MASHANTUCKET, Conn. — In a slow offseason, albeit one in which the Red Sox were not expected to do much, Red Sox owner John Henry gave some insight into his views of the free-agent marketplace and baseball’s economic landscape.
Here's his lengthy assessment:
“Twenty years ago, roughly I think 45 percent of wins above replacement were due to players that were beyond six years of service,” Henry said. “That number now is 25 percent. I think that clubs, including the Red Sox, have been slow to sort of adjust. I think that the price of a win above replacement, which is what a lot of clubs look at — some clubs, including us, look at much more than that — but if you just look at that as one thing that a number of clubs look at, I remember five years ago, I think that number was something like $5 or $6 million, maybe as much as $7 million dollars per win. Now, it’s $10 million dollars.
“We have a lot more production something from younger players for whatever reason. I think that has negatively impacted free agency. Also, there has been a lot of money paid at the very top, by that, I mean very top players. There are something like 45 or 50 players that are paid more than $20 million a year at this point, so that means above average, average free agents are not getting the kind of deals they probably should get.
“It’s complicated, but there’s certainly not any lack of desire among teams to win. People talk about tanking, but … pretty much all American sports have a system where, if you finish low, you get a high draft pick. There’s going to be, when you’re not competitive in a particular year, you don’t have a real incentive to change that.
“And in fact, it’s a problem with basketball, it’s a problem with baseball, but the only way you can change it is if you get rid of the draft system that we have, and I’m not sure that’s a thing to do.”
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