what I would do if I was commish of... Baseball

[twi]

Less games, more playoff teams. 162 games are unnecessary.

Salary cap. I just can't wait to see who the Red Sox vastly overpay this year to try and keep up with the Yankees. I can't take baseball seriously when players make more oney than some teams spend on their entire payroll. Which brings me to a cap on the amount a player can make. Pitchers go once every 5 days and and even the best position players spend half the game getting fat on snacks in the dugout. Some of the salaries are nothing short of criminal.

Actually, I'd say more needs to be changed about baseball than kept.

[The_Admiral]

Less games, more playoff teams. 162 games are unnecessary.

TEAMS

LIKE

MAKING

MONEY

They've been playing 162 for years and years now. Before that it was 154 in the days of eight-team leagues. There is no reason to take games away. Yes, they play almost every single day for six months and individual games are generally devoid of life-and-death ramifications until you start getting down to the wire. That's kind of the beauty of it, ya dig? We spend six months separating the wheat from the chaff so that we don't have to deal with postseason cannon fodder. People who want 16 playoff teams in baseball are so competely blind and misled that it's a wonder they don't get up from their computers and start bumping into walls.

[BaltimoreFan]

To recap, money does help, but it does not guarantee success.

I think your underestimating the advantage of money though. Sure it does't guarantee success, but it certainly helps a whole whole lot. The Yankees essentially bought their championship this year. I hate to sound like a sore loser, but its true. They needed to improve their pitching staff and bought the top 2 pitchers available on the market. Not many other teams can do that so easily. Their certainly not going to be able to get two pitchers of that quality without giving up some major resources. The Yankees make so much money since they are in largest city in the US and are the most recognizable franchise, that the money really means nothing to them. Yes, many teams have spent money stupidly. My Orioles were a perfect example of that. However I do not think you should let some team's stupidity excuse the "intelligent" teams with money.

Also I've never liked the small market team success example. Yes, Minnesota and Oakland were both able to achieve sustained success. But has anyone really ever thought of them as true World Series contenders. I never really have. They were able make the playoffs, but that was usually the result of a "weak" division. Once they made it to the playoffs they beat by the big spenders. Then there is Tampa Bay, who were able to "beat the system" and beat out the Yankees and Red Sox for the AL East. However this was a very rare, special case. It essentially took Tampa Bay 10 years of exceptional drafting to achieve this, along with a little luck (the fact that the Yankees had a down year). After a year, Tampa Bay's growth was essentially negated because the Yankees and Red Sox were able to out spend them.

Now I realize this isn't going to be an easy fix. There are too many factors that will make fixing this extremely complicated. And I really hope this doesn't come across a whining from a fan of a losing team. But its my view that the Orioles losing has been the result of poor management. It appears Andy MacPhail is turning it around. I also do believe the Orioles are capable of spending (not at the Yankee and Red Sox level, but still pretty high), but need to wait until they develop a solid core. All I'm really trying to say is that ability to spend does give teams a huge advantage if they hire smart GMs. And unfortunately there is no real solution to the problem in the near future.

[NoHoJoe]

Bring back weekend Double Headers...and just for fun (once in a blue moon)... A TRIPLE HEADER!!!

[NoHoJoe]

My short list of things I would do is eliminate inter-league play, eliminate the All Star Game as the vehicle by which home field advantage in the World Series is determined, and while not adding a salary cap (but keeping the luxury tax in place) would mandate a minimum payroll amount.

I would also rework the television contract. First, something has to be done about how games are televised on Saturday namely the blackout of all games during the FOX Game of the Week. Since the "exclusivity" window will not go away keep the window between 4-7 PM Eastern then have the network pick a Saturday game to televise and make it a pure national game. Then have the other games played around the window. The way it is right now for the most part renders the Extra Innings package useless on Saturday and it costs teams who are not one of the three games FOX is showing television revenue because they can't sell ad space for games they aren't televising at all.

When it comes to the playoffs the immediate fix is to cut out all of the unnecessary off days. There would be a one day gap between the last day of the season and the first day of the division series in case a one game playoff is necessary. In the 5 game series there would be only one off day for travel between games 2 and 3 and in the LCS there would be off days only between games 2 and 3 and 5 and 6. None of these off days between games 4 and 5 as was seen in the ALCS.

Why should FOX dominate ALL the Broadcast TV Baseball telecasts Rights? It needs to be spread out among the other networks as well. ABC should bring back MONDAY NIGHT BASEBALL, while NBC and CBS should split the playoffs and MLB All Star Game and WS as well, and the CW and FOX should split the Regional Game Of The Week telecasts!

[The_Admiral]

Why should FOX dominate ALL the Broadcast TV Baseball telecasts Rights?

Because they want to pay for the rights to carry baseball and the other networks don't. You do realize it works this way, right? They don't just distribute games to various networks in the interest of fairness.

