My thoughts on MLB...

[psufan]

I simply love it but there are some things that I would like to be fixed(like in anything else).

1. SALARY CAP!!! Maybe I just have a certain opinion about this because my team(Pirates) are a low budget market and it takes years to build a team that can compete for a max of 3-4 years.

2. Shorten the season or try to schedule the majority of games in the south or domes during this time of the year. I hate seeing baseball played in April and October...it's too cold for a summer sport.

I'm really interested in everyone's opinion about these topics and be serious this is for a paper in my Current Issues in Athletics class.

[Thrasha]

Re: My thoughts on MLB...

The A's payroll is at about 16 million more than the payroll of the Pirates. That's not much more in baseball terms. The Indians are only 10 more. Still not much more in regards to baseball figures.

I think it comes down to the owners willingness to spend money, and the front office being intelligent enough to decide where to allocate it's fund. Specifically meaning in who.

The season is fine IMO. Most cold weather teams start the year on the road. And with global warming, this won't even be a problem in a few years :wink:

[Kick Strandman]

Re: My thoughts on MLB...

1. SALARY CAP!!! Maybe I just have a certain opinion about this because my team(Pirates) are a low budget market and it takes years to build a team that can compete for a max of 3-4 years.

A salary cap would help but it would only limit the amount the biggest spenders would be allowed to spend. It would still let the management of teams like the Pirates and D-Rays get away with spending less than $40 million a year. I think that before there is a salary cap, there should be a floor, a minimum spending limit, of maybe $60 million. That would at least allow some of the teams to get one or two star players.

[Vince]

Re: My thoughts on MLB...

I'm sorry, but point number 2 is one of the most rediculous things I've ever heard.

[mjb2124]

Re: My thoughts on MLB...

With regards to the Pirates, it's a combination of things:

1. Terrible long term signings of the past that they've just been able to get out of (Derek Bell, Pat Meares, Kevin Young, Jason Kendall etc...).

2. A few horrible trades to cut salary (Aramis Ramirez for a bag of balls). How nice would he look at 3B and protecting Jason Bay in the lineup?

3. A few terrible Rule V moves. Chris Shelton and Chris Young were both Pirates who were left unprotected. Both are starters on other teams.

4. A cheap ownership group who chooses to pocket a lot of money instead of putting it back into the team. That includes the revenue sharing they're given.

5. IMO an ownership group who only cares about making money. They sign enough middle of the road free agents to be slightly competitive. That draws fans, puts money in their pockets and that's about it.

6. On the other hand, when talent is built from within or acquired at a young age (Duke, Maholm, Gorzelanny, Perez, Bay), there's little to no chance any of them come back when free agency rolls around. The Pirates just can't keep up with some of the large markets. When Steinbrenner can throw 14 MIL per year at Jason Bay, it leaves the Pirates no chance.

7. With a smaller market, the Pirates can't afford to make any mistakes in terms of who they sign/trade for. When they do, they're magnified. A large market can make those mistakes and it won't hurt the club as much as a small market.

So with that said, the Pirates spent 46 MIL this year. Still in the bottom 5 of the league. A salary cap does nothing without a floor. So I agree that if a cap is implemented, a floor must be as well. However, a lot of smarter things need to be done in the front office as well.

[Vince]

Re: My thoughts on MLB...

5. IMO an ownership group who only cares about making money. They sign enough middle of the road free agents to be slightly competitive. That draws fans, puts money in their pockets and that's about it.

That's the biggest problem with the Pirates. The ownership seems too gutless to commit to a full fledged rebuilding plan, so they go after stop gaps and guys who have been around for a while. And a lot of MLB teams are like that right now...

[SPTO]

Re: My thoughts on MLB...

Most cold weather teams start the year on the road. And with global warming, this won't even be a problem in a few years :wink:

Yeah but NY and Miami will be wiped off the map. :wink:

I have no problems with the scheduling of games but I do wish the season would be shortened to 154 games.

[DrJones]

Re: My thoughts on MLB...

Salary cap is unlikely to ever happen. MLB would have to lock out the players for at least 2 full seasons, probably 3, to break the players' union. The owners (and the fans) don't have the balls to do this.

[DGetz]

Re: My thoughts on MLB...

I simply love it but there are some things that I would like to be fixed(like in anything else).

1. SALARY CAP!!! Maybe I just have a certain opinion about this because my team(Pirates) are a low budget market and it takes years to build a team that can compete for a max of 3-4 years.

2. Shorten the season or try to schedule the majority of games in the south or domes during this time of the year. I hate seeing baseball played in April and October...it's too cold for a summer sport.

I'm really interested in everyone's opinion about these topics and be serious this is for a paper in my Current Issues in Athletics class.

I'd be in favor of changing the season to 154 games, but not cause of the weather issue.

The problem with a salary cap is implementation. Look at the most recent league to adopt a salary cap - the NHL. In the last season before the lockout the highest payroll in the NHL was 65-70 mil and the lowest was 20-25. The highest was 3-4 times higher than the lowest. Then if you look at baseball where the highest is around 200 mil and the lowest is 14 mil; even if you dont count the Marlins its around 20-25 mil I believe, meaning the team withe highest payroll spends almost ten-fold what the team with the lowest does, so where do you draw the line? I suppose the only thing to do would be to make is a cap that limits spending, put it at 90-120 million and accept that some teams will not approach that number. It's just not feasible to have a cap like the NFL or NHL where most teams get as close to it as possible.

[Scottdau]

Re: My thoughts on MLB...

I'd be in favor of changing the season to 154 games, but not cause of the weather issue.

The problem with a salary cap is implementation. Look at the most recent league to adopt a salary cap - the NHL. In the last season before the lockout the highest payroll in the NHL was 65-70 mil and the lowest was 20-25. The highest was 3-4 times higher than the lowest. Then if you look at baseball where the highest is around 200 mil and the lowest is 14 mil; even if you dont count the Marlins its around 20-25 mil I believe, meaning the team withe highest payroll spends almost ten-fold what the team with the lowest does, so where do you draw the line? I suppose the only thing to do would be to make is a cap that limits spending, put it at 90-120 million and accept that some teams will not approach that number. It's just not feasible to have a cap like the NFL or NHL where most teams get as close to it as possible.

If they change the games play to 154 then breaking records would be different. That has always been on of the negatives of shorting the schedule. Even though it used to be shorter back in the day! Some still feel like Ruth has the single season HR record, because he played in fewer games than Marris!

[psufan]

Re: My thoughts on MLB...

Excellent points by everyone. Feel free to include your own suggestions on how to improve MLB.