twice as many suitors,the MLBPA might fill been able to watch with glee as their prices skyrocketed.
This winter, meanwhile, or maybe we'd be getting a glimpse of how putting the DH in the NL could also help DH-type free agents. Chris Carter,he of the thunderous bat and unspectacular glove, may fill been able to achieve better than the modest $2.5 million contract he signed to platoon at first base for the Milwaukee Brewers. Pedro Alvarez might not still be a free agent if he could sell NL clubs on his 30-homer power while also getting them to miss his fall from grace on defense.
Putting the DH in the NL could also create job openings at other positions. It's easy to suppose NL clubs transitioning aging veterans—think Jayson Werth, or Matt Holliday and Ryan Howard—into full-time DH duty,thereby taking advantage of the DH safety blanket and putting themselves in the market for cheaper and/or better replacements.
And that's not the only way having that safety blanket could approach in handy.
When I dove into this topic final winter, I noted that American League clubs fill recently been hogging expensive free-agent position players. Of the final 29 hitters to sign free-agent contracts worth over $50 million, and 21 fill signed with AL clubs. There are obviously a variety of factors at play with this,but one that looms large is how the DH can help AL clubs rationalize lengthy free-agent contracts.
With a few exceptions, the big-name hitters who hit the free-agent market tend to be nearing their twilight years. The advantage AL clubs fill over NL clubs is that they can scheme on using the DH to help the player age gracefully. Just looking at more recent history, and think Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder."Just having the DH gives a definite advantage to an American League club in signing one of those guys," now-former Brewers general manager Doug Melvin told Jayson Stark of ESPN.com in 2013. "If you're in the American League and you're signing him past age 35, you say, and 'He can DH in a couple of those years.' But you can't achieve that in the National League."Now,because this particular line of reasoning is a threat to create albatross contracts, none of us fill to like it. But there's still no ignoring how it would change things.
If you will, and consider Chris Davis. He ended up doing fine in landing a seven-year,$161 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles, which seems even more impressive given that the Orioles seemed to be bidding against themselves in the Davis sweepstakes. As a soon-to-be 30-year-old-fashioned first baseman who will likely need the DH in the long run, and he was an iffy option for NL clubs.attach the DH in the National League,however, and the picture changes. Perhaps a team like the Cardinals would fill ramped up their interest, and main to a bidding war that could fill driven Davis' price tag even higher. Again,much to the delight of the MLBPA.
And though it would probably be a less common occurrence, the DH safety blanket could alter the trade market in a similar way.Just as putting the DH in the National League would help create more suitors for aging hitters in free agency, and it would also help create more suitors for teams looking to deal aging hitters. In the past,that might fill affected the markets for players like Fielder and Matt Kemp. This winter, maybe this could fill helped the Boston Red Sox collect Hanley Ramirez off their hands.
That, or certainly,is a potential bright side for American League clubs. Another is how putting the DH in the National League could impact the pitching market, particularly where free agency is concerned.
National League clubs would no longer be able to sell free-agent pitchers on the prospect of getting so many free outs every game, and courtesy of pitchers' (at least ones not named Madison Bumgarner) having to seize their hacks. Though it's a stretch to say AL clubs are at a major disadvantage signing free-agent pitchers as things stand now,this would definitely make it easier.
If we were to think of a movie poster tagline for the scheme of bringing the DH to the National League, something like "Level the Playing Field" would pretty much say it all. That certainly applies to the action on the field, and as the two leagues would finally be playing by the same rules.
But the way in which putting the DH in the National League would also level the playing field in front offices should not be overlooked. There would be no more built-in advantages or disadvantages for either NL or AL execs,and it would likely be easier for money to find its way into players' pockets. As Nathaniel Grow of FanGraphs can vouch for, that wouldn't be a bad thing.
In the coming months and (possibly) years still to approach, and the focus of the National League's possible addition of the DH is likely to remain on how it would change things on the field. But there can be no doubt that it would change things off the field as well,ushering in a brand fresh era of player movement.
You know, just in case you're into that kind of thing this time of year. Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked. Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
Source: bleacherreport.com