2012 MLB Winter Meetings and Offseason

[draynay]

when I see that fountain I start to think contraction isn't such a bad idea

[VanillaO]

MLB is fine with 30 teams. Save contraction for niche Canadian sports, eh!

[Skarsguard]

Baseball does need contraction and probably a shorter season same can be said for NBA and NHL.

[koodledrum]

30 is a good number to be honest, just needs all 30 teams to start playing the game and not absolutely sucking - it's one thing to say "oh it's all money, you'll never compete with the Yankees/Red Sox/Dodgers payroll in Houston/Seattle/Pittsburgh so why bother" but good scouting is worth it's weight in gold. Players like Fielder, Pujols, Jeter, Cabrera don't just show up instantly - so concentrate on finding the next superstar & develop your club as opposed to bitching about big market payrolls, newsflash, the reason the Yankees have the biggest payroll is because they're the biggest name in the sport in the biggest market in the sport, they EARNED the ability to have a huge payroll. It means they can pay massive salaries for the top free agents, but lets be fair some of the best young names in the game aren't wearing Yankees uniforms are they.

[belfpala]

To me, it's not that the Yankees and other high budget teams Pay2Win, or whatever we want to call it. It's that they create an environment where lower budget teams have trouble retaining their best players. Essentially, that puts them into perpetual development/rebuilding mode.

[koodledrum]

I'll use an example here - Washington Nationals. They have arguably two of the brightest young talents in baseball right now in Strasburg & Harper, both on long term deals I believe, both would likely be courted by the Yankees if they became free agents tomorrow but Washington has several years to convince both men that Washington is a place they can win rings. Key, scout your talent well enough then it's no risk to sign them to 8 year deals - that's 8 years where large market teams cannot do a god damn thing about it because you hold all the power.

After that contract is done are you going to lose that player - probably but because you have first rate scouting you will already have that players replacement, big league ready & able to step right into his shoes tomorrow.

[kidsafe]

Baseball does need contraction and probably a shorter season same can be said for NBA and NHL.

Why does baseball need contraction? It's been 20 years since a lockout or strike, every team makes ridiculous TV money. Is it only because partially filled stadiums look ugly?

[draynay]

Why does baseball need contraction? It's been 20 years since a lockout or strike, every team makes ridiculous TV money. Is it only because partially filled stadiums look ugly?

and the fountain is ugly

[koodledrum]

and the fountain is ugly

It's been a while - but QFT!

[Amsden]

Alright Time for the Rangers to prove they're the top dogs in the AL west again. All our renaming games are against our division and our fate is in our hands. Now we have 2 teams on our heels and it's exciting should be a good (or heartbreaking) few weeks of baseball before the playoffs.

[sheffield]

yeah, never happening.. asking owners to have less home games?.. good luck with that

and instead of a salary cap, i'd like to see a salary floor.. so cheapstakes like Loria can't take advantage of revenue sharing and get away with what they've been getting away with (not spending the money on the team)

[belfpala]

and instead of a salary cap, i'd like to see a salary floor..

You could only do that by raising the league minimum salary.

And, as a fan... I'm so so so so excited about $10 pints of budweiser and $8 hot dogs. (I'm also so excited about $7 pints of budweiser and $6 hot dogs.... yeah.)

[koodledrum]

You could only do that by raising the league minimum salary.

And, as a fan... I'm so so so so excited about $10 pints of budweiser and $8 hot dogs.

Pretty sure it was $10 buds back in 2009 when I was at Yankee Stadium & $6 cokes. To put it into context though, earlier this month I enjoyed a day of athletics at the Paralympics, beer was $7 for a bottle/pint and it's $7.30 for a pint at my local concert venue!

Revenue sharing is the true bullshit in the finances of MLB - sorry, but LA, Boston, New York & Chicago can't help being big markets & draw massive amounts of fans both domestic & international so why should they be taxed for spending the money they earn.

