2025 Major League Baseball Thread

[Hi-Def Steve]

Originally Posted by ChadFL

Judging by their recent history with scouting young talent and .500 might be a reach for them.

Apparently he thinks the dynamics of baseball allow for exponential increases in wins.

He will never budge on his stance. It seems like such a simple concept. If your team pays an absurd amount of money on it's team they have a much better chance at being successful. Sure, sometimes it doesn't work out in the end. But at least you are there at the end fighting.

[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by toef

If there's a problem, it's that the Yankees don't get credit for their own farm system.

That's because they use the rest of league (29 other teams) AS their farm system.

Originally Posted by toef

I'm actually going to go see Strasburg pitch tomorrow night, since I'm currently visiting family in the area. There's an example of how to get the most out of your big prospect... work him into the Majors in a single season. I don't know where he started off this season, but he was recently called up to AAA, and is expected to be called up to the Nationals in June.

That would be the 'Harrisburg Senators'.



BTW, Dan Plesac ranked The Nationals #10 on the MLB Network. And they get the #1 draft pick this year also. Maybe this plan is working after all. They are going to be KILLER come next year.




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[Clark Kent]

The Nationals are mostly a mirage. Tyler Clippard's arm is going to fall off at this pace, and their best pitcher is Livan Hernandez, who was washed up a couple of years ago. They will be extremely lucky to win 80 games this year.

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

The Nationals are mostly a mirage. Tyler Clippard's arm is going to fall off at this pace, and their best pitcher is Livian Hernandez, who was washed up a couple of years ago. They will be extremely lucky to win 80 games this year.

75 wins is pushing it in the NL East. Livan's ERA will be somewhere between 4.50 and 5.50 by the end of the season.

[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by toef

In reality, the Yankees don't have the best 25 players in the world. And even if they did, I doubt the top 25 is significantly better than the rest.

But it's easier for losing clubs to blame the Yankees' payroll, than to accept their own shortcomings.

Well don't forget that the Nationals OUTBID the Yankees* two years ago for Mark Teixeira.

Now that just ain't right.

There has to be a salary cap of some sort, however I still think that Cubs/Soriano contract is the funnest thing to happen in baseball in a long time.


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[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

The Nationals are mostly a mirage. Tyler Clippard's arm is going to fall off at this pace, and their best pitcher is Livan Hernandez, who was washed up a couple of years ago. They will be extremely lucky to win 80 games this year.

You are most likely correct I am afraid. Kinda like what happened to them back in 2005.

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[toef]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

It's not really fair to compare Giambi, Abreu, and Matsui's 2008 salaries to their 2009 salaries. Giambi had finished up a 7-year deal. Matsui had finished up a 4-year deal. Abreu had finished a 6-year deal. All were considered past their prime and weren't going to get big money long-term deals like they had just finished. In addition the economic landscape had changed and forced most teams to be more fiscally responsible. I'm not saying the Yankees don't overpay for players, I'm just saying it's not an apples to apples comparison.

I think it's perfectly fair.

If you are debating the payroll gaps between the Yankees and other teams, the actual amounts they are paying to each player are fair game.

Who cares if they committed to the 2008 salary in 2008, 2007 or 2001. They still have to pay it, and that still contributes to a huge roster payroll.

My point still remains that the amount of money the Yankees spend every year isn't necessarily indicative of the level of talent they are putting on the field that year. If someone wants to argue "it's not fair, the Yankees spent 200 million dollars, which is so much more than everyone else", I'll bring up that they are spending exorbitant amounts of money on players that are past their prime.

Nothing wrong with that.

[toef]

Originally Posted by ChadFL

He already brushed right past that point as usual. He's an unknowledgable "Yankee fan." From my experience the average Yankee fan is among the least knowledgable fans in all professional sports. Most can't name a Yankee great outside of Ruth, Mantle or Jeter. No use trying to use relevant facts. They just get ignored or spun into some nonsensical rant about 27 rings (many of which were won before my grandparents were alive). When the Yanks go on a slump he'll vanish faster than Yankee paraphanelia following their 2001, 2003 and 2004 playoff meltdowns.

I think this post shows just how much you don't know about the Yankees, and how much you just seem to want to hate them.

The Yankee fans (as in, the ones at the actual game), by far, tend to be the most loyal, knowledgeable fans in baseball.

I haven't been to games at every stadium yet, but I've been to a bunch. In most places, going to a game is a social outing for the people attending. At Yankee Stadium, the Yankees seem to be their life. There's a reason the old Yankee Stadium was nicknamed the Cathedral of Baseball. Nothing compares.

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by toef

My point still remains that the amount of money the Yankees spend every year isn't necessarily indicative of the level of talent they are putting on the field that year.

Well I do agree with you in part there. Sometimes the Yankees don't even learn from their mistakes the first time and overpay the same stiff twice. Take this guy for example...
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/player...?playerId=3786

They do seem to be a bit more predent in who they give monster contracts to these days. I'm not seeing as many Kevin Brown's or Randy Johnson's in recent years.

[Hi-Def Steve]

CC is past his prime?

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by Hi-Def Steve

CC is past his prime?

Huh? Who said that?

[toef]

Originally Posted by Hi-Def Steve

He will never budge on his stance. It seems like such a simple concept. If your team pays an absurd amount of money on it's team they have a much better chance at being successful. Sure, sometimes it doesn't work out in the end. But at least you are there at the end fighting.

