Did anyone notice...

[steelcurtain311]

...that Barry Zito nor AJ Burnett are starting a game in these AL/NL/DS's??? You want to ask me why I've started to not care about baseball? That right there speaks volumes to the state of it. You have two guys making absurd money, and neither are even good enough to be relied upon in a must-win game by their own teams.

I know it's playoff time and everything, so we want to try and forget about how broken this sport is, but I think this is the perfect time to bring it up. Because you're once again watching a team that bought a playoff spot, since they have a monopoly over baseball free agency.

[Knight165]

Re: Did anyone notice...

...that Barry Zito nor AJ Burnett are starting a game in these AL/NL/DS's??? You want to ask me why I've started to not care about baseball? That right there speaks volumes to the state of it. You have two guys making absurd money, and neither are even good enough to be relied upon in a must-win game by their own teams.

I know it's playoff time and everything, so we want to try and forget about how broken this sport is, but I think this is the perfect time to bring it up. Because you're once again watching a team that bought a playoff spot, since they have a monopoly over baseball free agency.

There is something broken...you're right....THE RECORD you keep playing.

M.K.
Knight165

[steelcurtain311]

Re: Did anyone notice...

Yes, lets ignore the fact that mediocre players get 80 to over 100 million dollar contracts in baseball. The Yankees can spend 80 mill on a guy who isn't even going to be in their rotation, meanwhile the Rays have to let Carl Crawford go.

[Knight165]

Re: Did anyone notice...

Yes, lets ignore the fact that mediocre players get 80 to over 100 million dollar contracts in baseball. The Yankees can spend 80 mill on a guy who isn't even going to be in their rotation, meanwhile the Rays have to let Carl Crawford go.

Sounds good. I've already ignored it.
WhTF cares about individual contracts...let alone if they are in the starting rotation or not?

Are you really going to argue payroll being a factor, when you look at the teams in the post season this year?
That equals FAIL.

Money does not = success all the time.

I'm no Yankee fan, but who cares how much they spend? They are the biggest franchise in the history of sports.... UNPARALLELED by any other team and you don't expect them to flash the cash?
Absurd.

M.K.
Knight165

[bigfnjoe96]

Re: Did anyone notice...

They are not starting in the ALDS/NDLS, but If both teams move-on they probably will start @ least 1 game in the Championship Series

[jth1331]

Re: Did anyone notice...

First, Zito got paid what he was considered to be worth at the time of his Free Agency. A young lefty who won a CY with good breaking ball stuff, yeah, he's going to get paid. What people didn't predict is how bad Zito would lose command of his stuff and become very hittable, becoming an average starting pitcher.

Burnett is flat out overpaid, some starting pitchers get overpaid and its ridiculous. He's a solid starting pitcher, but nowhere near the amount of money he's getting paid.

This all stems back to the fact all baseball contracts are guaranteed, and unlike the NFL where you can just cut a guy and rid yourself of a horrible mistake, you're left paying an average player top money.

[Dog]

Re: Did anyone notice...

And Haynesworth isn't overpaid? They are paying what 100 million for a backup? What about Elton Brand?


This goes on in every sport. Ibanez and Joe Blanton are overpaid, so what?

[WazzuRC]

Re: Did anyone notice...

I thought Erod (Freelance) was banned.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: Did anyone notice...

So a sports team signed a guy to a bad contract? NO WAY!

They aren't pitching because they haven't been performing. Just because you threw a bunch of money into a pile and burned it doesn't mean you throw your whole team on said fire.

[jth1331]

Re: Did anyone notice...

And Haynesworth isn't overpaid? They are paying what 100 million for a backup? What about Elton Brand?


This goes on in every sport. Ibanez and Joe Blanton are overpaid, so what?

The difference is the Redskins could cut Haynesworth tomorrow and save themselves about $50 million.
Football is pretty much the only sport though I think with non-guaranteed contracts. There is guaranteed money, but the whole contract can be thrown out the door which is why so many NFL players get cut, and one of the reasons why there might not be a 2011 NFL season.

Baseball salaries kind of inflated a bit too much IMO, and I didn't really think there was a problem until back of the rotation guys/starters who proved nothing after multiple seasons were getting $10+ mil a season.
Darren Dreifort is a HUGE example of this.

[NYJets]

Re: Did anyone notice...

...that Barry Zito nor AJ Burnett are starting a game in these AL/NL/DS's??? You want to ask me why I've started to not care about baseball? That right there speaks volumes to the state of it. You have two guys making absurd money, and neither are even good enough to be relied upon in a must-win game by their own teams.

So they made some bad signings, bad signings happen. You act like Burnett and Zito were signed to be 5th starters, they weren't, they were signed under the mistaken belief that they are #1 or #2 starters.

[snepp]

Re: Did anyone notice...

First, Zito got paid what he was considered to be worth at the time of his Free Agency. A young lefty who won a CY with good breaking ball stuff, yeah, he's going to get paid. What people didn't predict is how bad Zito would lose command of his stuff and become very hittable, becoming an average starting pitcher.

Not entirely true, his contract was widely panned in non-traditional circles where advanced statistics showed him to be pretty middle-of-the-road. He's basically the same pitcher now that he was his last couple of years in Oakland.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Did anyone notice...

However, on the flip side, you have a guy like Josh Hamilton earning $3.3M or Neftali Perez or Jason Heywardearning $400K. For every over paid player, there are definitely some steals out there as well.

[snepp]

Re: Did anyone notice...

You act like Burnett and Zito were signed to be 5th starters, they weren't, they were signed under the mistaken belief that they are #1 or #2 starters.

That about sums it up.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Did anyone notice...

Money does not = success all the time.

Definitely not, but it's a huge advantage and unless they have moron's running their club, it should mean success most of the time or even almost all of the time.

I imagine for Yankee fans, every year it's World Series Championship or it's a failure. I think for most other teams, it's a success when your team makes the playoffs.

I'm no Yankee fan, but who cares how much they spend? They are the biggest franchise in the history of sports.... UNPARALLELED by any other team and you don't expect them to flash the cash?
Absurd.

I would expect nothing less if I was a fan (or even not as a fan). Which is why, IMO, baseball desperately needs a salary cap. How can you expect parity and fairness when the field is not playing with the same deck of cards.

You can point and say, look at the Rays, they've competed for a few years, but they won't maintain it. They've already said they have to cut their salary by 1/3 ($75 to $50M) next year. No way could they absorb an AJ Burnett contract or Carl Pavano contract. They'd be doomed spending 20% of their budget on a bust.

Most teams can probbaly really compete 3 or 4 out of every 10 years. The other years are spent rebuilding or suffering from mistakes. The upper echelon of spenders should compete every or almost every year.