[sheffield]

i don't have a problem with revenue sharing as long as its used properly.. but we know that's not the case

[Skarsguard]

yeah, never happening.. asking owners to have less home games?.. good luck with that

and instead of a salary cap, i'd like to see a salary floor.. so cheapstakes like Loria can't take advantage of revenue sharing and get away with what they've been getting away with (not spending the money on the team)

Uh how many home games do the NFL get a year like 8-9 I mean it's not about how many people you can get into the seats as it use to be its about how many people you can get to watch the games at home on their HD TV of DOOM. Hockey seats are usually full from what I see on TV but they don't make NFL money that's for sure hell there in lock out mode now.

[koodledrum]

Average football stadium holds what, 50-60,000 people, only 2 hockey arenas outright hold more than 20,000 (2 more can do so with standing tickets) - it might not be about the asses in seats as much as TV revenue, but if you can put asses in seats AND players on screens you're onto a winner. I see it more here in Scotland that people bitch about the fact Rangers & Celtic have dominated the game for so long, but the truth is on a average home game both teams can draw 40,000 minimum, generally speaking both will average out over 45,000 per home game. (Celtic during a good season will average out over 55,000) The average for the Scottish premier league is around 6-7,000 - you put an extra 30,000 butts in seats at £20 a shot and you don't need an MBA to understand you're gonna make a lot more money!

[kidsafe]

yeah, never happening.. asking owners to have less home games?.. good luck with that

and instead of a salary cap, i'd like to see a salary floor.. so cheapstakes like Loria can't take advantage of revenue sharing and get away with what they've been getting away with (not spending the money on the team)

I think fewer regular season games is inevitable since the season is already April 1 through the first week of October. It's obvious that the MLB wants to take a page from other leagues and add more postseason berths. That's what will consistently bring more fans overall to home games...if their team is still in the hunt in August/September.

The salary floor has worked out so well for the NHL, hasn't it? Pfft. Baseball has proven to be the most stable of the four major professional sports in the US, why introduce a wrench into the financial equation? The A's are competitive with a small payroll. The Marlins and Rays have been in the past. The Dodgers are about to miss the playoffs with a nearly 200M payroll too. All a salary floor does is raise ticket and concessions prices because owners are looking for profit margins.

Pretty sure it was $10 buds back in 2009 when I was at Yankee Stadium & $6 cokes. To put it into context though, earlier this month I enjoyed a day of athletics at the Paralympics, beer was $7 for a bottle/pint and it's $7.30 for a pint at my local concert venue!

Revenue sharing is the true bullshit in the finances of MLB - sorry, but LA, Boston, New York & Chicago can't help being big markets & draw massive amounts of fans both domestic & international so why should they be taxed for spending the money they earn.

A 16oz craft beer at AT&T Park is currently $9.75. I think a Bud is $8.75.

In that case I think I should pay the same income tax percentage as the someone who scrapes by on minimum wage, right? The Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and maybe the Phillies are currently the only teams that have to worry about the additional luxury tax. I'm sure they realize that in the business of baseball, everyone loses if a small market team owners are grumpy.

Uh how many home games do the NFL get a year like 8-9 I mean it's not about how many people you can get into the seats as it use to be its about how many people you can get to watch the games at home on their HD TV of DOOM. Hockey seats are usually full from what I see on TV but they don't make NFL money that's for sure hell there in lock out mode now.

You can't compare the NFL to MLB. Almost every football game is shown out of market to millions of homes on major TV networks. I think the ideal situation is to start the season on April 15 and end it September 15. Expand the postseason to 12 teams and get rid of the divisions. There would only be NL and AL and the top 2 teams in each league get a first round bye.

[koodledrum]

Good win for the Yankees last night against a tough A's team, CC dominant for 8 innings and Russell Martin digging us out in the 10th - problem is we need Boston to stop being shit for a couple of nights to put some daylight between us & the O's!

[draynay]

if there were any lingering hope that Cabrera might get re-signed, sitting out the entire postseason pretty much demonstrates that the SF front office has no interest in seeing him in a Giants uniform again

sorry Melkmen

[koodledrum]

Smart move by SF - like they said he's been out 50 games, there's no way he'd be ready to go to the plate at the bottom of the 9th, two outs, runners in scoring position down one run! Doubt he'll get resigned by SF as they already have enough "issues" with outfielders who have asterisks beside their career numbers, but somewhere will pick him up I've no doubt.