[crashcarson15]

I'd try to make a salary cap, as well as establish some kind of Equal Revenue distribution like you have in the NFL and NBA. Not sure how (or even if) it works, but it would keep teams like the Yankees and Red Sox (to a lesser extent) from buying their way to the World Series, while giving a chance for teams like Kansas City and Pittsburgh (who both haven't been relevant for years) to get good players and make the playoffs.

It's a pretty well known fact that Nutting is content with making a profit and Pirates fans continue to go to the games and pay the team money and Nutting doesn't want to put a good team on the field.

With 6 teams per league:

It's been stated before that a bye is the last thing that a team needs in baseball.

First the compensatory picks dont really work all that well, ask the Blue Jays and Brewers who lost Burnett and CC and got back less picks because they all went to one team. Teh issue is players falling down the board demanding crazy contracts and the good teams then getting better talent too.

Umm yeah, don't even start on The Brewers losing CC. Don't even start on it.

My short list of things I would do is eliminate inter-league play, eliminate the All Star Game as the vehicle by which home field advantage in the World Series is determined, and while not adding a salary cap (but keeping the luxury tax in place) would mandate a minimum payroll amount.

I would also rework the television contract. First, something has to be done about how games are televised on Saturday namely the blackout of all games during the FOX Game of the Week. Since the "exclusivity" window will not go away keep the window between 4-7 PM Eastern then have the network pick a Saturday game to televise and make it a pure national game. Then have the other games played around the window. The way it is right now for the most part renders the Extra Innings package useless on Saturday and it costs teams who are not one of the three games FOX is showing television revenue because they can't sell ad space for games they aren't televising at all.

When it comes to the playoffs the immediate fix is to cut out all of the unnecessary off days. There would be a one day gap between the last day of the season and the first day of the division series in case a one game playoff is necessary. In the 5 game series there would be only one off day for travel between games 2 and 3 and in the LCS there would be off days only between games 2 and 3 and 5 and 6. None of these off days between games 4 and 5 as was seen in the ALCS.

Why should FOX dominate ALL the Broadcast TV Baseball telecasts Rights? It needs to be spread out among the other networks as well. ABC should bring back MONDAY NIGHT BASEBALL, while NBC and CBS should split the playoffs and MLB All Star Game and WS as well, and the CW and FOX should split the Regional Game Of The Week telecasts!

Why? They already have Sunday and Wednesday Night Baseball...

[DarkJourney]

Make Tim Lincecum commissioner!

[BBTV]

I'd try to make a salary cap, as well as establish some kind of Equal Revenue distribution like you have in the NFL and NBA. Not sure how (or even if) it works, but it would keep teams like the Yankees and Red Sox (to a lesser extent) from buying their way to the World Series, while giving a chance for teams like Kansas City and Pittsburgh (who both haven't been relevant for years) to get good players and make the playoffs.

It's a pretty well known fact that Nutting is content with making a profit and Pirates fans continue to go to the games and pay the team money and Nutting doesn't want to put a good team on the field.

It's also a pretty well known fact that Pirates fans could sell out the stadium every single game, and the club would still be unable to compete salary wise with the top-tier clubs because they just don't earn as much in local revenue due to many factors, the biggest of which would be size of the market.

[crashcarson15]

I'd try to make a salary cap, as well as establish some kind of Equal Revenue distribution like you have in the NFL and NBA. Not sure how (or even if) it works, but it would keep teams like the Yankees and Red Sox (to a lesser extent) from buying their way to the World Series, while giving a chance for teams like Kansas City and Pittsburgh (who both haven't been relevant for years) to get good players and make the playoffs.

It's a pretty well known fact that Nutting is content with making a profit and Pirates fans continue to go to the games and pay the team money and Nutting doesn't want to put a good team on the field.

It's also a pretty well known fact that Pirates fans could sell out the stadium every single game, and the club would still be unable to compete salary wise with the top-tier clubs because they just don't earn as much in local revenue due to many factors, the biggest of which would be size of the market.

Fair enough but they wouldn't be as utterly terrible.

[Your Name Here]

I am conflicted on the designated hitter. I like that its a quirky thing between the leagues, but I also think its a bit of a strange silly American fake thing. I don't think I'd spend terribly long mourning it if it went.

People keep saying this last as though the American League is some kind of abberation. There are only two professional leagues in the entire world that still have the pitchers bat: the National League and the Central League. Who are these people who want to watch pitchers bat? It's as bad as listening to Jennifer Lopez sing.

Another alternative for the playoffs, given that on balance the bye for the best record is probably not a positive thing is go back to straight Leagues, no divisions, and have a 16 team playoff, similar to basketball and hockey, but have 3 or 5 game series in the first 2 round with the team with the best record having home advantage throughout the series. Obviously as this would be a longer playoff scenario, the season would have to be quite severly curtailed. 130 or 140ish games?? Playoffs through september and october. Obviously this would be unlikely to ever happen, but you could reignite the old pennant race tradition, as well as having teams competing hard for there playoff rank, as well as place.

