THE GIANTS SHOULD HAVE SIGNED MARK TESHERA BECUASE THEY NEED A BIG BAT, C'MON BRIAN SABEAN WHAT ARE YOU HIGH
by Grant on Dec 26, 2008 1:48 PM PST
77 comments
A sampling from holiday conversations that were often started by people who don’t really follow baseball:
"I mean they have, what, the four highest paid players in baseball?"
"I won’t even watch baseball anymore until there’s a salary cap."
"Man, I can’t believe Barry Zito has five years left on his contract."
That last one was me, and it doesn’t really fit in with the rest, but it was included for historical accuracy.
The Yankees and Mark Teixeira seemed to grab the attention of casual fans everywhere. There’s just something so gauche about spending $300M on two players when barrel-and-suspender sales are up 6,000% over the previous year. The subject is worthy of a book-length treatment, really: "Why Spending Crazy Amounts of Money in Baseball Helps Teams Win (And Why It Isn’t Required)" Maybe I’ll get started on that…right after I finish Fallout 3, which I should get a chance to do after my daughter graduates high school.
Instead of a post-holiday tome for both of today’s readers, I’ll just write what my responses were to curious friends and relatives, and I’ll do it in easily digestible bullet points:
- Spending unlimited amounts of money will often help a team in the short-term, but it will never guarantee success.
- Kevin Brown
- Todd Helton
- The Minnesota Twins. The Oakland A’s from 1999-2006. The 2008 Tampa Rays. The 2003 Florida Marlins.
I wouldn’t elaborate, mind you. They’d say something like, "Hey, those Yankees sure are spending a lot of money, eh?," and I’d look them in the eye and mutter, "Kevin Brown. Todd Helton. The Minnesota Twins," and walk away. Maybe I’d throw in a "Freemasons" for good measure.
The best and simplest argument against the perception that the Yankees are ruining baseball, though, is the 2008 Florida Marlins. Forget the Rays – people seem willing to write that off as luck, or they put a lot of emphasis (rightly so) on the Rays string of top-five draft choices. Forget the A’s from 1999-2006 – after two losing seasons, somehow their run of success isn’t an acceptable data point to salary cap/floor proponents anymore. The Florida Marlins had a winning record in 2008, and their payroll was about $21M. It isn’t as if the Marlins were trying not to compete, but they sure as hell weren’t going to spend to do it. And it wasn’t as if they were extraordinarily lucky, either. Dan Uggla’s continued success probably counts as luck enough for a decade, but other than that, only Ricky Nolasco wildly exceeded expectations. The Marlins drafted well, traded well, and picked up cheap players who performed well.
As long as a team can build a halfway decent team without resorting to free agency at all, then there will always be something for the downtrodden to complain about other than financial disadvantages. There isn’t a team in baseball that stinks only because it can’t spend money. It doesn’t help that a team can’t spend on premium free agents, mind you. It’s a pretty significant disadvantage. But it doesn’t prevent a team from being competitive. And as long as every franchise can compete, I’m only going to loathe the Yankees, not the framework of Major League Baseball.
And, oh, how I loathe the Yankees. I would watch a Yankees/non-Dodgers World Series and root for the non-Dodgers as if I had a $10,000 bet on the line. I fail to see how that’s a bad thing. Star Wars would be pretty boring if Luke had to struggle against the Somewhat Muddled and Hazy Side of the Force. Good and evil. Light and dark. The rest of the world against the Yankees. I'm in.
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I have a friend who is a die hard Red Sox fan. He just about had a coronary this weekend. Tho’ really the thing that really irks him is that the new Yankee Stadium [ did you know they tore down the old one? ] is being built with tax payer money.
by Merope on Dec 26, 2008 1:58 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Tho’ really the thing that really irks him is that the new Yankee Stadium [ did you know they tore down the old one? ] is being built with tax payer money.
I agree. That’s total junk.
by Grant on Dec 26, 2008 2:00 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
The ‘New Yankee Stadium’ funding is mainly private. Bloomberg undid the original corporate welfare plan set up by Giuliani, resulting in the city kicking in over $200 million (parking garages, city parks relocation and demolition of the old stadium), Yankees paying $1.1 billion.
by seyheystretch on Dec 26, 2008 10:04 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
did you know they tore down the old one?
