Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Matt Garza Wants $10.2M; What's Wrong with this Picture?

If you wonder why the Rays can't compete with the "rich" teams of MLB, consider this: the Cubs offered former Rays starting pitcher Matt Garza a healthy raise to $7.95 million next year and he turned it down. He's going to arbitration, hoping for $10.225 million.

Apparently, a 33% raise isn't enough for a pitcher who has gone 33-32 with a 3.73 ERA the last three years. Why? Because the current salary structure rewards players for merely lasting in the league. Experience = salary.

Meanwhile, David Price, who has posted superior numbers the last three years, just signed for a mere $4.35 million, the most ever for a first-year arbitration-eligible player.

Which leads me to ask again, are the Rays' problems really just a result of MLB's broken system?

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