Home Run Derby

Gary Sheffield’s been in the news for this statement about the declining percentage of African-American Players in MLB:

I called it years ago. What I called is that you’re going to see more black faces, but there ain’t no English going to be coming out …

[It's about] being able to tell [Latin players] what to do — being able to control them …

And now Torii Hunter has raised the bar on Fox Sports Radio today:

You go over to Latin America and you could buy a guy for $5,000. That’s the same guy from Compton, who you get in first round for a million dollars out of high school.

I think that it’s a business thing, not a race thing. Because it happens to African Americans, then it becomes a racial thing. I do agree that 10 years from now you are going to see no blacks (in MLB).

Sheffield and especially Hunter seem to understand how Baseball has paralleled the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) signed into law by President Clinton in 1993. One of the results of NAFTA was that it opened the borders of Latin American countries to US Businesses looking to reduce their labor costs by opening factories in low-wage nations like Mexico.

It’s also Business 101. Reducing your costs while maximizing your returns is good for the bottom line. And MLB teams are no stranger to that philosophy.

Entry level employees, whether at a Factory or at Law Firm, typically are paid the lowest salaries. However, some entry level employees are recruited out of college or grad school (akin to the MLB draft) and paid big signing bonuses because they’ve shown a propensity to be able to contribute to the Firm quickly and also significantly over time. At the same time, if a company feels that it can get the same return on labor that costs less, they’ll often do it - the recent outsourcing of US jobs to India springs to mind.

Part of the reason players from America garner higher price tags than Latin American players is because the US players have typically had more experience and near-pro training (in High School or College) than their Latin American counterparts - and they’re closer to making the show. Also, let’s talk economies - a miniscule signing bonus by US standards might be more money than some Latin players could ever realistically earn over years in their native countries.

US and Canadian Citizens are also subject to the MLB Draft, whereas Latin American players are not.

If the Latin players were subject to the draft instead of being signed off the calle (street), I think you’d see higher signing bonuses, but possibly fewer Latin players signed.

MLB has recognized the change in its player population and their foreign fans (and their Pesos and Yen) by trying to expand its influence beyond the United States.

Playing recent regular season games in Puerto Rico and Mexico and by sponsoring events like the World Baseball Classic in 2006 are some of the more recognizable efforts.

It’s Globalization. Baseball is not immune.

Back in early May, Barry Bonds was going nuts. He was hitting the cover off the ball and had moved to within 11 Home Runs of the Career HR record held by Hank Aaron.

During April and early May, you couldn’t escape pictures of Bonds rounding the bases at AT&T Park underneath a giant 3-digit number beginning with 7. It looked like Bonds was going send ESPN into “All Barry All the Time” mode in June, when he was projected to break the record.

But since then something’s happened … or more truthfully … hasn’t happened. Barry Bonds has stopped hitting Home Runs. ESPN doesn’t even cut away during other baseball games to show his at-bats anymore. Bud Selig has surely been doing the “happy dance” in his office since he’s not worrying about players with big heads as much as players with big mouths (Sheff and Giambi).

How big of a slump is Bonds in right now? Let’s compare …

Wow. Not only does Bonds have no power lately, he’s been hitting the ball at Mario Mendoza levels. He’s also being walked slightly more often, but that’s probably due to teams adjusting to his Apr/May stats.

Let’s split up that slump and see if there’s any trends within it.

Bonds’ hitting stats have improved recently, but not by a lot. And even though he was being walked a LOT during the first half of the slump, his walks are down significantly in the second half of the slump. Teams backed off him in the first part of the slump - are teams challenging him more since he’s been in the slump? Looks like it.

The Giants have been on the road most of for most of Bonds’ slump and are about to finish a ten-day ten-game road trip. Has it affected Old Man Bonds?

Bonds’ one Home Run came in San Fran (skewing his home power stats) - but he’s actually hit better while on the road (other than the strikeouts). He’s been walked more often on the road, which one might expect - as other teams fans’ (and possibly MLB) might not want to see Bonds break the HR record in their park.

Also - it’s been published that Bonds has been plagued by some shin splints and fatigue lately. Bonds started 20 of the 23 games he played in during the slump. He didn’t miss many games during the early season … perhaps his 42 year old body needs a break.

By the way, Baseball Prospectus now projects Bonds to break the record in Mid-July, either at home against the Dodgers or against the Cubs at Wrigley.

Nick the Greek took a much need respite this week (without my kids even). So I leave you with some vacation thoughts. No baseball today my friends.

Yasoo!! I hope you hit a homer today!