Really?! With all the press about the Mets new stadium, you’d think they’d find some time to talk about the Yankees’ stadium! The small market teams never get any respect.
by Natto on Dec 26, 2008 10:51 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
>run dingerz.exe
Somewhat Muddled and Hazy Side of the Force
LUKE! SURRENDER TO YOUR INDIFFERENCE!
by Lars The Wanderer on Dec 26, 2008 1:59 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
THE GIANTS SHOULD HAVE SIGNED MARK TESHERA BECUASE THEY NEED A BIG BAT, C’MON BRIAN SABEAN WHAT ARE YOU HIGH
Awesome!
When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realized God doesn’t work that way, so I stole one and prayed for forgiveness. - Emo Philips
Neglectful father of David Quinowski
by marcello on Dec 26, 2008 2:00 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
I think I saw that comment on Pro Sports Daily :-)
Great work Grant !
The clock doesn't matter in baseball. Time stands still or moves backwards. Theoretically, one game could go on forever. Some seem to.-Herb Caen
My adopted son Matt Downs . Still not ranked in the McC prospect list.
by nvsfg on Dec 26, 2008 6:31 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Dave Roberts single-handedly crushed the Yankees that one time.
Or at least that’s what I was told.
Don’t know where that comment was going, but timing and clutch plays are what get you to the ‘Ship. Not Steinbrenner’s American Express Card. Though, that has to be a shitload of miles on that thing right now.
Sergio Romo will gladly hand you a bench to sit on / GIANTSPACE™ / Adopted brother of the AnVil
by SoFa King Mike on Dec 26, 2008 2:11 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
I imagine the commercial...
…in Steinbrenner’s head goes something like:
*Acquiring streaky but talented #2 starting pitcher: $82.5 million
*Acquiring hefty #1 starting pitcher: $161 million
*Acquiring an all-star slugging firstbaseman: $180 million
*Beating the Boston Red Sox: priceless
Sergio Romo: striking out professional hitters since 2005.
by Lyle on Dec 26, 2008 6:42 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I finished fallout1 last week.
Now playing fallout2. Probably when I am done f3 will be cheap for the PC.
FIRE BRIAN SABEAN... UNLESS HE KEEPS DRAFTING WELL. .. AND SIGNS UNDERRATED PLAYERS LIKE AFFELDT OR PHELPS. .. OR ALRIGHT WHO'S PLAYING WITH THE ALIEN MIND-SWITCHING RAY?
by zenbitz on Dec 31, 2008 11:44 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Good luck with that
Ceci n'est pas une signature.
by DbacksSkins on Dec 31, 2008 12:43 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
It’s statements like those that cause me to avoid talking baseball with common folk. Everytime somebody suggest a salary cap in baseball, I want to stab them in the eye and let them drown to death in their own blood.
Fallout 3 is ok, I guess.
by chilibean_3 on Dec 26, 2008 2:41 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
I was deeply torn on the issue before coming here, but having read at least a part of your article, I can say that you’ve succeeded in convincing me that Giants really should have signed Mark Teshera because they need a big bat. It makes so much sense, it’s almost silly.
My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.
by howtheyscored on Dec 26, 2008 2:41 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Go Blue Jays!!!
I Don't Tolerate Intolerance!
Jeremy Affeldt Ready To Make His Father Proud
by Giant among Angels on Dec 26, 2008 2:59 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
I’m excited to see if they can beat out the Orioles for 4th place!
by chilibean_3 on Dec 26, 2008 3:03 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I meant here:
Should be a nail-biter
I Don't Tolerate Intolerance!
Jeremy Affeldt Ready To Make His Father Proud
by Giant among Angels on Dec 26, 2008 3:09 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Should be a nail-biter
I Don't Tolerate Intolerance!
Jeremy Affeldt Ready To Make His Father Proud
by Giant among Angels on Dec 26, 2008 3:08 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
freemasons
I have no doubt that all the Steinbrenners and Texeira are freemasons.
hence the deal.
Grant nails it as usual.
Fairley odd parent to Wendell
by WTF on Dec 26, 2008 3:17 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
God Bless the Yankees
One, if not THE, top organizations in all of sports.
by wilriv21 on Dec 26, 2008 3:58 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Yes, bless their rotten souls
I Don't Tolerate Intolerance!
