SPORTS
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
East Oregonian
B3
MLB payrolls dropped for 1st time since 2010
By RONALD BLUM
AP Baseball Writer
NEW YORK — Spend-
ing on Major League Base-
ball payrolls dropped last
season for the first time
since 2010, an $18 million
decrease attributable to drug
and domestic violence sus-
pensions and a player retir-
ing at midseason.
Still, even a year with flat
payrolls is unusual for MLB.
The only previous drops
since 2002 were by $3 mil-
lion in 2010 and by $32 mil-
lion in 2004.
Teams combined to
spend $4.23 billion on major
league payroll last year,
according to final figures
compiled by the commis-
sioner’s office and obtained
by The Associated Press.
The decrease followed an
offseason with a weak free-
agent class that failed to
push the average higher.
Seattle second baseman
Robinson Cano lost about
$11.7 million and Chicago
White Sox catcher Weling-
ton Castillo approximately
$3.5 million after positive
drug tests. Closer Roberto
Osuna’s domestic violence
suspension cost him roughly
$2.1 million from Toronto
and Houston, and Baltimore
outfielder Colby Rasmus
walked away from about
$1.5 million rather than try
to come back from a hip
injury.
World Series champion
Boston had the highest pay-
roll for the first time since
the free-agent era started
in 1976 at $230 million.
In a sign of increasing par-
ity, a record 24 teams had
$100 million payrolls, and
the Red Sox figure was the
lowest for the top big league
payroll since 2012. Luxury
tax surcharges that started
for the 2017 season appear
to have changed behavior of
high-revenue teams.
MLB Deputy Commis-
sioner Dan Halem said the
slice of revenue going to
major and minor league
players last year was 54.2
percent, the same as in 2012.
He cited a $9.4 billion reve-
nue figure for 2018, up from
$9.1 billion in 2017, and
luxury tax payrolls, which
use average annual values of
contracts and include bene-
fits. MLB pegged the aver-
age salary increase at 29.1
percent since 2012 and the
average luxury tax pay-
roll rise since then at 28.4
percent.
“So although the top pay-
roll in 2018 was the lowest
since 2012, the average pay-
roll has increased signifi-
cantly, which means MLB
has had payroll compression
— which is a good thing for
competitive balance,” he
said.
Union head Tony Clark
declined
to
comment,
spokesman Chris Dahl said.
Agent
Scott
Boras
claimed the players’ portion
of the money has declined.
“The luxury tax, the new
elements have dramatically
quelled the market,” he said.
“The allocation of revenues
to payroll has gone down.”
Both sides agree on one
fact: The pace of free-agent
signings has slowed dramat-
ically in recent offseasons.
Jeff Berry, an agent who
co-heads CAA Baseball,
suggested a call to action
in a memo he circulated
last year that included sug-
gestions such as boycotting
marketing appearances and
delaying arrival at spring
training until the mandatory
report date in late February.
“Despite
increasing
MLB revenues and fran-
chise valuations, in this new
world order of analytics,
aging curves, tanking, shift-
ing, openers, bull-penning,
declining attendance and
declining salaries, players
should and do feel vulner-
able and unsure,” he wrote.
“Rather than saber rattling
about a potential strike in
three years, the focus should
be on taking pro-active steps
to address current labor
issues in the hope of avoid-
ing a strike in 2021.”
San Francisco had the
second-highest regular pay-
roll at $210 million, fol-
lowed by the Chicago Cubs
at $199 million.
Top-spending teams cut
payroll to get below the lux-
ury tax threshold in order to
reset their tax rate. Only the
Red Sox and Washington
Nationals paid tax.
The Los Angeles Dodg-
ers dropped to fourth at
$196 million after leading
the major leagues for four
straight years. The Dodg-
ers, who spent a record $291
million in 2015, cut by $48
million from 2017 and had
their smallest payroll since
2012, yet they won a second
straight NL pennant.
Washington was fifth at
$185 million, followed by
the New York Yankees at
$183 million — a drop of
more than $25 million from
2017 and their smallest since
2003. The Yankees had not
been as low as sixth since
they were ninth in 1992 at
$34.5 million in the final
season of owner George
Steinbrenner’s
2½-year
suspension.
Just five of the top 10
spenders made the play-
offs, with San Francisco and
Washington missing along
with the Los Angeles Angels
(seventh at $177 million),
St. Louis (eighth at $166
million) and Seattle (10th at
$162 million).
