PigSooie

what websites do folks use for rotisserie/fantasy baseball type info? I have always used whatever I can get from free sites like espn, cbssportsline, mlb.com, etc. Are any of the sites with paid premium content worthwhile? I see that ESPN insider is almost $50 a year. Which would be bad enough, but they also force you to subscribe to their awful print magazine. And they'd have to pay ME to do that.

I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, but I use this a lot.

http://www.rotoworld.com/

Yikes.

True. And the payroll zone proponents would say that floor would have to be substantial for the the player's union to even consider anything close to a cap.

Exactly.

All very interesting, and confusing.

MLB has neither. There is the luxury tax, though, that goes to the league. The NYY basically fund the entire thing.

I think a floor is needed if there's to be a cap, though. I've heard it referred to as a payroll zone, rather than a cap, where teams have to spend within the zone. It'd pull the bottomfeeders /teams who don't spend/fans don't care about them up a bit and put a clamp on the teams that aren't afraid to spend and who's fans support them.

I understand all that. i guess I was just saying that if there was a cap, there would also be a floor.

If there's a salary cap, isn't there a salary "floor" too?

Thoughts?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/tom_verducci/03/09/floating-realignment/index.html

When baseball commissioner Bud Selig named a 14-person "special committee for on-field matters" four months ago, he promised that all topics would be in play and "there are no sacred cows." The committee already has made good on Selig's promise by discussing a radical form of "floating" realignment in which teams would not be fixed to a division, but free to change divisions from year-to-year based on geography, payroll and their plans to contend or not.

 

The concept gained strong support among committee members, many of whom believe there are non-economic avenues that should be explored to improve competitive balance, similar to the NFL's former use of scheduling to help parity (in which weaker teams were awarded a weaker schedule the next season).

 

As with most issues of competitive balance, floating realignment involves finding a work-around to the Boston-New York axis of power in the AL East. In the 15 seasons during which the wild-card system has been in use, the Red Sox and Yankees have accounted for 38 percent of all AL postseason berths. The league has never conducted playoffs without the Red Sox or Yankees since that format began -- and in eight of those 15 years both teams made the playoffs. Since 2003 the Sox and Yankees have won at least 95 games 11 times in 14 combined seasons.

 

One example of floating realignment, according to one insider, would work this way: Cleveland, which is rebuilding with a reduced payroll, could opt to leave the AL Central to play in the AL East. The Indians would benefit from an unbalanced schedule that would give them a total of 18 lucrative home dates against the Yankees and Red Sox instead of their current eight. A small or mid-market contender, such as Tampa Bay or Baltimore, could move to the AL Central to get a better crack at postseason play instead of continually fighting against the mega-payrolls of New York and Boston.

 

Divisions still would loosely follow geographic lines; no team would join a division more than two time zones outside its own, largely to protect local television rights (i.e., start times of games) and travel costs.

 

Floating realignment also could mean changing the number of teams in a division, teams changing leagues and interleague games throughout the season, according to several sources familiar with the committee's discussions. It is important to remember that the committee's talks are very preliminary and non-binding.

 

"But if there is something that comes up we feel should be addressed during the season, we can make a recommendation then," said committee co-chair and Braves president John Schuerholz, referring to less complicated issues such as pace-of-game directives. "This is all about any ideas that help make the game better."

 

The floating realignment idea is nothing more than a concept at this point, part of the brainstorming sessions that have occurred in the committee's one in-person meeting and occasional conference calls. (Selig is pushing for another in-person meeting, such as at the All-Star Game. The committee includes current managers and executives, making in-person meetings logistically difficult.) The mechanics of the system are far from nailed down. But what is important is that the committee is making good on its mission to look at absolutely any on-field idea that could make the game better. Blowing up fixed divisions as we know them -- and even leagues -- certainly qualifies as radical thinking.

 

I just can't wrap my head around this.

"Could the Boston media use a guy like Manny Ramirez?"

So, they practiced too much, and still had that record?

"Bring back Trot Nixon"

It looks like we are going to the Derby in 2011 (in a box no less).

Sweet. I'll book my plane tickets now.

Ha -- thrilled you saw the thread. I frankly forgot about it

 

Maybe you will get lucky and get tickets even for the infield. I wish I could get there. I almost don't care who wins as long at the trip is safe for both horses. I am a biiiig Rachel fan -- the way she swept through her races last year was amazing. A couple of her runs were just off the charts. Zenyatta is also a very special horse, but I will be rooting for Rachel!

Southwest flies to Little Rock which is only an hour away from Oaklawn.

I booked a room, and scored a box in Hot Springs when the original date was scheduled for April 3rd. No luck after the rescheduling.

This race is Friday 4/9 and the Arkansas Derby(one of the biggest Derby prep races) is 4/10. The crowds are supposed the largest ever for a sporting event in Arkansas. It will be insane.

Ronnie Brewer to the Grizzlies.

College games start next week!

I wouldn't be surprised. This is Memphis afterall.

Tennessee has relly screwed the pooch with this.

The Electric Factory in Philadelphia? That place is a hell hole.

When are they going to officially welcome John Lackey's wife's tits to Boston?

I hope Theo Epstein is spending Thanksgiving dinner with the Halladay family.

This.

Eg, it's not going to change. Most of the country has no idea what's going on with the basketball team. The off the court stuff is unbelievable. Trust me.

What a joke the razorback basketball team has become.

Let's see if Kansas can stick up Memphis and coach Osteen's ass.

Hopefully, we can put 5 out there tonight. Pel has no control of this team.

Maybe Rotnei can drop 50+ again.

I was hammered at the show, and "truly enjoyed" the show. Did I break a rule?

You dipshits want this. Move your icons to the right, and get over it.

Pippen!