Jeremy Affeldt Ready To Make His Father Proud
by Giant among Angels on Dec 26, 2008 4:04 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
so do all the saints
Fairley odd parent to Wendell
by WTF on Dec 26, 2008 4:53 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Especially Deuce McAllistar
by Lars The Wanderer on Dec 26, 2008 4:58 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
and the other running back, Mr. Kardashian
Brian Sabean's dad- will make a few phone calls to help his son find a new job after next season
by rxmeister on Dec 26, 2008 6:13 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
We kid because we’re jealous. Or maybe I’m only speaking for myself here….
Sergio Romo: striking out professional hitters since 2005.
by Lyle on Dec 26, 2008 6:43 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Hmm
I’d aim higher if I were in Reggie’s position myself…she’s OK looking, but WTF? She just taped herself having sex with some obscure rapper and all the sudden she’s like a goddess or something.
O YEAH AND OMG YANKEEZ R TOO MUCH SPENDING ON THINGZ
by bondslegend on Dec 26, 2008 8:29 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
fuck ’em
Definitely better than Beau Mills.
by Mad Bum on Dec 26, 2008 5:39 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
They have all the money
Do they really need God too?
GROUGTHINK ALERT
by groug on Dec 26, 2008 7:24 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Yankees almost had Him but
God’s holding out for a no-trade clause.
Don't think, it could only hurt the ballclub.
by ResDog on Dec 26, 2008 8:20 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
I’m all for ’em doing their thing in a system that gives ’em room to do it.
But man, it sure makes things boring.
My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.
by howtheyscored on Dec 27, 2008 11:52 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
awesome post
I hate the Yankees.
Psycho killer, qu'est-ce que c'est?
by shikantaza on Dec 26, 2008 5:26 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
You can’t really hate them for Texeira, because the Red Sox could have had him and screwed it up. The Braves could have topped them for Burnett as well. It’s not the Yankees’ fault that these two players took the Yankees’ offers over similar offers. You can hate them for CC though. That was purely financial, throwing so much money at a player who didn’t want to play for them that he felt he had no other choice. The Yankees are in a lose-lose situation anyway. If they don’t win the World Series, everyone laughs at them for wasting all that money, and if they do win the World Series, nobody gives them credit because they bought the championship. Kinda sucks to be them, which is why we shouldn’t hate them that much. Besides, Steinbrenner is senile anyway and doesn’t remember any of the championships. He probably wakes up every morning and tries to call George Costanza.
Brian Sabean's dad- will make a few phone calls to help his son find a new job after next season
by rxmeister on Dec 26, 2008 6:22 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
There’s no crying in baseball, but we will allow some quiet weeping.
by Natto on Dec 26, 2008 6:26 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
Thing is...
The Yankee payroll isn’t even going up, they just had a ton of money coming off the books. Plus a lot of teams are freaking out due to the recession and hoarding cash (they aren’t broke, though). I remember people thinking Teixeira and Sabathia would both get over $200 million at the end of last year, and they got signed for really on the lower end of people’s expectations. It was a perfect storm for them, plus the Red Sox got too cute, IMO.
They still have a fair number of holes, so not all hope is lost. There’s been claims they might try and penny pinch by having Swisher play CF instead of acquiring Cameron, so they could be seriously bad defensively. Plus they aren’t bringing Pettitte back.
by Bitter Fan on Dec 26, 2008 6:43 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Yes We Can
Since all you arch-conservatives won’t agree to a salary cap (insert your favorite political diatribe here), I have an alternate solution to the problem of the Yankees – and yes, their ability to outspend three-fourths of the other teams IS a problem. We can debate Competitive Advantage all day and night, but the main problem I see it that it exerts too much upward pressure on salaries.
But enough of that. The solution: put at least one more team in the greater NY area. Northern New Jersey sounds about right, but I leave the precise location to those who know the area better than I. This would/should make Steinbrenner’s media deals slightly less gargantuan, which is the fundamental problem with baseball’s current economic system, and the source of the Yankees obscene revenue stream.
Problem solved. Now, let’s turn our attention to the cheap production of cold fusion….
