Relegation...?

[Lex]

Ok, players unions aside. Do you guys think baseball would be better if it had relegation. By relegation I mean that the worst two teams (or so) in baseball each year would get sent to the minors and they would be replaced with minor league teams.

[Sully]

Re: Relegation...?

Absolutely not. It's hard to establish a fan base amongst the "weaker" teams if they are bouncing back and forth between the majors and minors. Therefore, how can these teams generate any revenue?
I've heard about relegation before, maybe it was when they were talking about contraction. I think it's an insane and stupid idea.

[Sully]

Re: Relegation...?

Absolutely not. It's hard to establish a fan base amongst the "weaker" teams if they are bouncing back and forth between the majors and minors. Therefore, how can these teams generate any revenue?
I've heard about relegation before, maybe it was when they were talking about contraction. I think it's an insane and stupid idea.

[Sully]

Re: Relegation...?

Absolutely not. It's hard to establish a fan base amongst the "weaker" teams if they are bouncing back and forth between the majors and minors. Therefore, how can these teams generate any revenue?
I've heard about relegation before, maybe it was when they were talking about contraction. I think it's an insane and stupid idea.

[CMH]

Re: Relegation...?

Would never work.

It seems like a nice idea, but it'll bring up way too many headaches and issues.

[CMH]

Re: Relegation...?

Would never work.

It seems like a nice idea, but it'll bring up way too many headaches and issues.

[CMH]

Re: Relegation...?

Would never work.

It seems like a nice idea, but it'll bring up way too many headaches and issues.

[SPTO]

Re: Relegation...?

Ah Lex I love your baseball savvy and stuff so this should be good.

Yes i've heard about relegation for MLB. The last time I heard it talked about seriously was 2-3 yrs ago. I think that it's a good idea in CONCEPT. They do this all the time in European soccer and no one complains about fanbase and money etc etc.

However I think there are 2 things that would make relegation not work in MLB.

1) Teams like Pittsburgh, Detroit, Milwaukee etc etc will ALWAYS be the teams that are sent down to the Minors unless they actually build their teams up.

2) I think the gulf between major league and minor league talent is too wide. Any minor league team that makes it into the Majors would be just DESTROYED on the field by major league teams. You also have to remember that these teams are populated with players that may actually make it into a big league club one day and the beating will have a severe affect on the players confidence.

Plus it would be strange if say the Yanks AAA team made it into the Majors and they're replacing Detroit and they play their parent club.....can anyone say conflict of interest?

Ok and a 3rd reason just came to mind....

3) What if a major market team were rebuilding and they had a stinker of a year and are forced to go to the Minors. It would never happen! Let's say it's the Yankees. Do you honestly think George Steinbrenner would say "oh ok we were one of the 2-4 worst teams in the majors we'll go down for a year " The network covering the team (YES network in this case) would balk at this. What team network is going to want to go following a big time club through the minors?

[SPTO]

Re: Relegation...?

Ah Lex I love your baseball savvy and stuff so this should be good.

Yes i've heard about relegation for MLB. The last time I heard it talked about seriously was 2-3 yrs ago. I think that it's a good idea in CONCEPT. They do this all the time in European soccer and no one complains about fanbase and money etc etc.

However I think there are 2 things that would make relegation not work in MLB.

1) Teams like Pittsburgh, Detroit, Milwaukee etc etc will ALWAYS be the teams that are sent down to the Minors unless they actually build their teams up.

2) I think the gulf between major league and minor league talent is too wide. Any minor league team that makes it into the Majors would be just DESTROYED on the field by major league teams. You also have to remember that these teams are populated with players that may actually make it into a big league club one day and the beating will have a severe affect on the players confidence.

Plus it would be strange if say the Yanks AAA team made it into the Majors and they're replacing Detroit and they play their parent club.....can anyone say conflict of interest?

Ok and a 3rd reason just came to mind....

3) What if a major market team were rebuilding and they had a stinker of a year and are forced to go to the Minors. It would never happen! Let's say it's the Yankees. Do you honestly think George Steinbrenner would say "oh ok we were one of the 2-4 worst teams in the majors we'll go down for a year " The network covering the team (YES network in this case) would balk at this. What team network is going to want to go following a big time club through the minors?

[SPTO]

Re: Relegation...?

Ah Lex I love your baseball savvy and stuff so this should be good.

Yes i've heard about relegation for MLB. The last time I heard it talked about seriously was 2-3 yrs ago. I think that it's a good idea in CONCEPT. They do this all the time in European soccer and no one complains about fanbase and money etc etc.

However I think there are 2 things that would make relegation not work in MLB.

