Every one of these “why didn’t the Pels give AD to the team he wants to be on” posts should mention this, and virtually none of them do. 

Yeah I’m baffled by how in the bag Deadspin seems to be for the Lakers getting what they want on this one. “Good faith” is not blatantly tampering with every star in the league who you’re targeting and then expecting to be gifted that star for a pu-pu platter that doesn’t make the other team better.

There’s virtually zero connection between those two variables. Every single major league franchise’s value went up drastically in that time, and most of them didn’t sign A-Rod. Among other factors to consider, the biggest one appears to be the explosion of income inequality in America,  which minted a new generation…

I didn’t say they were geniuses. And I definitely didn’t attribute this understanding, that cost controlling young players and soft capping the value of wins by distributing revenues was good for the long term profit and value of their franchises by decreasing costs to them. I think they employ some smart people. And…

The owners absolutely know better, because none of these owners, with the exception of Hal Steinbrenner, have become billionaires by running a baseball team. They’ve all become billionaires in other businesses. And those businesses have profit maximizing business people, economists, consultants, and analysts. Baseball…

And your evidence for this claim is ... what?

Having dealt with several of these trafficking cases from inside the judicial system, you might be surprised. No, it’s not sustainable from a true business model, but that’s sort of the point of the problem; the girls are usually treated as disposable because 18 people generating income can’t keep 44 people fed,…

The agents and players are also playing chicken with the owners. Neither one of these guys particularly needs much spring training; they’re both excellent baseball players, and it’s not like it’s football or basketball where you need to learn the playbook and the chemistry of your team. Baseball is 90% an individual…

Jeter’s contract is reasonable, but Jeter signed it in the biggest market for the richest team—and it was nowhere near the biggest 10 year contract out there.

Probably has to do with the fact that their agents have spent the last three years telling every media member who will take a source that that’s going to be the market for these guys. Those sources are valuable, and the agents are often important sources, so when agent tells you “the market for Harper may get up to…

such a coveted player

We are definitely putting “silk” on your bingo card

Isn’t the point of this hire his complete inability to get hired away as a head coach? Look at all the freaking coordinators Bill has had to go through over the years. You think he likes losing all that institutional knowledge every year? If he wants to be there for five to ten more, my guess is is wants some…

I wish I could take credit for it, but an author-who-shall-not-be-named-in-these-comments once used the term “Wins Above Raheem Morris” for a couple of years and the idea of CoachingWAR stuck with me.

I am more confused by Goff than ever. I have been all in on the idea that Jeff Fisher is about a -3 wins-below-replacement-level coach, and if McVay is +3 or +4, that explains the change from crummy rookie Goff to near-MVP level Goff. I do not think I appreciate just how important the fact that McVay was on the…

I think part of The Process was always going to be bringing in veterans to finish the job once you had the young superstars. Getting Embiid and Simmons and adding established players to that core seems like a pretty damn good process. 

Just once I wish one of these takes mentioned that he was happy to take the guaranteed money when he signed the contract. It bugs me when people want the benefit of their contract but not the tradeoff. 

They’re gonna name the next Allen Houston rule after him

Selling out the youth may be a huge mistake. Look at the NFL, where the union voted to cut rookie salaries drastically with the intention of freeing up money to pay veterans. Backfired big time because the young players are now drastically more cost efficient than the veterans.

The eternally inseparable evaluation of coach and quarterback is a big factor here. People love to talk about if Brady or Belichick would be the legends they are without each other. Is Goff actually good? We don’t know. We know that in his rookie season he was horrible, but Jeff Fisher is an utterly awful coach. He…