Sergio Romo: striking out professional hitters since 2005.
by Lyle on Dec 26, 2008 6:51 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Teixeira
How does a guy break the ‘I’ before ‘E’, except after ‘C’ rule not once but twice in a single name?
This is the kind of hard-hitting baseball talk that you’ll get only on this site.
by biff pocoroba on Dec 27, 2008 1:37 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
I take a certain amount of exception
to the argument that just because some team with a low payroll competed for/won the WS, that spending money the way Yankees do is not a competitive advantage. That is treating it like a black or white issue. Just because you can win with a low payroll does not mean it is fair. The only reason the Yankees don’t win the WS almost every year is that the postseason is entirely different from the regular season. Teams with less can still win it all if they can get to the postseason. Yankee teams are built to win during the regular season.
What the Yankees do though is guarantee themselves a competitive team every single year. The 2008 Yankees were one of the most ill-conceived teams in all of MLB last year and yet they weren’t out of it until late in the season. Teams with low payrolls have small windows in which to win. The Yankee window is always open. They can sign FAs like drunken sailors and still retain any promising propects that they want.
I would be fine with a salary cap as long as it included a minimum salary. The salary cap works pretty well in every other sport, and what I like about it is that the truly good teams, not (necessarily) the highly paid teams, win. Can anyone dispute the winners in the NFL, NBA, and NHL from last year as being undeserving? And yet if the Yankees win it all in 2009 that it is undeserved will be the prevailing sentiment.
BTW, my favorite line.“There’s just something so gauche about spending $300M on two players when barrel-and-suspender sales are up 6,000% over the previous year.”
Awesome.
Greetings, Marklar! I am Marklar! This is Marklar.
by marklar on Dec 29, 2008 11:29 AM PST reply actions 0 recs
The Yankees are a team full of good baseball players. Why would they be undeserving if the won the championship? Because you don’t like they way they operate? Of course having more money to spend is a competative advantage. So is having a very intellegent front office. In the end, the team still needs to sign the right players.
by chilibean_3 on Dec 29, 2008 11:54 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
There is no doubt
that the Yankees have a lot of good players. It is simplistic to make the leap that because of that they are deserving. It is not the good players on a team that is the issue, it is how they were acquired. Sure it takes a good FO to know who to sign, but a mediocre FO will put you in the postseason given enough money to spend. Money could make geniuses out of a lot of GMs.
Look at rxmeister’s comment above. He nailed it when he said:
“If they don’t win the World Series, everyone laughs at them for wasting all that money, and if they do win the World Series, nobody gives them credit because they bought the championship.”
I discredit the 26 WS titles of the Yankees because they have had more power to buy players than anyone else. Except for a 10-year span when the draft and reserve clause were both in effect, the team with the most money could garner the best plyers. It is just a lop-sided playing field, and I think baseball would be better if it were level.
Greetings, Marklar! I am Marklar! This is Marklar.
by marklar on Dec 29, 2008 12:10 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
But you believe they don’t deserve it because of their payroll. I just can’t agree with you there or with the idea of a salary cap. Different opinions, meh.
Yes, rx had a great comment. I just look at it different and believe they should be given credit for winning their championships.
by chilibean_3 on Dec 29, 2008 12:23 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
So you believe
that the Yankees should get the same amount of credit as the Florida Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals, Minnesota Twins, etc. even though those teams were built from within through developed prospects, trades, and the judicious use of FA money? Then I agree, we differ wildly in our opinions.
There are well-run franchises that miss the small window they have to win (A’s), and then have to start over because they lack one thing, money. These are the teams that suffer from the unfair structure of MLB.
Anything can happen in the baseball postseason. All you have to do is get there and you have a shot. The Yankees buy a competitive team year after year, and to me that just isn’t worthy of the accolades other winners get.
Greetings, Marklar! I am Marklar! This is Marklar.
by marklar on Dec 29, 2008 1:19 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
One of the reasons the Yankees have money to throw around is because they are a well run business. I enjoy seeing a team that was built by smart draft/signing/trades have success more that the Yankees, yes. That doesn’t mean I think the Yankee’s or any other team’s sucess due to payroll should be shunned.
by chilibean_3 on Dec 29, 2008 1:39 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
The Yankees have a lot of money
because of the market they serve. Don’t confuse having a lot of money with being a well-run franchise. In the early ‘90s (I’m not sure if, or how much, it has changed since then) what they made in their cable deal alone was more than the total revenue of the bottom 3 teams combined. And I doubt it has changed much seeing at how they continue to do business. It has nothing to do with being a well-run franchise. As a matter of fact, at one time Steinbrenner supplemented the Yankees player budget with profits from his ship-building business.
