Non-Guaranteed Contracts: C/D

I would disagree with anybody who suggests that the NFL is a better product that MLB at this point. Mediocrity has been the league's signature for a few years now, and there are tons of low-quality games every week. When the season is so short and each game means so much that's a problem.

From a player's perspective, non-guaranteed contracts suck, but they're only really a problem if you're an unheralded young player, a roster filler guy, or someone trying to catch on with a team. Batshit WRs and high draft picks really couldn't care less about them--their signing bonuses are where they actually get paid. There's a good article about Earnest Graham in the latest ESPN magazine where it goes through how much money he made in training camps, on practice squads, etc. as an undrafted free agent and when he was cut he had made a few thousand bucks and had no income coming in for the rest of the season. Not fun stuff.

These arguments always ignore how unbelievably hard it is to become a pro athlete and how much work most people have to put in to do so. The idea that players suddenly become lazy with guaranteed money conveniently ignores the amount of effort and time they've spent to reach the pinnacle of their sport.

Oh and fuck Gene Upshaw, he was a complete piece of shit.

I would disagree with anybody who suggests that the NFL is a better product that MLB at this point.

that's laughable.

Really?

The NFL does a much better job with what they have, and the built-in scarcity is a plus, but it's definitely debatable (and it's debatable w/out resorting to bullshit "lol 3+ hours pitching changes too many games" talking points, too).

I love the NFL, I want it to be awesome, but in the last few years all I've seen is talent dilution and parity leading to a lot of very poor play. In particular the QB position is a complete wreck these days, and NFL games are very, very hard to watch without good QBing. Gameday television coverage is also universally awful, and the removal of more and more games from the Sunday daytime slate (MNF, "Football Night in America," Thursday NFLN games) just leads to more bloated studio shows, ostentatious in-game coverage, and general bullshit than MLB could ever dream of having.

i would much rather watch say, the falcons at the ravens than the nationals at the padres. likewise i'd rather see the pats and cowboys over the bosox and yankees (or rays or chisox). the worst matchups aren't as bad, the best matchups are better and the middling games mean more to everyone.

xpost- you think football is less diluted??? bartolo colon is still a starting pitcher for a world series contender! earlier this year at fenway there were two pitchers older than 45 years old as the starters for their respective teams! ask fans in pittsburgh or kansas city or seattle or dc if they think baseball isn't diluted.

and sorry, i don't bother watching the national pregame shows but i can't imagine it's any worse than jeanne zelasko, kevin kennedy, and whatever washed up jock they have in the studio that week.

just leads to more bloated studio shows, ostentatious in-game coverage, and general bullshit than MLB could ever dream of having.

wait a minute, i remember monday night and thursday night baseball on abc as a kid! no one watched!

Do I need to pull out stats for what Colon, Wakefield, Moyer, or any other 40+ pitcher has actually, you know, done recently? That's not dilution--you don't make it to that age in baseball if you don't add value.

Seriously--every league is going to have bad teams. That's ok. But look around the NFL and tell me how many starting QBs are truly, legitimately worth a damn. I'm thinking I could come up with 15 at my utmost limit, in a 32-team league.

You want to watch the Falcons and Ravens play a 16-10 game where no one can actually run or pass the football because the QBs are two rookies and the RBs are Willis McGahee and like Jerious Norwood--that's a personal thing, I'm not going to talk you out of that.

sure, i'd love to see colon and wakefield's stats and see if they are anything but middling. when you have to rely on 40 year olds to provide mediocrity, guys who would've been retired a generation ago, i think that's a sign of dilution in the talent pool.

when you have to rely on 40 year olds to provide mediocrity

hi dere NFL kickers

who's a mediocre 40 year old kicker? to be old in the nfl you have to be successful, not mediocre.

can't argue with that "logic"

"complete piece of shit" yeah okay dude. the guy was an a-hole, but that's just retarded.

anyway, yeah, when i watch football these days i definately don't think to myself "dang the talent is just SPREAD TOO THIN." and really, you're just bitching about the QBing in today's game - analyze that shit for a second. increased parity has led to fewer good QBs but everything else is the same? if the state of quarterbackery in today's NFL really is sub-par (which you hear a lot lately, and i don't think i really buy into it) it has nothing to do with the talent being watered down. teams are just super impatient with these young players, kids are being put into high-pressure situations when it was once expected that they would have a very lengthy developmental curve. the actual talent on the field is no worse than anything you saw 10, 20 years ago.

back to the subject - i dont really care what anyone gets paid. but i don't buy that lack of guaranteed money keeps guys hungry - you still continually see talented players wash out of the league because they couldn't be bothered to do any more than the bare minimum to get by. those guys never survive in the pro game (or at least, they never excel in it).

Colon: 4-2 110 ERA+ He started six games, the team won 4. He was an injured player who won a Cy Young award just 3 years ago. This is called a depth pickup, it is indicative of nothing about the talent pool.

