The Business of Baseball Exposed

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Did I really say constitutional amendment? That's overstating my case a bit. But, yeah, we should really stop giving money away to people that don't need it. $300 million here and there could buy new schools, textbooks, light rail extensions, sewer improvements, and so on. You can't blame Loria for taking the free money, but we as a culture have to smarten up.

The real shame of Loria's run on the Expos is that they were actually on the verge of being pretty good then. Rondell White, a young Vladimir Guerrero, pre-psycho killer Ugeuth Urbina and Mark Grudzielanek was a pretty good nucleus of ball players.

Remember when Frank Robinson was their manager? It all seems so unlikely now, but it happened!

[The_Admiral]

Expos were doomed when they couldn't get out of Olympic Stadium (while staying in Montreal, of course), which probably never should've been built in the first place. It's been pointed out before (I think Corvus nailed it), but it's funny that Evil Socialist Paradise Canada puts its foot down on subsidized stadiums, even though it cost them the Nords, Jets, and Expos. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the Rangers play in a taxpayer-funded office park fortress built on land seized through eminent domain. Sigh.

All I remember about Frank Robinson as Expos/Nats manager is that he was said to have fallen asleep a lot during games.

[Mac the Knife]

You can issue bomb threats at PNC Park every day and it won't make them stop sucking at drafting. If anything, they'll cut their scouting department.

But that's just it - they don't suck at drafting. Look at the list of names that, over the past, say, 15 years, have come from the Pittsburgh system - only to become all-stars wearing another team's uniform. It's a pretty impressive list. The problem is that they don't make even the slightest effort to retain those players' services, instead dealing them off at the first opportunity for 'prospects' that never seem to materialize, or which, if they do actually amount to something, they in turn trade off for other 'prospects'.

[The_Admiral]

May I see this list? I've never considered Pittsburgh to be in that tradition of O's/Expos/Twins player development. Off the top of my head I have Aramis Ramirez, Jason Bay, and Nate McLouth, but a lot of the Pirates' crap is homegrown crap.

[BaltimoreFan]

That is something that the MLB supposedly wants to fix though. By slotting the bonuses for draft picks (and not letting the bonus exceed the slot), you eliminate this problem.

And if Pittsburgh, Toronto, or Kansas City would go after top free agents maybe they'd get 'em.

(Of course Pittsburgh fans deserve the Pirates sucking so...)

The draft definitely needs to be fixed. Slotting is a big issue, but I think a few more changes need to be made. For one I think players should have to apply for the draft like they do in the NFL and NBA. If they refuse to sign they should be penalized by not being able to reapply for a few years. Its not right for so many amateurs to have as much leverage as they do in draft negotiations.

I'd also like to see international prospects have to enter the draft. It would be neat if MLB could form Caribbean leagues with the prospects. I think they would be really popular and would give all teams equal access to international prospects. The problem being that so many teams are heavily invested in academies and the current system, it will be hard to get that changed. Japanese players also create a problem, since they are further developed than Caribbean prospects and probably wouldn't like the pay cut from being drafted.

If Pittsburgh, Toronto, or Kansas City even dared to go after a top free agent, the Yankees would double their highest offers before the end of the day. Face it, it's impossible for a second-tier team to get a big name in free agency under this current system.

And the real solution for this mess is to introduce a salary cap and a salary floor, so the Pirates can't just pocket the revenue sharing money and not spend it on the team and the Yankees can't continue to field the BALCO Labs All-Star Team every year.

I do believe a salary cap would be the best option, but it will never happen. The players union is too strong and they will shot it down every time. MLB is going to have to find alternatives. It would be nice if they could somehow neutralize the market disparities when it comes to revenues. Making universal ticket prices would be one way to go.

[The_Admiral]

That's stupid, because the supply and demand vary so much for each team. A Rays game can't cost as much across the board as a Cardinals game.

[Lights Out]

May I see this list? I've never considered Pittsburgh to be in that tradition of O's/Expos/Twins player development. Off the top of my head I have Aramis Ramirez, Jason Bay, and Nate McLouth, but a lot of the Pirates' crap is homegrown crap.