Greetings, Marklar! I am Marklar! This is Marklar.
by marklar on Dec 29, 2008 2:05 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Yes, they are in a great market. How about those Mets?
by chilibean_3 on Dec 29, 2008 2:14 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I’ve never understood why the Giants seem to have plenty of money to spend, but the A’s are the poor small market team. Isn’t this essentially the same market? I could be very wrong in my understanding of this. Somehow, though, the Giants have enough money to be in the high end of payroll. I’d have to come to the conclusion it’s because the Giants are a better run franchise. If my reasoning is wrong here, please somebody correct me.
I think people hate the Yankees more than they hate the idea of some teams having more money to spend.
by chilibean_3 on Dec 29, 2008 2:26 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
You kind answered your own question.
The Mets do have a lot money, but not the amount the Yankees have, nor do they spend it as obscenely. But they are paying Johan Santana and Carlos Beltran a lot of money. Nor do I expect David Wright to ever be a FA. The Mets can afford to, and will spend whatever it takes to keep him.
That being said the analogy you drew is correct. The Giants are to the Yankees as the A’s are to the Mets. Giants and Yankees are more traditional franchises that attract more local fans. A’s and Mets are johnny-come-latelys that cannot command the same advertizing rates as their cross town/bay rivals, so their revenues are less. The difference is that the Yankees have much more than the Giants and the Mets have much more than the A’s.
One of, and probably the biggest, reason why the Giants will not let the A’s move to San Jose, or anywhere else in San Clara County, is because most fans in San Jose, which has the largest population in the bay area, are Giants fans. A move of the A’s to San Jose would cut dramatically into the revenue edge that the Giants maintain over the A’s.
People hate the Yankees because the Yankees have historically used their financial advantage like a bludgeon on smaller markets. My grandmother, who died in 1982 at the age of 91 hated the Yankees for the same reason I do; that they bought their teams
Greetings, Marklar! I am Marklar! This is Marklar.
by marklar on Dec 29, 2008 3:08 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, you’re right about the A’s and Mets coming later. That’s not the fault of the Giants or Yankees, it’s the disadvantage those teams brought on themselves. The A’s could work on improving their situation in Northern California, such as having the Rivercats in Sacramento. They may never get to the same level as the Giants, but they wouldn’t be forced to constantly dump players. That’s just something that’s always bugged me about the A’s being “small market”.
by chilibean_3 on Dec 29, 2008 4:05 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Oh yeah. I hate the Yankee also. I hate them because of their salaries, the ESPN love and the constant winning. I still don’t want a cap.
by chilibean_3 on Dec 29, 2008 4:13 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
You don't have to be rich, but it helps...
I believe in a salary cap for the sake of evening the playing field. It’s true that the A’s, Marlins, Rays, and Twins learned to win without spending cash. But the number one thing a salary cap does is drive down the cost of free agents. It’d be nice to have guys that we recognize on teams like the Rangers or Pirates. Maybe if there is a salary cap, high spending teams like Boston and New York cannot afford Texeira so teams like San Diego or Miluakee can take a crack at him.
Brian Sabean is akin to a treatable form of cancer... just get rid of it before it kills you
by milesntrane on Dec 29, 2008 12:29 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
I have such a hard time punishing teams and fans of those teams just because I want it to be “fair”. I also have a hard time telling people they are only allowed to make so much money no matter how unbelivably good they are at what they do.
by chilibean_3 on Dec 29, 2008 12:36 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
The NFL
has a salary cap for the sole purpous of fairness. Now tell me, which teams and their fans are being punished by having it?
And if Mark Teireira makes only $150M instead of $180M I have a hard time thinking he is suffering too much.