I would agree that, in general, spending more money means you will do better. But as I'm sure you'd agree, it doesn't guarantee you'll end up winning anything.

I'm just tired of people thinking that salary caps will solve anything, when it clearly doesn't in other sports.

The pro-salary cap people can pretend all they want that it's the solution, but if they want to keep ignoring how poorly it works in the NBA and NFL, I can't really take their argument seriously.

Who cares how "competitive" the regular season is, if the same few teams are winning the championship each time.

In case people missed it, here's a quote from the article Blu Atlas posted:

The fact is, 8 different organizations have won the World Series over the past 9 seasons, and there have been 19 different organizations win it all over the past 27 years. By comparison the NFL, supposedly more competitively balanced by their salary cap structure, had only 6 different winners during the past 9 seasons, and 14 over the past 27.

As for the reportedly more balanced NBA (which was heralded as the example of healthy competitive balance created through their salary cap system by baseball ownership representatives during the labor negotiations in 1994), they’ve had only 5 different teams win it all over the past 9 seasons, and only 8 different cities have celebrated in the streets since instituting their equalizing salary cap in 1984!

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Originally Posted by Duffy12

That because they use the rest of league (29 other teams) AS their farm system.

Haha, I think I might've heard this before.

That would be the 'Harrisburg Senators'.

So that's AA right? I guess about 1 month there, 1 month in Syracuse for AAA, and then on the bus to DC.

Originally Posted by Duffy12

Well don't forget that the Nationals OUTBID the Yankees* two years ago for Mark Teixeira.
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Try as I might, I couldn't find what that asterisk stood for. As far as I know, the Yankees offered an additional $20m above what the Nationals offered. So maybe you meant the Nationals raised on NYY's initial offer, and then the Yankees re-raised.

[toef]

Originally Posted by ChadFL

Well I do agree with you in part there. Sometimes the Yankees don't even learn from their mistakes the first time and overpay the same stiff twice. Take this guy for example...
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/player...?playerId=3786

They do seem to be a bit more predent in who they give monster contracts to these days. I'm not seeing as many Kevin Brown's or Randy Johnson's in recent years.

Yes, Vasquez is terrible, but maybe he can turn his season around. I have no idea why they thought signing him was a good idea. I would've rather seem them keep Chien Ming Wang. He might be a lost cause (not to mention, I think he's been on the DL all season, so far, for the Nationals) but he couldn't be much worse than Vasquez.

Fortunately Phil Hughes has done well so far this year, so having 4 good pitchers in the rotation (or 3.5, since Burnett is only good half the time) isn't bad.

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I have a more radical solution for payrolls. Bring back the Brooklyn Dodgers.

NY can certainly support three teams, and it might draw some revenues away from the Yankees, forcing them to cut some costs.

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by toef

I'm just tired of people thinking that salary caps will solve anything, when it clearly doesn't in other sports.

I'd strongly disagree with that. Does a salary cap enforce parity in sports? No. But what it does do is reward teams that scout and build great teams from the ground up. The Patriots and Steelers may have dominated the NFL for the past decade but they did it by fantastic drafting and building teams, and not by throwing large sums of money around. Very rarely (if ever) does a team win a championship through free agency/trades in the NFL.

Basketball is unique in that only 5 players are on the court at once. One or two superstars actually can carry a team to a championship unlike MLB, NFL or NHL. That's why you have so many dynasties. But still the salary cap prevents big market teams from drowning out the competition. What do you think would happen if the NBA had no salary cap this off-season? Say hello to Dwayne Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh all signing $30+ mill/year contracts with the Knicks, locking up the next 5 NBA titles.

[ChadFL]

One more thing I'd add about MLB is the problem of 100% guaranteed contracts. MLB is one game where the player's union has WAY too much power. In the NFL very little money is guaranteed. If a player signs a long-term deal only to loaf around you can cut their @ss. In MLB teams get stuck with crazy contracts with no recourse. Heck, even the Yankees couldn't get out of Giambi's contract even after the steroid mess came out.

[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by toef

Try as I might, I couldn't find what that asterisk stood for. As far as I know, the Yankees offered an additional $20m above what the Nationals offered. So maybe you meant the Nationals raised on NYY's initial offer, and then the Yankees re-raised.

The Nats ownership was on record for outbidding EVERYBODY for Tex's services, however Tex's wife wanted to live in the Big Apple and so did her hubby(I can't say that I blame them) and the Nationals were NEVER able to counter the Yankee's* offer.



* Stands for whatever you want it too.


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[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by Duffy12

The Nats ownership was on record for outbidding EVERYBODY for Tex's services, however Tex's wife wanted to live in the Big Apple and so did her hubby(I can't say that I blame them) and the Nationals were NEVER able to counter the Yankee's* offer.



* Stands for whatever you want it too.


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Or maybe he cares about winning as well. Lets face it, him going to Washington would be just like A-Rod going to Texas. All about the money and nothing else.

[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by ChadFL

Or maybe he cares about winning as well. Lets face it, him going to Washington would be just like A-Rod going to Texas. All about the money and nothing else.

Well yea, he wanted to get the ring the easy way(Again, I can't blame him). But that is just one of the reasons MLB needs a salary cap.

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[Mike53421]

Originally Posted by hc666

Probably the only sell out of the year in TO... and it's being moved so World Leaders can massage each other with money.

Sickening.

Yeah this was really disappointing. I had that weekend penciled in as me going to see his return. I'm clearly not the only Jays fan who was looking forward to that one, now what?!

[volcomsocal]

go dodgers