Wakefield: 3.67 ERA, 123 ERA+ Tim Wakefield is having a really, really nice season. He has consistently provided average to above average, injury-free major league pitching for years and nothing about his career or season is mediocre.

when you have to rely on 40 year olds to provide mediocrity, guys who would've been retired a generation ago,

This is just wacky. There have been successful 40+ pitchers for decades. And I know I've been harping on QB from the NFL perspective but I'm just not particularly impressed with the quality of execution across the league right now.

you still continually see talented players wash out of the league because they couldn't be bothered to do any more than the bare minimum to get by. those guys never survive in the pro game (or at least, they never excel in it).

This is right on.

injury-free major league pitching for years and nothing about his career or season is mediocre.

isn't he hurt right now? and wasn't he left off the last playoff roster because of injury? and has a chronic back and shoulder issues? and this injury-shortened year is the first time in 6 or 7 years his ERA has been under 4? the dude is mediocre.

i think his football mirror image would be like todd collins or something.

This is just wacky. There have been successful 40+ pitchers for decades.

i know, i never said there weren't. guys like clemens (with or without help), randy johnson, maddux, etc. can still pitch well. there are always guys like that in every sport (favre still has most of the physical attributes to play). what i said was they are relying on more older, mediocre players to fill out rosters. like 900lb sidney ponson, wakefield, and colon.

it's my belief that when you need to rely on guys who wouldn't have been able to find jobs a generation ago you may have diluted the talent pool.

Wakefield innings pitched and ERA+ (only years he was a full-time starter):

1997 201.3 110
1998 216.0 103
2003 202.3 114
2004 188.3 100
2005 225.3 109
2006 140.0 103
2007 189.0 100
2008 147.0 123

That is a lot of innings of average or better pitching. Guys who have an outside chance of approximating what Wakefield does annually (see Silva, Carlos) are currently worth $10-12 million/year. Wakefield, meanwhile, signed the most team-friendly contract in MLB. I will spend all day convincing you of the value of Wakefield.

Come on, Kevin -- all pitchers get hurt, lots of athletes have chronic problems, and why you're trying to paint a guy that's been a perennial league-average starter (ERA over 4 in the AL = nothing to be sad about) and a workhorse (180+ IP for 4 of the past 5 years, not counting this year) as some 3rd-string towelboy that no one in their right mind would employ is beyond me.

ANYWAY FOOTBALL

my point was he is mediocre! of moderate quality! average!

anyway, football.

The problem is that statistically average pitching and mediocre pitching are totally different things.

But yeah, football.

canks OTM about players flaking out regardless of the $$$ they could lose by flaking -- folks that don't motivate themselves just aren't gonna be motivated. Just seems really strange that, in one of the more dangerous pro sports (aside from, I dunno, car racing or sword swallowing), there aren't fully guaranteed deals in place, and that the players' union hasn't gotten this done yet (tho my knowledge about the history of NFL owners / NFLPA skirmishes is sorely lacking).

yeah, like i think cedric benson (to cite a painful example) does indeed have some skills but he had to work a little harder in the nfl to achieve a fraction of what he did in college and the guy just doesn't give enough of a shit to do it.

that was only one of benson's problems. the others being the o-line and the fact that he couldn't/wouldn't hit the hole unless it was the size that the u of t used to create for him. he couldn't manufacture yards on his own.

but yeah, he just didn't seem to want it.

every bears rb that is drafted high ends up getting a lot of "please don't be like (x)" prayers from fans and that (x) used to just be curtis enis, now it's like 4 players.

The current Bears RB depth chart is pretty whoa. Who is expected to start? Kevin Jones?

no, the kid they drafted in the 2nd round out of tulane (forte?), he's actually looked good with the ball. kevin jones is insurance and to rest the rookie.

hey, that reminds me! bears on tv tonight! orton and the starters allegedly going 3 quarters. guess i won't go to that show.

This isn't a golden age for either sport right now, but football is a far better product.

I remember the football product being better when I was a kid, but what did I know then. It could be just nostalgia or wishful thinking.

As for crap quarterback play, I wonder how much of that can be attributed to the rise of the spread offense in college.

i think it's more that defensive players have gotten so much better. it used to be that a guy like lt or andre tippet who was big, fast, strong, and agile was an exception but now you have guys like adailus thomas who's playing outside linebacker at 270 lbs and can either drop into coverage or overwhelm anyone short of an offensive tackle.

Both sports are diluted, both sports feature annoying presentation styles, both have fucked up salary structures, but any football game is more interesting to watch than Nationals v. Padres (for example).

And I'd rather watch any NFL playoff game than any MLB playoff game (other than a potential series-clinching game, possibly).

Also, what baseball game tonight are you just itching to watch? No peeking! I have no idea who's playing tonight, and it's late August.