Greetings, Marklar! I am Marklar! This is Marklar.
by marklar on Dec 29, 2008 1:26 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Teams like the Yankees, Mets, Tigers, White Sox, Red Sox, Cubs and such would be punished as well as their fans when their team has to give up their favorite players. They have an advantage in payroll budget, oh well. You are punishing them by taking away their advantage. If they use the money they were forced to cut from the payroll on scouting and development so they can bring up better players, will you then try to take that away from them? Some teams, like some people, have some advantages whether they are natural or they worked hard to gain that advantage. Sports and life aren’t always fair, sometimes you need to work harder to be sucessful.
Fans are being punished by the salary cap in the NFL with a more watered down product on the field. I’m also not a fan of losing good players all the time because my team isn’t allowed a chance to pay that player what he is worth. (For what it’s worth, I’m a Cowboys fan. sigh) Honestly, I don’t like the NFL parity. I enjoy having the couple really great teams with some good teams interchanging every few years. It gives me a team to root for and teams to root against just as hard.
I’m against telling anyone in any industry what they can and can’t make for their services.
by chilibean_3 on Dec 29, 2008 2:03 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Who said anything about taking away players?
That’s an absurd conclusion to come to as the result of a salary cap. Are you saying that if every team had to work within a high/low salary range that the best run teams would be penalized? It would actually be just the opposite; the better run teams would be the ones to compete more often.
“Sports and life aren’t always fair,…”
Sports and life are different. Because life isn’t fair doesn’t mean sports should be as well. Sports aren’t always fair but, since life definitely isn’t, sports is the one place that you should strive to make as fair as possible.
Name one example of an NFL player that was taken away from a team. And I don’t buy the watered product theory of the NFL. More teams compete, and I like that. There is nothing more boring than a dynasty. Instead of every year being excited about your team’s chances, you get excited every 4 or 5 years when it looks like the dynasty might be upset (maybe). With you being a Cowboys fan (why am I not surprised), how would you feel if the dynasty was the NY Giants or the Redskins, and they just kicked the Cowboy’s ass every year because they bought better players?
Greetings, Marklar! I am Marklar! This is Marklar.
by marklar on Dec 29, 2008 3:29 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
How would the MLB enact a salery cap? Would you take away money from players’ contracts so the team would be under the cap or would they be grandfathered in? I assumed the teams would be forced to cut some contracts to fit under the cap. That’s what I get for assuming.
I’m saying you penalize a team when you take away their advantage. Doesn’t matter the what the advantage, is as long as it’s legal, you’re taking it away because you don’t like the idea of them having it.
As far as sports and life not being the same, we just couldn’t disagree more with eachother. Some players and teams are better than others and some people are smarter or work harder than others. Sports mirror our society. There a winners and losers, but we all have the same rules to play under. That’s why I hate things like ties in little league, where children learn many life lessons.
As for the NFL, I’m talking about when your team has to decide between which players to keep on a roster. Every season teams have “salary cap casualities” where they have to get rid of a good player or two because they don’t have room under the cap to pay them. Yes, MLB teams lose fan favorites to teams like the Red Sox but at least the original team has the choice to pay up.
I find it boring when teams buy a few players during an offseason, go from crap to good for a season, then lose more players in the following offseason and go back to being crap. It’s a cycle I don’t enjoy. I like the dynasties, you don’t. I also believe the game in general was better when a team could develope and stay together. Meh, we’re different.
Of course I would hate the Giants or Redskins if that was the situation. I hate them already. The 90s and Jerry Jones are why people hate the Cowboys. It wouldn’t change my opinion on salary caps.
by chilibean_3 on Dec 29, 2008 3:53 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Certainly a transition period would be set up for salary cap that allowed current players and contracts to be maintained. This is precisely why I get so aggravated at people that insist that nothing new can work. There are plenty of examples in how to set up a salary cap that works for MLB. You don’t just blow up the whole system. Look at the NBA salary cap and the Larry Bird rule that allows the teams to maintain players by paying them more than they could get as a free agent. That would work better in baseball than it does in basketball because there is much more emphasis on developing prospects in baseball. One thing I find truly unfair is how teams that develop players lose them to teams that have a big payroll. There would still be FAs, but at least it would prevent the Yankees from using other teams as player factories.