No offense, but this is the worst idea I've ever heard.

[mania]

Why do so many of you want to make international player development dry up? Subjecting international players to the draft would be a detriment to the game, in both short and long terms.

[The_Admiral]

There are only two professional leagues in the entire world that still have the pitchers bat: the National League and the Central League. Who are these people who want to watch pitchers bat?

It wasn't a problem till the American League's attendance and offense went down.

[Saintsfan]

I am conflicted on the designated hitter. I like that its a quirky thing between the leagues, but I also think its a bit of a strange silly American fake thing. I don't think I'd spend terribly long mourning it if it went.

People keep saying this last as though the American League is some kind of abberation. There are only two professional leagues in the entire world that still have the pitchers bat: the National League and the Central League. Who are these people who want to watch pitchers bat? It's as bad as listening to Jennifer Lopez sing.

Another alternative for the playoffs, given that on balance the bye for the best record is probably not a positive thing is go back to straight Leagues, no divisions, and have a 16 team playoff, similar to basketball and hockey, but have 3 or 5 game series in the first 2 round with the team with the best record having home advantage throughout the series. Obviously as this would be a longer playoff scenario, the season would have to be quite severly curtailed. 130 or 140ish games?? Playoffs through september and october. Obviously this would be unlikely to ever happen, but you could reignite the old pennant race tradition, as well as having teams competing hard for there playoff rank, as well as place.

No offense, but this is the worst idea I've ever heard.

Two things, personally if I were a baseball club who played in the American League, I'd get my pitchers to be able to hit somewhat competently. And I think it makes for interesting tactical decisions late in a game, do I send my hot pitcher in to bat, or do I throw in a pinch hitter and hope that a reliever can pull us out of the game??

On my playoff suggestion, personally I don't see whats terrible wrong with it. Have a regular season that is a month shorter, reintroduce basically 2 leagues, no divisions, have a proper pennant race, and have a situation where your place in the league table matters. Think of all the dead games at the end of a season that would suddenly have something riding on them. Think about how many more players wouold get to test themselves in the drama of play off baseball. Sure its radical, too radical to ever happen, but whats so bad about it?

[Mac the Knife]

My thoughts:

(1) Mandate across the board, universal revenue sharing from all sources of revenue save ticket sales, concessions and parking. And for the fans, institute a rule that stipulates that the most expensive ticket in any stadium cannot exceed 10x the cost of the cheapest seat in the house (excluding skyboxes and suites).

(2) Negotiate an absolute, rock-hard salary floor and cap into the next CBA. Also negotiate a mandatory, comprehensive, Olympic-style drug testing policy. If the player's union won't agree to either one, lock 'em out until they do even if it means losing a season.

(3) Expand (yes, I said expand) to 32 teams (for sake of example, by adding teams in New Orleans and Portland), putting the two new clubs in the American League. Use the $2 billion in income generated from expansion fees to offset any losses to the 30 existing teams from reducing their share of national TV revenues. Do what Bud Selig called a "radical realignment" of these 32 teams into eight divisions of four teams each, obliterating all references to the AL and NL and aligning teams geographically to promote regional rivalries, with divisions named to honor stars of the game's past; for example:

Boston, NY Mets, NY Yankees, Philadelphia

Baltimore, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Washington

Atlanta, Florida, New Orleans, Tampa

Cincinnati, Detroit, Toronto, Milwaukee

Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Minnesota, St. Louis

Arizona, Houston, Kansas City, Texas

California, Colorado, Los Angeles, San Diego

Oakland, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle

(4) Shorten the duration of the regular season. Keep it at 162 games, but mandate that no regular season game may be played prior to April 1, nor later than September 30. If that means doubleheaders for teams twice a month or eliminating off days or the All-Star break, so be it.

(5) Shorten the playoffs by reverting the LCS to a best-of-five games, and make the divisional playoffs a best-of-three. Yes it will hurt revenues, but it also would have some side benefits as well.

(6) Introduce technology into the game. Find a way to use today's computer technology to establish a virtual strike zone for each batter and have ball/strike calls be automatic rather than based on the judgment of an umpire. Place chips in every base, every ball and every player's glove to assist in plays on the bases. Use human umpires and instant replay as well.

(7) Either universally adopt the DH or ditch it. Either one would be fine in my view, but let's do it one way or another.

(8) Institute a promotion/relegation system whereby if your team posts the worst record in the Major Leagues, you move down to AAA level while the team that wins the AAA National Championship Game moves up to the Major League level. Award that champion the option of choosing its 25-man roster from any player on the MLB squad that's being relegated, leaving the MLB-relegated club with the rest. Think that'd motivate teams to compete?

[NJTank]

As for Double Headers one a week will be too much, but I think there should be at least one scheduled DH a month, centered on holidays of course, with the Blue Jays being gaurnteed a home date on Canada Day and the Phillies being home every 4th of July.