Baseball players are not overpaid

I feel like I keep writing about Bryce Harper and Manny Machado in this space, and I apologize for repeating myself so much already.

But with the NFL season over, the NBA season in its lull between the trade deadline and the playoff run, the NHL almost entirely beyond my scope, and MLB spring training camps opening up in Florida and Arizona, this is a time when sportswriters have little better to do than dig in behind their takes and tear down any of the needling little points readers make to contend with them.

And when you write about MLB's weird free-agency freeze-out as often as I do, people come out of the woodwork to point the blame at the players and their agents for being greedy. No one deserves to hold out for a guaranteed $300 million to play a game, they say, and the problems detailed by this author and Justin Verlander should be solved by the implementation of a salary cap.

This is no straw man. People really say this. The tide seems to be slowly turning toward the players (or maybe I'm doing a better job avoiding the worst and most pro-owner takes), but there are still some out there pinning blame on the dudes who hit the dingers and not the ones that reap the bulk of the profit.

There are gentler ways to say this, but it's too early in the morning to bother: If you think Bryce Harper and Manny Machado don't have jobs right now because they want way more money than they're worth, then you, my friend, are a sucker. I'm sorry to be the one to deliver you this information. The baseball teams have made a sucker out of you.

At Forbes, sports business writer Maury Brown dug up verified numbers and found that increases to league-wide revenue are outpacing increases to MLB player salaries. It's complicated, and you should read his whole article and check out his graphs.

Here's the real question, though: What do you think would happen if MLB players all suddenly realized they get to play a game for a living and happily took half their current salaries? Do you think the billionaire owners would really pass those savings on to you? Do you have many examples of teams cutting ticket prices or parking fees or cable subscription rates when they cut payroll?

Friend, it will not happen. There's value in building a baseball team around young, homegrown stars, but a big part of that value is - or should be - that having young, homegrown stars offers clubs the financial flexibility to patch holes with big-ticket free agents. And that's apparently not how it's shaking out anymore.

And one more way of looking at it: The band U2 made $52 million on a 28-show tour in 2017, according to Billboard. $52 million! Does anyone call U2 greedy? Baseball players essentially play 162-show tours, all of them provide reliable, popular broadcast content for their club's affiliated TV networks, and all 162 are better than U2 concerts.

Tuesday's big winner: Wise dogs

I spent the last two days at the daytime sessions of the annual Westminster Kennel Club dog show, a strange and enjoyable event that is worth the price of the Claritin. I investigated whether the world's elite show dogs even know they're champions, what they like to snack on inside and out of the ring, the fascinating history of the Nederlandse Kooikerhondje, and shared a bunch of photos of some very wise-looking dogs. Please read my dog content.

A wire fox terrier named King took home best in show honors. King also looks pretty wise.

Quick hits: More Harper, Kevin Harvick, Michael Jordan

- Some Washington Capitals players noticed that Bryce Harper unfollowed them on social media. The MLB offseason has reduced us to this type of investigation. Does it mean Harper's leaving DC for sure, or is he just a guy that likes to rein in his follow count so his timelines don't get out of control? In either case, it's a bad look for those Capitals dudes. Don't call people out for unfollowing you. Just be better on there and know that the haters are missing out.

- Driver Kevin Harvick called for NASCAR to end the Clash at Daytona, an exhibition race that dates back 40 years, to help racing teams cut expenses as the sport struggles. I know so little about NASCAR that it would be preposterous for me to contend with anything said about the sport by an actual NASCAR driver or by our own Michelle Martinelli. They should probably end the Clash at Daytona.

- Someone asked Michael Jordan if James Harden's streak of 30 straight games with 30 or more points is more impressive than Russell Westbrook's record-breaking streak of 10 consecutive triple-doubles. Jordan, who rules, said the answer is six championships.

Weird sport Wednesday

I teased this one yesterday. And I want to note that when I say "weird" here, I absolutely do not mean bad or lesser, only unfamiliar to North American audiences. Sepak takraw is extremely popular in Southeast Asia, and also extremely awesome to watch. It's basically volleyball played with the feet, and it'll blow your mind if you've never seen it before.

I learned about it at an old job for a website that streamed sporting events from around the world, then later stumbled upon a pickup sepak takraw game in a park in Thailand and wound up watching it for nearly an hour. It's mesmerizing. I understand that broadcast rights to sporting events cost money, but I would 100% rather watch stuff like sepak takraw at odd hours on sports networks than another show with two dudes yelling about sports.