I think your view of the unfairness of life is a little selective. Life contains too many tragic examples of how people’s lives are utterly destroyed through no fault of their own. Sports are not supposed to reflect life. Sports are supposed to be model for how to live one’s life. Everyone benefits when we compete on a level playing field. It has nothing to do little league ties by the way. That is a whole separate argument and it is not about fairness.
I look at the players cut from the NFL teams every year and there is never a player who is number 1 on a depth chart cut. There are rarely even number 2s cut. The occasional big name shows up, but usually it is someone at the end of their career. You don’t mind the unfairness of the Yankees outspending all the othe teams because they can, and yet you are upset about the unfairness of the old pro being cut from his team.
We can just agree to disagree. I am currently enjoying the NFL this year quite a bit, especially that part about the Cowboys..
Greetings, Marklar! I am Marklar! This is Marklar.
by marklar on Dec 29, 2008 4:25 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Life does contain tragadies, and some people are able to overcome those events and some don’t. The tie thing was just throwing it out there, it’s about a false sense of self esteem, but it’s along the same vein as my belief in sports and life and blah blah blah.
I’d have to disagree with the cut players things. Maybe it’s because the Cowboys have so many good and productive players and they can’t keep all of th-OH COME ON HOW DID THEY BLOW THIS SEASON ARGH DAMN YOU ROMO I HATE ALL OF YOUS FIRE EVERYONE HEY WHAT DO YOU THINK MAYBE NEXT YEAR IS “THE YEAR”!
by chilibean_3 on Dec 29, 2008 4:37 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
This is what I mean about you being selective.
There are tragedies that no one can overcome. Life and nature are too big and powerful. How does the little girl, lying in bed in Oakland, that gets killed by a stray bullet from a drive-by shooting, pull herself up by the boot-straps and overcome the unfairness of life? Sports should be a model not a mirror.
The tie thing has nothing to do with the fairness of sports. I don’t like it, and it wasn’t that way when I played in LL.
I think a salary cap is more about the health of the entire league. Why do you think that preseason football games have more viewers than regular season baseball games; or why regular season football games have higher ratings than playoff baseball games? If you live in Pittsburgh, you are much more likely to be a football fan. There are complex reasons why, but one aspect certainly has to be that you will not see the Pirates in the postseason this year or next year, or the year after that, but you stand a good chance of seeing the Steelers there. And why? Because in football there is a level playing field, and in baseball there isn’t.
The Yankees could sign enough players to have 2 all-stars at every position. But if they did that, how many fans would turn out to see a Yankee intra-squad game?
Football will probably always outdraw baseball, but I see baseball shooting themselves in the foot when it comes to competing against other sports.
Greetings, Marklar! I am Marklar! This is Marklar.
by marklar on Dec 29, 2008 6:01 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Yes, it is very hard to overcome death.
Football has higher ratings because they aren’t on TV every single day. For the most part all the games are on the same day and your team only plays once a week. If you miss a sunday, you miss a lot. A schedule as long as baseball’s is never going to get the same ratings. I watch as many games as possible, but I’m a huge baseball fan. It’s about the amount of games much much much so much more than the level playing field.
by chilibean_3 on Dec 30, 2008 8:37 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
The most bearable part about the Redskins watching the playoffs from home....
….is the knowledge that the Cowboys are doing the same. ;-)
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by DbacksSkins on Dec 29, 2008 8:08 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Eh....
I’d rather not talk about it.
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by DbacksSkins on Dec 30, 2008 9:01 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Let us now root against the Giants together!
We can continue our hatred for eachother after their failure.
by chilibean_3 on Dec 30, 2008 9:19 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
It's a deal.
Although having cut Plax for his self-destructive (literally) douchebaggery makes it somewhat harder.
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by DbacksSkins on Dec 30, 2008 10:41 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
There should not be a cap and there should also be no minimum salary.
by wilriv21 on Dec 29, 2008 4:12 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
NUH UH TEAMS SHOOD SPEND WHATEVR THEY WANT
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by DbacksSkins on Dec 30, 2008 8:59 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Salary caps for some, miniature baseball pennants for others!
by chilibean_3 on Dec 30, 2008 9:16 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
FTW?
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by DbacksSkins on Dec 30, 2008 10:38 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
DONT BLAME ME
I VOTED FOUR KODOS
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by DbacksSkins on Dec 30, 2008 10:39 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
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