And the highest payroll in the AL Central goes to the Royals?

If there’s a surer signal that baseball has had a winter of discontent, a minimum of for everybody exterior the LA metro space, it’s that the very best payroll within the American League Central belongs to the Kansas Metropolis Royals. That’s after they inked star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. to an 11-year extension that’s price $288 million. Witt has opt-outs after years seven, eight, 9 and 10. Ought to he not take any of them, the Royals have a three-year membership choice that will internet Witt one other $99 million and a few change.

It’s actually going to be one thing of a tradition shock for Royals followers to see a younger star of theirs locked up, and that they’ll get hooked up to, realizing it’s seemingly he’ll be round some time. It’s additionally heartening to see a staff that completely sucked ass final 12 months — the Royals gained solely 56 video games — and as a substitute of letting some endless and mythological rebuild slowly take them again to even consultant baseball, hit the fuel and attempt to speed up issues. Particularly in a division the place just about nobody else is attempting all that onerous.

Now, if you wish to be cynical — and that’s mainly what we do right here — don’t fear, there’s loads of avenues for you. One, the Royals are angling for a brand new stadium regardless of enjoying in one of many extra picturesque parks within the land that’s Kauffman Stadium, even when it’s a bit of methods on the market. If it’s public subsidies you search from the market you’re already in, it’s a bit of simpler if you’re fielding a staff that followers truly take pleasure in watching as a substitute of a group of misplaced vacationers the Royals had been sending on the market.

As well as, forking out for the likes of Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo, and Hunter Renfroe isn’t precisely pushing the needle greater than giving it a playful nudge. Lugo and Wacha are strong sufficient in that they’ll take the ball . . . more often than not. Lugo was capable of duck the bullets in his one 12 months as a starter in San Diego final 12 months, avoiding some large numbers in opposition to regardless of some fairly onerous, constant contact in opposition to him. Wacha additionally used the marine layer to his benefit, however appears destined for some depraved BABIP treachery very quickly. Renfroe will run into a pair fastballs for you whereas hopefully not falling right into a sinkhole within the discipline.

None of those are signings which are going to maneuver KC from lower than 60 wins to the playoffs. However they’re projected $150+ luxurious tax payroll goes to rank first within the Central, which ought to be embarrassing for the opposite 4 groups. The Twins may use the excuse that they didn’t know what their TV cash was going to be till like final week. Maybe the Tigers may argue the identical, besides they’ve been in a perpetual rebuild. Let’s not even get began on the White Sox.

Nonetheless, if the Royals can run a $150 payroll, what precisely are the Pirates or Reds or actually anybody else ready round for?

Gamers dominated ‘staff’ in Dartmouth basketball case

What may very well be large information out of faculty sports activities, because the Dartmouth basketball staff were ruled to be employees of the university by the NLRB and thus can type a union. That is the same highway that the Northwestern soccer staff tried to navigate some years in the past. The NU effort was reversed on the nationwide stage, which the Dartmouth gamers are nonetheless dealing with.

Nonetheless, the winds have modified on this form of factor previously few years, and if schools predict that, if push involves shove Congress will finally bail them out, they’ve discovered the federal government to be pretty chilly to their efforts just lately. Some group of gamers goes to interrupt via, and we might already be there.

From that Politico article, that is my favourite bit:

“If student-athletes change into staff, it utterly modifications the connection between a coach and a student-athlete,” Baylor College President Linda Livingstone, who additionally serves because the chair of the NCAA’s prime governing board, stated in an interview. “They actually transfer from being a mentor and a coach and a trainer, to being a boss and a supervisor.”

Now image Bobby Knight or Coach Okay or Nick Saban or coaches of yore, who we solely see in clips of them yelling at some youngster, and ask simply how a lot of a mentor and trainer they ever have been.

Some individuals simply wish to watch the NCAA burn. Like me and also you.

Anybody wish to share the file on Deshaun Watson?

In yesterday’s entry into the file “This Ain’t It”:

Magic at MSG

Lastly, right here’s Nathan MacKinnon dancing via each Ranger he may discover to open the scoring final night time in what grew to become 2-1 OT loss for the Avs at MSG. Too unhealthy the Avs can’t discover anybody on one other line to do something: