Poaching In Baseball

The aftermath of the Boston Red Sox's epic miss-the-playoffs collapse is still a hot story.

Today two stories have emerged. First to be announced was the signing of Ben Cherington as the GM replacement for outgoing Theo Epstein. Epstein may have left on a decidedly low note but he leaves big shoes to be filled having won two World Series after an 86-year drought. Epstein has gone on to the Chicago Cubs and subsequently poached the General Manager of the San Diego Padres, Jed Hoyer, for the same position with the Cubs, making it a lateral move. Lateral moves are frowned upon in sport in general and particularly in baseball. The Cubs were required to pay compensation to the Red Sox for Epstein since he was still under contract. Presumably the Cubs will have to pay the Padres further compensation for Hoyer. Fans in Chicago should worry about the state of the farm system with all this compensation being paid out for front office staff.

Boston has yet to fill the managerial position vacated by Terry Francona. There will always be speculation over whether he left of his own accord or was pushed out by owner John Henry but the official story is that he resigned. Regardless, there have been rumours and speculation about the likely candidates to fill the position.

That's where things get a bit sticky. The Boston Globe reported that the Boston Red Sox had internal discussions about hiring Toronto Blue Jays manager John Farrell. Farrell had spent four years as the pitching coach for the BoSox before taking the Toronto manager position last year. Leaving after only one year on the job is still taboo even in this age without loyalty or respect for signed contracts.

The Blue Jays have an extremely friendly policy regarding non-player personnel. Specifically, they allow any employee to break their contract if they want to leave for another position elsewhere. Presumably, this policy is meant to enhance the reputation of the ballclub within the culture of Major League Baseball. Such a employee-friendly policy has the potential to influence future players and personnel decision regarding accepting employment with the Blue Jays organization. Their policy goes even further and states that they won't seek compensation for staff poached while still under contract.

This is ludicrous! Loyalty has been dead in major leagues sports for quite some time. Employment decisions are almost always based on two things: money and winning. Money generally means signing the most lucrative contract offered but this can be tempered by a desire to be in a large media market where their income from advertising and endorsements will be maximized. Still, the bottom line is paramount for today's athletes. The other factor, winning, can influence the decision as well, especially for people nearing the end of their peak years or the end of their careers and especially for people who have not had the privilege of having won before. Winning also impacts potential income from ads and endorsements so there is financial synergy here. Not much remains after these two factors are considered. The only significant exception to this rule is Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee who stated that his decision to sign with Philly was strongly influenced by the availability of a first rate children's hospital -- Lee's son Jaxon had leukemia and is currently in remission. Lee had previously played with the Phillies in 2009 having been a trade deadline acquisition.

Players demand trades on a regular basis. One interesting example occurred last year when Kansas City Royals pitching ace Zack Greinke demanded a trade. Greinke has an issue with anxiety and stipulated that he not be traded to big market teams where the pressure is intense. This is another example of a player that did not place money and winning as the deciding factor in employmenr. The Royals ended up trading him to the Milwaukee, home of Bud Selig's Brewers, which happens to be the smallest market in Major League Baseball.

The Toronto Raptors has had to deal with multiple players that simply refused to play for the team, forcing them to make a trade from a position of weakness, to outright release the player from their contract via buy out. There appears to be a significant cultural bias against playing for the NBA's sole Canadian team. Some say this is due to the fact that the team lacks a reputation for competitiveness in its short history. Others point to passport hassles, lack of availability of ESPN, reduced exposure to the American media which reduces potential future income, and the tiny differences in culture between Toronto and similar American cities. Apparently this tiny difference is particularly significant as it pertains to African American culture. It has been suggested that Toronto's Black community is different than in America. This is not surprising given that racism has always been less prevalent in Canada than in America, but one would think that a good thing. Apparently not as players seem to prefer familiarity over equality.

Given that loyalty is dead the Blue Jays' policy seems naïve or worse, makes them seem like pushovers that aren't committed to winning. Nothing could be further from the proof but perception is everything when it comes to predicting human behaviour.

The Blue Jays need to change this policy.  It is one thing to allow staff to leave when they no longer want to stay.  After all, what kind of job performance would you expect from a disgruntled employee?   It is quite another to allow carte blanche movement without compensation.  This policy makes the franchise seem like a minor league development team for the big market teams.  This is already becoming true with respect to players given the lack of a salary cap in MLB.  The Pittsburghs, Tampa Bays and Kansas Citys of MLB have little to no chance of retaining their emerging star players who instead move to the big markets following the big money.  No team can afford to extend this impotence to front office staff.

It seems that Blue Jays management has come to their senses as there is a press conference scheduled for today.  At least I hope they have.  Presumably they will change their policy to place restrictions on personnel movement.  This might include a policy of demanding compensation and/or may include restrictions on lateral movement or movement within the American League East Division.

I guess we'll see.