1) Teams like Pittsburgh, Detroit, Milwaukee etc etc will ALWAYS be the teams that are sent down to the Minors unless they actually build their teams up.

2) I think the gulf between major league and minor league talent is too wide. Any minor league team that makes it into the Majors would be just DESTROYED on the field by major league teams. You also have to remember that these teams are populated with players that may actually make it into a big league club one day and the beating will have a severe affect on the players confidence.

Plus it would be strange if say the Yanks AAA team made it into the Majors and they're replacing Detroit and they play their parent club.....can anyone say conflict of interest?

Ok and a 3rd reason just came to mind....

3) What if a major market team were rebuilding and they had a stinker of a year and are forced to go to the Minors. It would never happen! Let's say it's the Yankees. Do you honestly think George Steinbrenner would say "oh ok we were one of the 2-4 worst teams in the majors we'll go down for a year " The network covering the team (YES network in this case) would balk at this. What team network is going to want to go following a big time club through the minors?

[mjb2124]

Re: Relegation...?

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
Sully said:
Absolutely not. It's hard to establish a fan base amongst the "weaker" teams if they are bouncing back and forth between the majors and minors.

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

Very true... Baseball has long been a sport where fans relate to the individual player moreso than the team as a whole. I'm not sure why this is, but it just seems that way to me.

Also one of my friends plays in the minors and he said that the toughest competition is in AA, not AAA. AAA has a lot of washed up guys that don't want to "hand em up" yet. AA is filled with a lot of talent that often jumps straight to MLB (skipping AAA along the way). He also said the most difficult jump is from A to AA and not AA to AAA. Just some food for thought...

[mjb2124]

Re: Relegation...?

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
Sully said:
Absolutely not. It's hard to establish a fan base amongst the "weaker" teams if they are bouncing back and forth between the majors and minors.

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

Very true... Baseball has long been a sport where fans relate to the individual player moreso than the team as a whole. I'm not sure why this is, but it just seems that way to me.

Also one of my friends plays in the minors and he said that the toughest competition is in AA, not AAA. AAA has a lot of washed up guys that don't want to "hand em up" yet. AA is filled with a lot of talent that often jumps straight to MLB (skipping AAA along the way). He also said the most difficult jump is from A to AA and not AA to AAA. Just some food for thought...

[mjb2124]

Re: Relegation...?

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
Sully said:
Absolutely not. It's hard to establish a fan base amongst the "weaker" teams if they are bouncing back and forth between the majors and minors.

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

Very true... Baseball has long been a sport where fans relate to the individual player moreso than the team as a whole. I'm not sure why this is, but it just seems that way to me.

Also one of my friends plays in the minors and he said that the toughest competition is in AA, not AAA. AAA has a lot of washed up guys that don't want to "hand em up" yet. AA is filled with a lot of talent that often jumps straight to MLB (skipping AAA along the way). He also said the most difficult jump is from A to AA and not AA to AAA. Just some food for thought...

[SPTO]

Re: Relegation...?

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
Very true... Baseball has long been a sport where fans relate to the individual player moreso than the team as a whole. I'm not sure why this is, but it just seems that way to me.



<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

This statement is more true today then it was in the past. In the glory days of MLB there was a very STRONG afilliation between team and city. All 3 NY teams in the 50s were well supported. It's true there were some individual favourites but it was more of a community/cheer on the home team spirit.

The Cubs have long had that kind of diehard fanaticism that is still seen to this day along with the Cardinals. The thing that truly killed the notion of fans cheering on the entire team was the advent of Free Agency. You can thank Charles O. Finley for that.

Then again there was a lot of the same "team" concept of cheering through most of the 70s and up til the early 80s when Free Agency wasn't as prevalent. That slipped away by the mid 80s and fans have become more jaded.

[SPTO]

Re: Relegation...?

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
Very true... Baseball has long been a sport where fans relate to the individual player moreso than the team as a whole. I'm not sure why this is, but it just seems that way to me.



<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

This statement is more true today then it was in the past. In the glory days of MLB there was a very STRONG afilliation between team and city. All 3 NY teams in the 50s were well supported. It's true there were some individual favourites but it was more of a community/cheer on the home team spirit.

The Cubs have long had that kind of diehard fanaticism that is still seen to this day along with the Cardinals. The thing that truly killed the notion of fans cheering on the entire team was the advent of Free Agency. You can thank Charles O. Finley for that.

Then again there was a lot of the same "team" concept of cheering through most of the 70s and up til the early 80s when Free Agency wasn't as prevalent. That slipped away by the mid 80s and fans have become more jaded.