Also, there's the infamous 2002 draft where the Pirates passed up on guys like B.J. Upton, Zach Greinke, Jon Lester, Denard Span, Matt Cain, Curtis Granderson, Josh Johnson, etc. in favor of Bryan Bullington, Blair Johnson, Taber Lee and Wardell Starling. That single draft pretty much sunk them for many, many years.

[Mac the Knife]

May I see this list? I've never considered Pittsburgh to be in that tradition of O's/Expos/Twins player development. Off the top of my head I have Aramis Ramirez, Jason Bay, and Nate McLouth, but a lot of the Pirates' crap is homegrown crap.

In alphabetical order, and just those I can recall off the top of my head, who either were all-stars in Pittsburgh and quickly shuffled off elsewhere, or who were shuffled off elsewhere only to become all-stars, during the last 18 years...

• Jose Bautista
  
• Jason Bay
  
• Matt Capps
  
• Brian Giles
  
• Jason Kendall
  
• Nate McLouth
  
• Denny Neagle
  
• Aramis Ramirez
  
• Freddy Sanchez
  
• Jack Wilson
  
• Tony Womack
  

Now I'm not for a minute claiming that all these guys are/were the second coming of Pete Rose, Hank Aaron or Nolan Ryan. But each was at the time a popular player which either had real potential or had reached their potential around the time a contract was coming to its end, whereupon the Pirates shipped them off and/or let them go FA because they were too cheap to actually pay them anything close to market value for their services.

[mania]

I've made this point before, but if you turn international signings into a draft (or even worse, add them to the amateur draft), you will kill international development.

[dfwabel]

Marlins President David Samson is on "The Dan Le Batard Show" every Wednesday during the season and he said that the statements which were released were the actual documents. He also said, that "a contract is a contract" and expects the city to still pay for the garages. You hear him struggle with Dan's questions here:

8/25/2010 5-7PM podcast

Basically go 30 minutes into this 57 minute podcast so you get a tease before Samson is on the phone.

[Sodboy13]

I'm not intimately familiar with contract law, but I would think that a contract signed under false pretenses would be subject to review.

[BaltimoreFan]

That's stupid, because the supply and demand vary so much for each team. A Rays game can't cost as much across the board as a Cardinals game.

I well aware, but you can at least set a ceiling or something so that the Yankees don't have ridiculous prices. NFL ticket prices are relatively similar across the board, I don't see why MLB can't lessen the gap. Obviously small market teams can't raise their prices, but large market teams could lower theirs. A salary cap isn't going to happen anytime soon. Until then MLB should really find some kind way to even the playing field. The luxury tax and revenue sharing isn't working.

[The_Admiral]

That's stupid, because the supply and demand vary so much for each team. A Rays game can't cost as much across the board as a Cardinals game.

I well aware, but you can at least set a ceiling or something so that the Yankees don't have ridiculous prices.

The Yankees are learning that not many people can pay their ridiculous prices. They should be free to charge what the market bears.

Incidentally, New Yankee Stadium was probably a bad idea.

[BBTV]

That's stupid, because the supply and demand vary so much for each team. A Rays game can't cost as much across the board as a Cardinals game.

I well aware, but you can at least set a ceiling or something so that the Yankees don't have ridiculous prices. NFL ticket prices are relatively similar across the board, I don't see why MLB can't lessen the gap. Obviously small market teams can't raise their prices, but large market teams could lower theirs. A salary cap isn't going to happen anytime soon. Until then MLB should really find some kind way to even the playing field. The luxury tax and revenue sharing isn't working.

What? You're insane. The market sets the price.

[Lights Out]

A hard salary cap and a hard salary floor is the only way we'll ever get anything even approaching true parity in the MLB. The players' union may try to shut it down, but all Selig has to do is mention that the NFL and, to a lesser point, the NBA are thriving with salary-related restrictions, and that public opinion is largely in support of a salary cap. NFL and NBA players don't seem to have a problem with their salary caps.