Other playoff teams
included Colorado (14th
at $148 million), Cleve-
land (15th at $146 million),
Atlanta (20th at $127 mil-
lion), Milwaukee (22nd at
$108 million, up $40 million
from 2017’s big league low)
and Oakland (28th at $78
million).
Tampa Bay had the low-
est payroll for the first time
since 2007, at $75.1 million
finishing $92,526 below the
Chicago White Sox.
Payrolls are for 40-man
rosters and include salaries
and prorated shares of sign-
ing bonuses, earned incen-
tive bonuses, non-cash
compensation, buyouts of
unexercised options and
cash transactions. In some
cases, parts of salaries that
are deferred are discounted
to reflect present-day values.
The
average
sal-
ary dropped for the first
time since 2004 and for
only the fourth time since
record-keeping started 50
years ago, according to play-
ers’ association calculations.
The union pegged its aver-
age at $4,095,686, down
$1,436 from last year.
Since the union started
keeping track in 1967, the
only previous declines had
been by $66 in 1987, when
owners were found to have
conspired to hold down sal-
aries among free agents; a 5
percent decline in 1995 fol-
lowing a 7½ -month strike
that wiped out the World
Series for the first time since
1904; and by 2.5 percent in
2004.
MLB determined its
average was $4,007,987,
up from $3,955,920 in
2017. The average is based
on 968 players on major
league rosters and disabled
lists on Aug. 31, the last
day before the active player
limit expanded from 25 to
40. That figure is impacted
by the number of players
on the DL because replace-
ments usually make close to
the minimum.
The union includes
option buyouts in its aver-
age calculation while MLB
does not.
Cardinals hire ex-Texas Tech,
current USC coach Kingsbury
By BOB BAUM
Associated Press
PHOENIX — The Ari-
zona Cardinals have hired
former Texas Tech coach
Kliff Kingsbury, a move
aimed at providing guid-
ance for young quarterback
Josh Rosen and resuscitat-
ing the worst offense in the
NFL.
The
Cardinals
announced the hiring Tues-
day after a long interview
earlier in the day, saying
Kingsbury had agreed to
terms on a four-year con-
tract with a team option for
a fifth. He was to be intro-
duced at a news conference
at the team’s training facil-
ity in Tempe on Wednesday.
Kingsbury was fired
after going 35-40 in six sea-
sons at Texas Tech, but his
teams were known for their
high-scoring performances.
His prize pupil in those
days was current Kansas
City Chiefs All-Pro quar-
terback Patrick Mahomes.
Tuesday’s hiring came
barely a month after Kings-
bury was hired as offensive
coordinator at USC.
Kingsbury, also a for-
mer offensive coordinator
at Texas A&M where he
worked with Johnny Man-
ziel, replaces Steve Wilks,
who was fired after going
an NFL-worst 3-13 in his
one season in Arizona.
That means Kingsbury
will take over a team with
the No. 1 overall draft pick,
along with a bevy of other
picks and lots of salary cap
space.
After a one-year exper-
iment with a defense-ori-
ented coach in Wilks, Car-
dinals president Michael
Bidwill acknowledged he
got that hire wrong and
vowed to get this one right.
The Cardinals hope the
hire can match the magic
that happened when Sean
McVay was hired by the
Los Angeles Rams.
Arizona’s move is back
to an offense-centered
coach, a philosophy that
worked well in the previ-
ous hire of Bruce Arians,
AP Photo/Mark Zaleski, File/
Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota talks with offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur
before a preseason NFL game Aug. 30, 2018, against the Minnesota Vikings in Nashville, Tenn.
AP Photo/Brad Tollefson, File
In this Nov. 10, 2018, file photo, Texas Tech coach Kliff
Kingsbury walks off the field after the team’s NCAA college
football game against Texas in Lubbock, Texas.
who won 50 games in five
seasons before retiring after
the 2017 season.
And Bidwill’s latest
choice is a risk, given that
the 39-year-old Kingsbury
has no NFL coaching expe-
rience and no record of suc-
cess in terms of wins and
losses at the college level.
He does, however, bring
unquestioned knowledge of
successful offenses and in
working with young quar-
terbacks. Under Kings-
bury’s tutelage, both Case
Keenum and Mahomes led
the nation in passing as col-
lege quarterbacks.
