Hello to all! Hope that you’re enjoying a wonderful day! This week’s REWIND is THE MASTERS! Thanksf for your time & read! Bob This past weekend provided us with another great Masters Golf Tournament. It has some real tradition…always the same weekend, always the same course, always the same announcer (for a long time now with that whispering level of describing the action), almost always great excitement, always the best current golfers adjusting to the wind, the ups &downs of the course, the huge crowds hovering right “on top of them” almost constantly. Well… all sports have some of the Masters “in them” ! Take a look…
….Take an April 13th look @ the Current MLB rankings (done by the real professionals…not this guy)…Like the Masters top golfers, these teams have the most talent—#1 Dodgers (11-4)—who else spends close to them($515M) & has their talent. At some point, the MLB has to look in the mirror and realize that a salary cap of some kind is required to benefit the entire league.
…. The MLB just can’t continue with these wide margins between their teams if they expect “real” competition across the entire league. I know that the MLB has widened the amount of playoff teams so more of teams get into the playoffs, which does add more opportunities for the “lower” paying teams. Despite union opposition, a spending Limit at the top end and a rise at the lower end of the scale seems to be a logical avenue to travel to level the playing field. Some sort of adjustment is absolutely necessary to reinvigorate the interest across the entire league. Does anyone really think that the Cardinals can actually compete for a playoff spot with their salary scale of ’26?
..At this moment, the NL Central Division is really bunched! The Reds & Pirates each hold an 11-7 record to lead the division. Cardinals are just 1 game behind @ 10-8. Brewers sit in the 4th spot with a 9-8 mark. Very close to everyone but nonetheless in 5th place are the Cubs—9-9 in early day of 2026 season. We only have about 10% of the season under our belts.
….In case you’re wondering… like the best golfers, who get the biggest sponsors, the top MLB teams spend the most because they get the most sponsors (or investors). The biggest spenders after the Dodgers are (to no one surprise)—NY Mets team salary is $368m! NYY-has a team salary of $325M, and in the 3rd spot in team spending is Philly with $311m+. The SD Padres (10-6) team salary comes in around @ $264m, the Padres are winning despite some key batters struggling. Fernando Tatis Jr. is struggling in the power categories along with Jackson Merrill and Manny Machado, who are “slow out of the gate” in the “batting average” category. The Cardinals are #24 of the 30 MLB teams in spending @ $47m+. Please note—the Cardinals salary scale is about 1/6 of the top paid teams. With that in mid, how can there really be true competition @ the MLB level with that wide difference?
….moving along now and looking at the next course (like golfers do)… the Blues have been eliminated from the playoffs, so they have to look ahead to the next hole…oops…next season. …Apparently, there’s 3 very, very huge rumors floating around Blues Land. Trading Robert Thomas? There were multiple rumors regarding Thomas in Jan/Feb. Once the Blues “stepped up” their play and made a run for the playoffs (although they fell short), those rumors evaporated. They’re back now that the season has expired!!! Experts above my level (which is just about everyone) feel like he’ll now remain. The late season “run” by the Blues raised lots of hope for 1926-27. #2 rumor—do the Blues split time in the nets with Bennington & Hofer? Or, do they move one (likely Bennington- due to his higher salary) to procure more offense or defense.
…To complicate matters, the Blues already have 3 First round draft choices this year. WOW!! As it stands, the Blues hold their own pick, which is 8th overall. They also hold a Detroit Red Wings’ pick, the one that they procured in the Justin Faulk deal. That’s 15th in the 1st round. St. Louis also holds Colorado’s 1st-rounder, which is 31st overall pick at this point. That one came via the New York Islanders in the Brayden Schenn trade. Sooo…the Blues will choose 3 of the top 31 players in this draft (if another trade doesn’t transpire).
…. I do think that the “really good ones” in hockey adapt to the NHL quicker than some other professional sports. Like all professional teams, we WILL need some veterans to anchor the ship and get more speed on both ends of the ice. The game (like most sports) has become faster for longer periods of time. So, speed is required on all lines & by all defenders.
….in golf, many different clubs are used regularly. Well, it’s so true currently that players change clubs (teams) frequently in the career via the transfer portal. (which it totally out of control to my eyes). Remember, Michigan had 5 transfers as starters as they won the 2026 NCAA Mens Championship. Currently, College Players transfer not just to get more playing time (as they did for years) but to get paid each time they transfer.
…In Golf, players get paid on performance AFTER THE EVENT. Not So in college sports any longer. Transfers now get paid BEFORE they play for the school. From my view, It’s really out of control and is destroying amateur sports. Boy…it was tough for me to type “amateur” for all these players currently!!
…Like Golf, there are golfers of all levels that earn money. In Current college sports, it goes way beyond just the SUPER big colleges. Seemingly, ALL colleges are paying players to play for them. Even St Louis U made it known that when they resigned HC Josh Schertz (which I’m thrilled that they did), he mentioned that the school (or maybe boosters) had agreed to “up” his transfer money allotment! I hadn’t realized that Robbie Avala had returned this past season with some financial “coaxing”. As much as I love St Louis U B-ball, what does it say about college sports with these payments (which no one seemingly ever discloses—why not is my question?) Payments are seemingly going out regularly to most of the team (if not all of the team).
.. Here’s an extreme example(at least I hope it’s rare & extreme)–Flory Bidunga (college basketball player) will be on his 2nd club in 2 years. He’s leaving Kansas (always one of the best collegiate basketball programs) for Louisville. Why? It’s not hard to guess…. Approximately $5million dollars enticed him to transfer. That’s well above what some 1st round NBA picks in their 1st year!! The minimum NBA pay is $1.1m (now that does go to the lower level signees).I wonder if Bidunga will transfer again in a year or 2 to “cash in” again? The only positive here is at least we KNOW his amount. The vast majority of college players hide their payments from the public. I still wonder how we can still call college athletes, “amateurs”? From my view, only true amateurs are the D-2, D-3 players these days.
…Golfers keep the same clubs for awhile. Contrast that to the every-changing college rosters that once were built on experience & development at the same school. How prevalent is transferring currently at the college level? Well… across the ENTIRE COUNTRY (according to my source), only 22 seniors celebrated their Senior Night as a 4th year player at the same school!!!
…Well, like all Golf outings, we’ve reached the 19th hole. Sit back & relax now!! Thanks for taking the tour…not quite the Masters…but some of the same golfing experiences. YOUR thoughts, ideas are always invited. Just don’t ask me how to golf (if you want to improve!!) You may agree with me, but most do not on some of the topics! That’s OK… send those thoughts along! Bob (each week, read all the comments on my Facebook page—always very interesting).