The Out in Left Weekly: February 18, 2024
The Out in Left Weekly: February 18, 2024
The Padres, new/bad uniforms, and more
MLB
San Diego Padres make moves
I was going to dedicate this blurb to the Padres bringing back a familiar face and fan favorite in Jurickson Profar. His signing finally provides the roster a full outfield, after manager Mike Shildt jokingly asked MLB if Fernando Tatis can play in both center and right and bat twice.
Then the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the team is moving shortstop Xander Bogaerts to second base. Bogaert’s middling defense made it inevitable that he’d one day move off of the demanding shortstop position, but it was a surprise that the change was made in just the second season of his 11-year, $280 million contract.
Then the bigger story dawned on me. Ha-Seong Kim is about to be an extremely rich superstar.
Kim takes over shortstop duties in a contract year and, at age 28, the prime of his career. Kim has gotten better in each of the three years since signing with the Pads ahead of the 2021 season, and last year he won his first Gold Glove and was a top-50 player by WAR. If Kim continues on this trajectory, then he will rightfully become baseball’s next $100 million man.
It’s just sad that that likely won’t happen with the Padres. They have five nine-figure players already on the roster, and after owner Peter Seidler died last year the team cut back on payroll. It led to Kim being included in offseason trade rumors, and he will be gone by August if the Padres slip out of postseason contention. No pressure, San Diego.
Commissioner Rob Manfred to retire, eventually
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred shared with the class his five-year plan and announced that he’ll retire in 2029. This affords baseball media plenty of time to write career retrospectives, but his crowning achievement will be the implementation of the pitch timer. Under Manfred’s watch—pun intended—baseball became a lively, engaging sport again, and the success of the timer seems to have loosened MLB’s ancient joints, as they’re now tinkering with a host of potential rule changes.
But the commissioner’s main job is to protect the collective interests of MLB team owners. As part of his retirement announcement, Manfred suggested that the league institute a free agent signing window:
With the system we have right now, one of the tactics that’s available to player representatives is to stretch out the negotiation in the belief they’re going to get a better deal. That’s part of the system right now. There’s not a lot we can do about it.
Top free agents like Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, and Matt Chapman remain unsigned, and what owners want to do about that is force the players to accept deals they don’t want. The MLBPA is understandably opposed, and fans should be, too. As I wrote last month, anti-labor stances have always diminished the quality of MLB’s game product.
Nike debuts MLB jerseys
There’s a new jersey everyone hates, and no, it’s not the greatest state in the country. It’s the Vapor Premier jerseys Nike designed for MLB. Manufactured by Fanatics, the new uniforms are supposed to be lighter, stretchier, and more breathable, which is corporate-speak for “we cut manufacturing costs.” According to The Athletic’s Stephen J. Nesbitt, the players find them to have a “poor fit, cheap look, inconsistent quality and small lettering.” The players even took these complaints to the union.
I love shaking my fist at corporations, but this is a story because it’s the first week of spring training and there’s not much else to talk about. Remember last spring training when MLB debuted bigger bases and it was going to fundamentally alter the game? Oh, you don’t?
Royals render new ballpark
The economy must be booming because there has been a ton of news recently about stadium construction and redevelopment, including the Royals sharing renderings of a new ballpark in Kansas City’s Crossroads neighborhood. On one hand, the move to downtown would bring baseball back to the city, where it belongs. On the other, the Royals' billionaire owner wants a sales tax hike to subsidize the project. (How on earth does a 34,000-seat ballpark cost $2 billion?) The chosen location also imperils several existing businesses and even a church. It’s a tension that emerges whenever an urban sports stadium is proposed, and I plan on writing about that in more depth soon.
Other news
Proposed arena in suburban D.C. goes down
Speaking of new stadiums, a proposed arena in Virginia for the Washington Capitals and Wizards was put on ice by Democrats in the State Senate. Unlike with urban relocations, I think teams moving to the suburbs is irredeemably bad. It undermines the civic importance of a city’s team and generates more car trips, among other issues. As ever, subsidies are needed, and in this case Ted Leonsis, the Caps’ and Wizards’ owner, is seeking a financing package that could exceed $2 billion in public funds. Virginia is short 175,000 homes affordable and available to extremely-low income residents, and some 6,000 Virginians are homeless on any given night, but yes, let’s give a billionaire more money.
Kansas City Chiefs’ championship celebration ends in mass shooting
The mass shooting at the Chiefs’ Super Bowl rally, at which Lisa Lopez-Galvan was killed and 22 others were injured, represents a grim combination of uniquely American traditions: football and gun violence. The ensuing thoughts-and-prayers vs. gun control discourse was as familiar as it is sad.
I believe most political issues are projections of our collective or individual insecurities. We want the unhoused out of sight because their destitution diminishes our own dignity. We vilify immigrants because we are nervous about our own place in society. So it is with guns. Firearms make some people feel safe or powerful or in control in a country that otherwise doesn’t seem to provide for those things. We can’t pass laws to prevent death because guns have become an emotional (and profitable) crutch. Conservative gun owners and 2A fetishists will bristle at the reference, but in embracing a politics of compassion and trust we have nothing to lose but our chains.
Recommendations
Because baseball’s first “Black Ace” shouldn’t be overlooked: “Don Newcombe holds many firsts: A 97-year-old former Dodger and others knew him well” by Jason Jones for The Athletic. (link)
Because I reread it for the millionth time: Post Office by Charles Bukowski.
Because it’d be good for you: take the bus somewhere.