“Yeah, I think he can
be a great NFL coach,”
Mahomes
said
Tues-
day before the hiring was
announced. “He has the
work ethic. He has the pas-
sion for the game. I know
that he loves the sport. So I
know he’ll be able to relate
to quarterbacks. He would
put in the work and now
it’s just about him finding
where he needs to be at.”
Kingsbury was let go
after six seasons at Texas
Tech and joined the USC
staff as offensive coordi-
nator on Dec. 5. His quick
departure will leave the
Trojans scrambling for a
replacement.
Kingsbury’s challenge
now will be to build a staff.
He particularly needs a
strong coordinator for a
defense that had its share
of troubles last year trying
to switch from a 3-4 to 4-3
scheme.
The new coach inherits a
team that finished last in the
NFL in all major offensive
categories last year. Rosen,
who as a rookie took over
as starter four games into
the season, had an up-and-
down year with no signifi-
cant improvement.
Playing behind a make-
shift offensive line dec-
imated by injuries, he
wound up last among quar-
terbacks who played reg-
ularly, completing 55 per-
cent of his passes for 2,278
yards and 11 touchdowns
with 14 intercepts and a
66.7 quarterback rating.
Rosen, who was picked
10th overall in last year’s
draft, is probably the No.
1 reason Kingsbury got the
job.
The Cardinals’ record
last year was their worst in
18 years and matched the
worst since the franchise
moved to the desert from
St. Louis in 1988.
LaFleur accepts offer to
become Packers coach
By TERESA M. WALKER
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. —
The Green Bay Packers are
turning to fast-rising offen-
sive whiz Matt LaFleur to
aid Aaron Rodgers and end
a two-year absence from the
postseason.
LaFleur accepted an offer
Monday to become the next
head coach of the Packers,
according to a person famil-
iar with the decision. The
person spoke to The Asso-
ciated Press on condition of
anonymity because neither
the Packers nor the Titans
had announced the decision.
The 39-year-old LaFleur
spent this season as offen-
sive coordinator for the
Titans, his first calling plays
in the NFL. He takes over for
Mike McCarthy, who was
fired during the season fol-
lowing a stunning home loss
to Arizona on Dec. 2. Offen-
sive coordinator Joe Phil-
bin went 2-2 to close out the
season as the Packers failed
to reach the playoffs for the
second straight year with
a 6-9-1 record that was the
second straight under .500
for the storied franchise.
He was offensive coor-
dinator with the Los Ange-
les Rams in 2017, leading
a group that paced the NFL
in scoring and was 10th in
total offense under coach
Sean McVay, who called
the plays on offense. LaF-
leur was the quarterbacks
coach in Atlanta for two sea-
sons, including when Fal-
cons quarterback Matt Ryan
was the NFL MVP in 2016.
LaFleur also has coached
with Washington and Hous-
ton, and was the quarter-
backs coach for Notre Dame
in 2014.
He will be charged with
returning the Packers to
the playoffs on a regular
basis. McCarthy’s tenure
of 12-plus seasons was by
and large successful, high-
lighted by the 2010 Super
Bowl season and nine play-
off appearances.
Still, the once potent
offense that could make up
for other deficiencies slowed
in 2018, a tumultuous year
that began with Rodgers
leading a stirring comeback
victory in the opener over
the Bears. The two-time
NFL MVP returned after
halftime from a left knee
injury that nagged him the
rest of the season.
Rodgers’ 62.3 percent
completion rate was his low-
est since 2015 (60.7) and his
25 touchdown passes were
a low for a season in which
he played at least 15 games,
though so were his two inter-
ceptions. Injuries to Randall
Cobb and Geronimo Allison
forced the Packers to turn to
rookies perhaps earlier than
expected, though Davante
Adams emerged as an elite
receiver.
The relationship between
LaFleur and Rodgers will
be closely watched after
the sometimes tenuous
moments between the star
QB and McCarthy. They
characterized their relation-
ship as close, but with ups
and downs that come with
two headstrong competitors
who had worked together
for more than a dozen years.
The Packers reportedly
interviewed several candi-
dates with head-coaching
experience, including Phil-
bin, Chuck Pagano, Adam
Gase and Jim Caldwell.
They instead opted for LaF-
leur, who had never called
plays before this season and
until now has never been in
charge of an entire roster.
It is just one element of an
offseason of change ahead in
Green Bay.
Clay Matthews, one of