CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Life isn’t fair, especially in baseball.
Just ask the Cleveland Indians.
Wednesday night the San Diego Padres shocked the baseball world with a 14-year, $340 million extension for their emerging superstar shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr.
“My first reaction was, it’s great to be Fernando Tatis Jr.,” Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said Thursday when asked about the deal. “I can’t imagine what that day is like, but I imagine it was a pretty good day.”
Last month, instead of signing his own All-Star shortstop – Francisco Lindor – to an extension, Antonetti was forced to trade him to the New York Mets.
Simply put, Cleveland could no longer afford Lindor, who will make $22.3 million this season with the Mets.
San Diego’s payroll will be north of $160 million this season. Cleveland’s is estimated to top out just above $42 million.
The disparity and payroll cuts in recent years has left Tribe fans angry and frustrated.
“I can’t speak to the thought processes of individual franchises. I have enough difficulty navigating ours,” Antonetti said when asked why a small market team like San Diego was able to do what he could not. “What we try to do is figure out a plan that works for us and allows us to be as successful as possible. That necessitates different decisions that may apply in Cleveland and may be different in other markets.”
The real answer is complicated.
Unlike the NFL, where the Green Bay Packers are publicly owned so the books are open and revenue sharing becomes public information for the league, Major League Baseball’s revenue is kept under wraps by clubs.
With the Chargers move to Los Angles, the Padres are the only pro team in town whereas the Indians contend with the Cavaliers and Browns for valuable corporate dollars in Cleveland.
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States with a population of over 1.5 million, some 300,000 more than Cuyahoga County combined. Cleveland has plunged to 53rd in population nationwide with just over 381,000 estimated residents.
The Indians television contract isn’t nearly as competitive as it once was, which Fangraphs.com estimated last year to bring in the eighth-lowest amount of revenue in baseball. Cleveland has also steadily been among the bottom third in the league in attendance over the last decade despite not having a losing season since 2012.
According to Antonetti, the Indians financial losses during the 2020 shortened season were “extraordinary.”
Even with a significantly lower payroll this year, Antonetti’s expectations for their ability to win remain unchanged.
“It will be a different group but it’s a group we feel is really young and talented,” Antonetti said. “It’s our responsibility as an organization to put the players in a position to be successful and help them along with their continued development and performance at the Major League level.
“One of the things that gives me great confidence in that is the environment Tito creates. The way our coaches, our performance staff, our trainers, our front office staff all work together to help create that environment for our players to thrive. Again, we know we have our work cut out for us in a very competitive division, but we’re excited to get going and tackle that challenge.”
Why is Antonetti so confident?
“Shane Bieber and Jose Ramirez,” Antonetti said. “When you start with two of the best players at their respective positions, that really is a great starting point and strength of the team.”