[Gothamite]

I'm not intimately familiar with contract law, but I would think that a contract signed under false pretenses would be subject to review.

I doubt it, except in the case of outright fraud.

Companies always cry poor when negotiating contracts with employees, suppliers, or municipalities. That's their leverage; that if expenses don't go down, they'll have to start layoffs/look for a cheaper supplier/move the business.

Unless he actually provided false numbers, I don't think the city can force a review.

[BBTV]

A hard salary cap and a hard salary floor is the only way we'll ever get anything even approaching true parity in the MLB. The players' union may try to shut it down, but all Selig has to do is mention that the NFL and, to a lesser point, the NBA are thriving with salary-related restrictions, and that public opinion is largely in support of a salary cap. NFL and NBA players don't seem to have a problem with their salary caps.

That is certainly debatable.

The only way you can have a salary cap is to pool revenues. I would suspect that local revenues are a much bigger deal in baseball than in any of the other sports, and you'll be hard pressed to sell local sharing to owners in any big cities. If you implement a cap without sharing, then you have the Pirates with a cap that represents 80% of their revenue (just to make up a number), while that same cap only represents 25% of the Yankees revenue. That would be more detrimental to the game than the current system (or lackthereof.)

[BaltimoreFan]

That's stupid, because the supply and demand vary so much for each team. A Rays game can't cost as much across the board as a Cardinals game.

I well aware, but you can at least set a ceiling or something so that the Yankees don't have ridiculous prices. NFL ticket prices are relatively similar across the board, I don't see why MLB can't lessen the gap. Obviously small market teams can't raise their prices, but large market teams could lower theirs. A salary cap isn't going to happen anytime soon. Until then MLB should really find some kind way to even the playing field. The luxury tax and revenue sharing isn't working.

What? You're insane. The market sets the price.

I know how it works. Okay, maybe its a stupid idea. All I'm saying is that a salary cap isn't going to happen, so there have to be alternatives. Restricting the Yankees and other big markets spending powers is one way to go. It's not fair for them to be able to sign at will. The year they missed the playoffs they assured that wouldn't happen again by buying the 4 top free agents on the market. Then there's talk that they may buy the top free agent pitcher this coming offseason. I don't see how any fan of the game can think that is okay. How can people sit there and say "good for the Yankees for taking advantage"? They've been put in a situation where they have unlimited resources. Any idiot can take advantage of that.

A hard salary cap and a hard salary floor is the only way we'll ever get anything even approaching true parity in the MLB. The players' union may try to shut it down, but all Selig has to do is mention that the NFL and, to a lesser point, the NBA are thriving with salary-related restrictions, and that public opinion is largely in support of a salary cap. NFL and NBA players don't seem to have a problem with their salary caps.

The player's union is one of the strongest unions in America. They don't care if the NFL and NBA have salary caps. If they don't want it, its not going to happen.

[Gothamite]

I know how it works. Okay, maybe its a stupid idea. All I'm saying is that a salary cap isn't going to happen, so there have to be alternatives. Restricting the Yankees and other big markets spending powers is one way to go. It's not fair for them to be able to sign at will. The year they missed the playoffs they assured that wouldn't happen again by buying the 4 top free agents on the market. Then there's talk that they may buy the top free agent pitcher this coming offseason. I don't see how any fan of the game can think that is okay. How can people sit there and say "good for the Yankees for taking advantage"? They've been put in a situation where they have unlimited resources. Any idiot can take advantage of that.

I'm sorry, but that's just wrong.

The Yankees are helped because they can spend at will, but they win because they're smarter than other teams. The Phillies are smarter than other teams. It takes much more than just throwing money around to field a championship team - just ask those clown in Queens. Or, better yet - look at the Cubs.

[Lights Out]

No, the Yankees are not really smarter than the other teams. The truly smart teams in the MLB build through the draft, like the Rays. Lucking into unlimited resources and buying up all the top players on the free agent market every year is not smart, it's just not screwing up with all the money you have.

The Mets have thrown money at great players too - the reason they aren't contenders anymore is because Omar Minaya is incompetent.