2009 MLB season discussion*

[Alderaan]

There was some article somewhere that said the Pirates went 3 or 4 years without advanced scouts. I don't feel sorry for them, i blame ownership. The fact that the 2 Florida teams can field a better team than Pitt is ridiculous to me.

[Trichocyst]

Pedro to start Wednesday, Moyer to the bullpen. I love the guy, but I can't say I'm surprised. Phillies rotation looking pretty strong as long as Cole Hamels gets his head on straight.

[Akiyama]

All depends on how Pedro does honestly. He hasn't seen big league hitting (I don't count the WBC) in quite some time.

[Melena]

Wait. Holy fuck.. seriously? I could have sworn before last year, he'd missed quite a bit of time in his last full year during Pittsburgh. Maybe I'm thinking of someone else... man, I haven't whiffed on a guy like that in a while. I do know there is some problem with him. D:

Oh well. My bad then. I was incorrect.

Yea, there is something wrong with him, he's playing in Boston But yea, I think you were thinking about Drew. I don't know of any injury plagued Pirate, but then again they don't even have the same team as last year -_-

[melbufrauma]

im surprised nobody said anything about what Derek Holland did to the Angels last night

[Melena]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the Red's beating Lincecum and Cain this weekend, yet lost to Zito.

[Headspace]

They didn't beat Lincecum. They beat the bullpen, or the bullpen beat themselves.

Plus Arroyo sucks and so does Zito, so it was a toss up

[Reality]

We just got Rios for free.

Edit: Free implies no players traded, for those numbnuts prepared to bombard this post with the reply of 'NO U HAVE TO PAY HIZ SALARIEZ"

[Rhinox]

Eh source? No news on it aside from it just being a rumor atm.

either way if the sox have to pay him its gonna be alot of money for a mediocre player.

[Akiyama]

We just got Rios for free.

Edit: Free implies no players traded, for those numbnuts prepared to bombard this post with the reply of 'NO U HAVE TO PAY HIZ SALARIEZ"

Congrats. Enjoy your overrated (at the time of his contract) outfielder. I guess he's an upgrade though over...someone.

[Reality]

Congrats. Enjoy your overrated (at the time of his contract) outfielder. I guess he's an upgrade though over...someone.

We'll see how overrated he is once he actually plays out the season and perhaps next year. He's having a down year if you look at his career numbers.

His BABIP numbers are ridiculously low, for what it's worth if you buy into that particular saber stat. Money isn't an issue, we're in possibly the best financial situation we've been in over the last 15 years.

Jermaine Dye is saying he will allow the Sox to tear up his 12 million/year player option and allow the team to resign him to a new deal for less money, because he doesn't want to play for another team

I'm really happy right now

[Cephius]

Good pick up for the White Sox, and for all you guys that hate the Yankee payroll, I guess you enjoy the bullshit salary dumps like that. Not that I care, not having to see Rios 18 times a year = yes please.

I will say though, and feel free to bash me because I'm a Yankee fan saying this, but Rios is probably not worth 60 million in today's baseball economy.

[archibaldcrane]

It's just funny how people expect a business.... not to be run like a business.

I want the business of Major League Baseball to give a shit about parity, personally.

[Akiyama]

Good pick up for the White Sox, and for all you guys that hate the Yankee payroll, I guess you enjoy the bullshit salary dumps like that. Not that I care, not having to see Rios 18 times a year = yes please.

I will say though, and feel free to bash me because I'm a Yankee fan saying this, but Rios is probably not worth 60 million in today's baseball economy.

Not gonna bash you because you're stating the obvious. If he were worth the money, the Blue Jays wouldn't have a problem paying him, but he's been a waste of a roster spot.

[Cephius]

I want the business of Major League Baseball to give a shit about parity, personally.

