MLB (Baseball)

[The Underdog]

Re: MLB (Baseball)

I asked the Yank that I work with how they decide who has the 4-3 home advantage in the World Series. He said it used to be rotated each year between the AL & the NL, but now he said its decided by which league wins the All Star game.

It is a joke. They did it to try to make the All-Star game meaningful in this age of inter league series and players who treat it as a junket. It didn't work and just made something else worse. Wait until they bring in more play-off teams...yippee.

It should just go to the team with the best record. Is it that hard?

[Raw Toast]

Re: MLB (Baseball)

Well we mightn't have farm talent, more than 3 good major leaguers, a decent manager or a world series win in a 100 years but we have got cash (and at some point President Epstein). If I were you I'd be more annoyed if we got Hoyer than Byrnes particularly as his would likely be a lateral move. Probably not going to be announced until after the Series now anyway. Can't believe that the Red Sox first ask as compensation was Garza!

Very strong rumour is that it will be Hoyer and %*%$#$#@$#$ McLeod as well. While Hoyer's move is lateral on the face of it, the money will be much more, as will the cash he can spend. This is going to make me hate baseball, and the Cubs, for at least awhile, though apparently Byrnes might make a decent GM.

SD unlikely to make any compensation requests cause owners are friends, and SD owner (Moorad) loved Byrnes enough to give him an 8 yr GM deal at Arizona.

[Remi Moses]

Re: MLB (Baseball)

Separated at birth NOlan Ryan and Billy Brownless!
See the Rangers have their own TV Deal beginning in 2015.
Can't remember the exact figure but it's in the billions!

[The Underdog]

Re: MLB (Baseball)

Very strong rumour is that it will be Hoyer and %*%$#$#@$#$ McLeod as well. While Hoyer's move is lateral on the face of it, the money will be much more, as will the cash he can spend. This is going to make me hate baseball, and the Cubs, for at least awhile, though apparently Byrnes might make a decent GM.

SD unlikely to make any compensation requests cause owners are friends, and SD owner (Moorad) loved Byrnes enough to give him an 8 yr GM deal at Arizona.

Yep it looks as though Hoyer will come over to the Cubs and that Byrnes has been promoted to the GM position. No compo likely. Don't be too worried, you're at least a 50% chance of being better than us next year. Reports that the Padres would take Lackey from the Red sox if they paid most of his wage. Scary.

The reports from the Epstein thing are getting more and more hilarious. now it's being reported they asked for Castro initially, as compensation and then Garza 2nd. At least they weren't being unreasonable

[Raw Toast]

Re: MLB (Baseball)

Yep it looks as though Hoyer will come over to the Cubs and that Byrnes has been promoted to the GM position. No compo likely. Don't be too worried, you're at least a 50% chance of being better than us next year. Reports that the Padres would take Lackey from the Red sox if they paid most of his wage. Scary.

The reports from the Epstein thing are getting more and more hilarious. now it's being reported they asked for Castro initially, as compensation and then Garza 2nd. At least they weren't being unreasonable

Next year is not really the issue. Baseball is broken, and the rich are just once more plundering the poor without even giving a burrito of thanks. How one team can be allowed to raid another's front office, pick up someone for a lateral move when he is under contract for a few more years, and not even provide compensation, is just crazy.

At least Epstein apparently wanted Byrnes first, Hoyer second, but the whole thing is very dispiriting.

[Raw Toast]

Re: MLB (Baseball)

Apparently some compensation is now mooted - 2 lower level minor leaguers - but I still think the whole situation shows how stuffed mlb is.

[The Underdog]

Re: MLB (Baseball)

Apparently some compensation is now mooted - 2 lower level minor leaguers - but I still think the whole situation shows how stuffed mlb is.

#OccupyBaseball

[Raw Toast]

Re: MLB (Baseball)

#OccupyBaseball

Indeed, grin. I did tweet yesterday with the hashtag occupymlb, but haven't checked to see if it has taken off yet...

[comrade]

Re: MLB (Baseball)

I'm not up to speed with all this. Can someone explain why MLB is stuffed?

[The Underdog]

Re: MLB (Baseball)

I'm not up to speed with all this. Can someone explain why MLB is stuffed?

Because RT's team is poor and the rich team's plunder them for resources. To be honest I think there are other sport's that are worse. At least with MLB there's plenty of way's for intelligently run organisation's with fewer resources to compete, Tampa being the classic example.

[westdog54]

Re: MLB (Baseball)

Indeed, grin. I did tweet yesterday with the hashtag occupymlb, but haven't checked to see if it has taken off yet...

Somehow I can see Occupyxxx becoming something of an internet meme in coming years.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Re: MLB (Baseball)

Somehow I can see Occupyxxx becoming something of an internet meme in coming years.

Pardon my ignorance, what does it mean?

[westdog54]

Re: MLB (Baseball)

Pardon my ignorance, what does it mean?

Internet Meme or Occupyxxx?

[anfo27]

Re: MLB (Baseball)

Pooholes is a machine. Just showing why he is the BEST hitter in baseball. Entertaining game to watch but i always felt the rangers are always still a chance with that batting line up but after Pujols 2nd bomb they need a miracle. Great to watch a hitter of that calibre do it on centre stage.
Will he be there next year though?

[Raw Toast]

Re: MLB (Baseball)

I'm not up to speed with all this. Can someone explain why MLB is stuffed?

Longer answers can be given, but basically the mlb model is highly unequal. There is no salary cap, and teams derive most of their money from tv rights deals. Bigger market teams like the Yankees and Red Sox have payrolls for their players in excess of $150 million, while small market teams might have payrolls as low as the $30 millions. It's a huge disparity, and the best free agents tend to be snapped up by the biggest clubs. The Red Sox paid San Diego's best player, Adrian Gonzalez $20 million plus, more than half of what San Diego the total player payments San Diego made this year.

The saving grace, is that loading up on free agents is no guarantee of success. The draft order is determined like the AFL's, and smaller market teams can invest in the draft and put together a relatively competitive, relatively sustainable team.

Teams are not allowed to offer deals to players under contract - in what is termed anti-tampering laws. But the fact that teams can offer deals to non-players eg managers and general managers is crazy, and further weighted in favour of the bigger teams.

Because RT's team is poor and the rich team's plunder them for resources. To be honest I think there are other sport's that are worse. At least with MLB there's plenty of way's for intelligently run organisation's with fewer resources to compete, Tampa being the classic example.

Agree with Underdog to a certain extent on both points. But Tampa Bay is one of the few under-resourced clubs that manages to regularly compete. Major League Baseball is not as ridiculously unfair as EPL might be, but there are serious reasons to believe that the NFL has surpassed MLB as America's biggest sport because of the relative success of its equalisation strategies.