We’ve all been there—puzzling as to why our team has lost a key piece, or was unable to acquire the prize free agent from the small-market team. It seemed as if your general manager was a major player in the negotiations then for some reason your favorite player was gone. The GM always “did everything they could” and the team really wanted said free agent. Then the player says the team had no offer that was close and had no interest in matching. (Then the player says the new contract wasn’t about money…but that’s another post.) What gives? Oftentimes your team’s owner and GM have no intention of signing the player they are supposedly bidding for. Whether it’s a money issue, cap room or a desire to go with somebody else (usually less well-known, but sometimes equally productive) the team just isn’t interested. Due to the pressure from fans to see the team actively attempting to acquire free agents (in the hopes of winning, of course) or to drive up the price of a player for your rival teams, the team will pretend to be a player in the bidding for a free agent. Here’s several types of fake bidding that occur:
“We Really Tried"
This is usually done by teams to alleviate pressure to acquire a popular free agent or keep a local hero. It requires another team to play the bully, so your GM can paint your team as a helpless victim. A recent case was Antwaan Randle El. The Steelers quickly resigned themselves to losing Randle El. No game was necessary; their fans were satisfied that the Super Bowl Champs were going to operate successfully within a limited budget. But a lot of noise was being made by Chicagoans (Michael Wilbon for example) that the Bears ought to bolster their receiving corps by bringing a hometown boy back to the Windy City.
The Bears’ actions were strictly David Blaine. An $18 million offer was floated on the breeze as Randle El made his way to Redskins Park. Randle El turned it down flat before even meeting with Cerato, Snyder and Gibbs. Everybody involved knew that the Skins were going to come to the table with significantly more, especially the Bears. They slid in a nice low-ball hoping the Redskins would knock it out of the park, and they did. The Bears knew well that the Redskins reputation for “overpaying” would cover their #### on the low-ball. Plus, they would get the benefit of saying “We tried to get Randle El.” Furthermore, the Bears “never had a chance” because of the “overpaying” of the Redskins. What would have happened had the Bears made a serious offer in the neighborhood of what Randle El finally received? Maybe he’d still be in Washington, but maybe he’d be in Chicago. The Bears never wanted him. Instead they got exactly what they wanted without spending a dime.
Johnny Damon was a similar “We tried” only in slow motion. The market for Damon was softer than expected. Damon was looking for 5 or 6 years, and had no takers. The Sox had floated a low-ball 3-year offer and almost got what they didn’t want: Johnny Damon in the outfield. There were a bunch of teams with similarly bogus offers on the table like the Orioles (who are always “almost” getting free agents) but nobody to take the fall for the Sox when their World Series hero left town. Then the Evil Yankees Empire stepped in. The Yankees saved the day, offering the 4th year, “overpaying” an older player and playing the big, rich, bully for the Red Sox to blame--even though the Sox have the 2nd highest payroll in baseball. The Red Sox float the “We tried” balloon and Coco Crisp is playing at Fenway a little too quickly to have not been the plan all along.
Why do these teams “overpay” these guys anyway? Randle El can be worth at least $31 million to the Redskins, while maybe not being worth as much to the Bears in their situation. Washington already makes tons of money, but now the Randle El jerseys are flying off the shelves and Snyder can jack up ticket prices, which is just what happened. Steinbrenner is making money 18 different ways off of the Yankees. Not only Damon jerseys and fannies in the seats, but television deals that would make the Devil Rays drool. The Yankee product gets a big boost in the middle of the off-season, and Big Stein gets richer. Being the villain isn’t a problem when you’re making money hand-over-fist (and Darth Vader is the coolest character in Star Wars anyway.)
“Bid Them Up”
Ebay is a dangerous thing. You’ve bid on something and someone with a evil-sounding screen name outbids you. You bid against each other a few times and now you’ve reached your limit. Then the devil on your shoulder whispers, “bid him up.” So you put in a few extra bids just to cost him a little Cabbage Patch Kid collection. Teams do this with free agents all the time. Every extra dollar tied up may cost your rival a player down the line. This is very popular in the American League East. Toronto had entered very credible negotiations with Marlins hurler AJ Burnett. As they neared the end of reeling in Burnett, there were still teams hanging on somewhere near the Toronto number. Baltimore and Boston stayed in the mix to drive the price up another $5 million at least. Toronto got their man, and Baltimore and Boston got to squeeze their division rival for the price of a quality utility man or middle reliever.
“The Phantom Offer”
If you really want to play it safe, this is the way to go. Atlanta mastered this maneuver years ago. The Hawks always have acres of cap space and no intention of using it. Two years ago when Kenyon Martin was a free agent, the New York Times reported that the Hawks were expected to tender Martin a max deal offer. This would have been a bold addition for the hapless Hawks had it been a real offer. But it never materialized. This “Phantom Offer” had a little bit of the “we tried” (if you weren’t paying too close attention) and ultimately “bid up” the price to a max deal for Denver. The beneficial effect of this non-bid is a bit less than tendering an actual offer. The financial risk, of course, is zero, so any benefits are free. We’ll see whether there’s a bid or a no-bid on Harrington this summer. I’m guessing non-bid.
Owners and GM’s play a lot of games because, like it or not, sports is a big business. The same brinksmanship and deceit occurs in high-stakes business deals around the world. I think it is important to realize that just like when David Blaine supposedly holds his breath for nine minutes, nothing is what it appears to be.
Excellent analysis, and excellent creative intermingling of your interpretive skills. Cutting edge topic as well. You can actually expand this piece as a primer to those less-informed about the free agent and money game. Really nice, and well-written too.
Thanks Mean! It's interesting that you think there's room for expansion, I would think that most readers would be turned off by how long it is. I have a lot more to say about this and more examples, but I'll see if everybody has the patience that you do when reading a long piece.
Thanks Crabman...I saw it too, on one of the HBO's. I forgot all about the cat-#### scene and the drinking of milk on a hot day. Just good stuff all around. The news-man fight is classic too.
Sports--Here's the thing: it's not overpaying for them. They're getting value for their money and making a big profit. A big market can not only absorb the cost of a free agent but can turn that big name into big dollars--a small market could not realize this profit. Small market teams can pay only for enough players to win games. Big markets can pay both to win games and to sell a lot of stuff. It's a different calculus.
Your spin on how the Bears played the Skins a little bit makes the Lake Forest organization come across as russian chess champions. I would love to believe they are smart enough to think clever strategy. They may have fell into this one; Bears geniunly desire the services of Randal El, Bears realize Snyder will pay anything to get his new toy, Bears decide to punish Snyder for his compulsive spending behavior disorder.
You would have to drag out the old microfiche to find a Chicago sports column that complements the stunning chess moves practiced by Michael McCasky and his seven dwarfs. Like the heddy days of Yuri Gregorian and Buddy Ryan...doh...not a reference to the '85 Bears again. Still, they were the best.....
Home of the MINI BLOG!
This week's (5/29) topic:
Top 5 Athletes Definitely NOT on Steroids5. Shawn Bradley4. Randy Johnson3. Scott Hamilton2. Mike Vanderjagt>
1. Lance Armstrong DC's Song of the Fortnight
Hey Ya OUTKAST
