The San Francisco Giants organization has had little to worry about over the past five seasons. Their postseason runs have resulted in a lot of profit, most notably their 2014 World Series win. Meanwhile, the Chicago White Sox officially announced their signing of free agent Adam LaRoche.
A full postseason share for the World Champion San Francisco Giants was worth $388,606 and is the new all-time share record. Coincidentally, that previous record was also held by the 2012 Giants, who set the mark at $370,873. This number was determined by 50% of the gate receipts from the two wild-card games and 60% of the gate receipts from the first three games of the division series and first four games of the league championship series and World Series.
Player shares are voted on by team members who have been with their club the entire season. The vote takes place after the trade deadline (July 31), which determines whether players, coaches or trainers who have not been with the team for the entire season will receive a full share, less than a full share, a cash reward or no share. The pool of money from the postseason run is split according to however many shares the vote revealed.
In this case, the Giants split $22.3 million into 47 shares, partial shares (equivalent to 9.65 total shares) and 17 cash awards. Each of the 47 full shares was worth the record $388,606 compared to the Kansas City Royals' $230,700. Others in the 2014 MLB postseason included the Baltimore Orioles ($125,288 per share), St. Louis Cardinals ($115,481), Detroit Tigers ($31,544), Los Angeles Dodgers ($31,543), Los Angeles Angels ($29,845), Washington Nationals ($29,418), Pittsburgh Pirates ($16,556) and Oakland Athletics ($15,266).
But our next bit of news comes out of Chicago, where neither franchise made the postseason. However, the White Sox officially announced the team's signing of first baseman Adam LaRoche. Last week it was reported the two sides agreed to a two-year, $25 million contract, but the team hadn't confirmed the news until Tuesday. LaRoche provides a middle-of-the-order power bat to accompany AL Rookie of the Year Jose Abreu.
"Adam's signing addresses several important needs for our club heading into the 2015 season," general manager Rick Hahn said in a press release, via the White Sox website. "He provides a proven left-handed bat in the middle of our lineup, brings a valuable mix of the ability to get on base and power, and he is a veteran leader on the field and in the clubhouse."
The White Sox have a lot of money to spend, so keep an eye on them for the remainder of this offseason.