Uh... there seems to be more parity in baseball than any other sport at this point <_<. No one seems to care that the Red Wings are in the Stanley Cup Finals every year, or that the Patriots have always been there this entire decade. Or that the Lakers are in the finals every year. Baseball has had 1 repeat winner (Red Sox) this decade, and teams like the Marlins, Diamondbacks, Phillies, White Sox, and Cardinals have won it all. And you have teams like the Rays and Rockies making the World Series. The payrolls may not be even but the results sure seem to be..

[Reality]

Raul Ibanez - 37 $11 million per year for 3 years.
WAR since 2004 - 14.7

Milton Bradley - 31 $10 million per year for 3 years.
WAR since 2004 - 16

Adam Dunn - 29 $10 million per year for 2 years.
WAR since 2004 - 15.5

Alex Rios - 28 $12 million per year for 5 years.
WAR since 2004 - 17.5

[archibaldcrane]

Tell it to the Pirates.

Having to maneuver under a cap puts everyone on equal terms, and then they can live and die by their decisions and they should. The Lakers got where they are with good drafts and good trades, but they're battling other teams on fairly equal footing. There's no such level playing field in baseball.

Right now it's haves and have-nots. If the Brewers could've re-signed CC, they'd be in the thick of the NL Central race. They couldn't, and they're languishing. They have a ton of home-grown talent, but a player like Fielder won't take a sizable-for-a-small-market Ryan Braun style contract, because he knows once he's a free agent he will make Yankee - why settle for small market money? The Yankees are privileged to have such a huge population center to sell to - good for them, but why should the population of the hometown have such an impact on the product on the field. They're all MLB teams, it's not like this is the world cup or something where inequalities must exist. Other sports leagues made it work and are better for it.

tl;dr The business and structure of baseball is bullshit.

[Cephius]

Tell it to the Pirates.

Having to maneuver under a cap puts everyone on equal terms, and then they can live and die by their decisions and they should. The Lakers got where they are with good drafts and good trades, but they're battling other teams on fairly equal footing. There's no such level playing field in baseball.

Right now it's haves and have-nots. If the Brewers could've re-signed CC, they'd be in the thick of the NL Central race. They couldn't, and they're languishing. They have a ton of home-grown talent, but a player like Fielder won't take a sizable-for-a-small-market Ryan Braun style contract, because he knows once he's a free agent he will make Yankee - why settle for small market money? The Yankees are privileged to have such a huge population center to sell to - good for them, but why should the population of the hometown have such an impact on the product on the field. They're all MLB teams, it's not like this is the world cup or something where inequalities must exist. Other sports leagues made it work and are better for it.

tl;dr The business and structure of baseball is bullshit.

Bringing up the Pirates is a terrible example, go look at the players they've traded away (who don't even make that much money, so please don't bring that up like it's a reason) and they'd have a bunch of all-stars. Any team can compete, even the ones with the small payrolls. How much was the Marlins payroll in 2003? How much is it now, and they're competing with the Phillies?

Sorry, but there is more than enough talent to go around if you're smart about it (just like in basketball! Imagine that) to compete with larger market teams. Hell, Billy Beane has made a living out of it. Moneyball is based on the art of competing against teams like the Yankees. Every team has a chance at the beginning of the year. Even the Nationals!

Does anyone think the Islanders are going to compete this year? Or the Lions? Or the Timberwolves? Or... whatever basketball team is in Oklahoma City?

[Headspace]

I fear for the day when NFL becomes uncapped, it will be no fun to fucking watch, at all.

[archibaldcrane]

Does anyone think the Islanders are going to compete this year? Or the Lions? Or the Timberwolves? Or... whatever basketball team is in Oklahoma City?

It's not unfair when it's not unfair. If the Lions suck, it's not because of financial inequalities - it's because of bad decisions throughout the years. When your players contracts are up and you cant resign them because other teams throw unlimited money at them, or when you draft players you can't even sign while still remaining profitable, there's a problem - a problem that teams in leagues with salary caps just don't have.

Feel free to homer up and continue to ignore that as much as you like, but it's a problem.