Texas Rangers managing partner and majority owner Ray Davis listens to his general manager Chris Young and manager Bruce Bochy speak during a post season wrap up press conference at Globe Life Field in Arlington, October 1, 2024.
Tom Fox/Staff Photographer
If you’re so all-fired determined to raise a professional athlete, my recommendation would be baseball. Not only is it easier on the brainbasket, you don’t have to be tall. Jalen Brunson is probably 6-1, same as Kevin Costner and Bradley Cooper and the last guy to play Superman, yet he’s dismissed as a runt everywhere but New York, where he won’t have to so much as raise his hand for the check from here on out.
The other reason baseball is better for you is because it pays its players more than any sport except basketball despite revenues only hockey could envy.
This is why baseball owners are stepping up their longstanding mission to break the union, the most powerful in sports.
Article continues below this ad
Also why Ray Davis may not exactly be pulling for the Rangers to go on a nice run before the trade deadline.
Before looking at the ulterior motives of the local owner, consider management’s recent proposal. On the surface, it seems reasonable. For the first time, baseball, the only sport without a cap, would get one. It would start next season at $245 million and comes with a floor of $171 million, a number that 14 clubs don’t meet at the moment.
The proposal included the largest increase in minimum salary in league history and a shorter path to free agency if they qualify.
The catch: The union would have to agree to a cap. Under the terms, players couldn’t leave a club for a deal of more than five years, and they couldn’t sign for more than 15% of the new club’s cap figure. If they stay with their current club, they can sign for up to six years.
Article continues below this ad
There’s a lot of other arcane stuff, but those are the highlights. Chances are it sounds fine to you. A poll by The Athletic before the season, in fact, found that 68% of baseball fans favor a cap. They’re increasingly concerned about the advantage the Dodgers and Mets enjoy with a Competitive Balance Tax of more than $375 million each, though the Mets appear to enjoy it less than the Dodgers. Or the Royals, for that matter.
Leading your league in revenues is no guarantee of success, as Jerry Jones will tell you.
“Owners’ attempts to pit players against players are nothing new,” the statement read, “but they’ve failed in the past and will fail again now, because PA members remain unified.
“We are committed to achieving a fair deal that protects the rights of all players, promotes competition, and leaves our game better for future generations.”
Article continues below this ad
Of course, we’ll see just how “unified” the players are when it comes to a vote. As you may be aware, they don’t get paid during work stoppages. This is part of what makes them so attractive to management as a wedge to drive between the haves and have-nots.
Which brings us to the Rangers’ owner. When Chris Young asked for the big bucks it took to sign Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi to jumpstart the rebuild, it paid off in a parade. But, instead of doubling down on that investment after the title, or at least adding to it, Davis reduced the payroll the last two years in the manner of a small-market owner. Which he is not. He is what Elaine Benes would call “careful with his money.”
Combine that loss of working capital with the fact that the organization hasn’t come close to replacing all those guys who enjoyed career years in ’23, and you get the 2026 Rangers.
Our Evan Grant has calculated that they can’t afford to lose more than 12 games between now and the trade deadline on Aug. 3 if they want the owner to go for his wallet.
But, unless the Rangers go on a tear like few in club history, my guess is he won’t get trigger-happy.
Article continues below this ad
For one thing, a strong finish at the deadline is no guarantee of anything. The Rangers did it last year, when they went in five games over .500. Then they missed the playoffs for the second straight year.
Frankly, the Rangers’ postseason chances were slim from the start. They were always thin in pitching and hitting, and nothing has changed. Except to get worse once a handful of players got hurt, as players always do.
Davis surely sees it’s going to take more than a single starter or reliever or hitter to make the Rangers contenders. Even for a watered-down playoff run. Sooner or later, you still have to play the Yankees or Rays.
Add to the reality check the fact that, even among these owners, Davis is a hawk when it comes to labor disputes. He wants a cap, and he wants it now. The only big contracts the Rangers are obliged to pay after next season belong to Seager and Brandon Nimmo. Davis is this close to resetting his books across the board under terms far more favorable to the club.
Do you really think he wants to foul that up now by taking on contracts at the deadline with only a faint hope that it’ll help?
Article continues below this ad
The problem with a labor war is there’s no side to root for. Millionaires fighting billionaires. Just the same, if you want to raise a baseball player, you have my blessing. It may not pay the same by the time Junior gets to the bigs, but he won’t be digging ditches, either.
Twitter/X: @KSherringtonDMN