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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.<\/p>\n
Tom Fox\/Staff Photographer<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re so all-fired determined to raise a professional athlete, my recommendation would be baseball. Not only is it easier on the brainbasket, you don\u2019t 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\u2019s dismissed as a runt everywhere but New York, where he won\u2019t have to so much as raise his hand for the check from here on out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is why baseball owners are stepping up their longstanding mission to break the union, the most powerful in sports.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Also why Ray Davis may not exactly be pulling for the Rangers to go on a nice run before the trade deadline.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before looking at the ulterior motives of the local owner, consider management\u2019s 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\u2019t meet at the moment<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The proposal included the largest increase in minimum salary in league history and a shorter path to free agency if they qualify.\u00a0<\/p>\n The catch: The union would have to agree to a cap. Under the terms, players couldn\u2019t leave a club for a deal of more than five years, and they couldn\u2019t sign for more than 15% of the new club\u2019s cap figure. If they stay with their current club, they can sign for up to six years.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n There\u2019s a lot of other arcane stuff, but those are the highlights. Chances are it sounds fine to you. A poll by The Athletic<\/a> before the season, in fact, found that 68% of baseball fans favor a cap. They\u2019re 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n Leading your league in revenues is no guarantee of success, as Jerry Jones will tell you.\u00a0<\/p>\n Anyway, the union saw through management\u2019s public relations ploy and issued a statement decrying the shell game<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOwners\u2019 attempts to pit players against players are nothing new,\u201d the statement read, \u201cbut they\u2019ve failed in the past and will fail again now, because PA members remain unified.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are committed to achieving a fair deal that protects the rights of all players, promotes competition, and leaves our game better for future generations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Of course, we\u2019ll see just how \u201cunified\u201d the players are when it comes to a vote. As you may be aware, they don\u2019t 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n Which brings us to the Rangers<\/a>\u2019 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 \u201ccareful with his money.\u201d<\/p>\n Combine that loss of working capital with the fact that the organization hasn\u2019t come close to replacing all those guys who enjoyed career years in ’23, and you get the 2026 Rangers.\u00a0<\/p>\n