2010 MLB

[Lammycat]

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

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.

[PigSooie]

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.

[Lammycat]

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

 

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.

[PigSooie]

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.

[bjorn_skurj]

Maybe they should have relegation, like they do in soccer. If your team sucks bad enough, it gets to be AAA.

[The High Heat]

Rather than shuffling teams around, I'd like to consider eliminating the two leagues as they are by having a uniform league. Teams would still be broken up geographically, but the playoffs would be done by seeding. This is just an off the cuff thought, I haven't written it all out; but the Mets Yanks and BoSox could all be in the same division but all still make the playoffs if they qualify. There would probably have to be eight divisions and a broader schedule where every team plays each other at least once, and, of course, uniform rules: DH and such. I think geographic competition is important economically, yet a little overdone. This plan might need tweaking, but having fluid divisions annually would be tougher on the fanbases than the teams.

[Guest Runaway Jim]

If there's going to be a uniform rule regarding a DH, I hope to god it's a rule eliminating the DH.

[bobbob1313]

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 have a couple of thoughts on the salary cap/salary floor:

 

1. As much as I dislike the ability of the Red Sox and Yankees and them to outspend everyone, I don't favor a salary cap. I hear people complain all of the time about small market teams just pocketing money, and now we're going to force big market teams to pocket revenues. It isn't the Yankees' and Red Sox's faults that they can afford big payrolls, they shouldn't be penalized for being well run and popular enough to afford what they can spend.

 

2. A salary floor is just going to force teams to never be able to rebuild fully. If the Pirates are rebuilding right now, isn't that their perogative? Why should they have to throw bad money at mediocre players that are going to stand in the way of rebuilding? That's all a salary floor is going to do. It's not going to make the Pirates start being able to spend with the Yankees, it's just going to limit their payroll flexibility.

 

Or, what if you are a team like the Marlins and you outspent yourself for 3 years to try to satiate a fan base and city following a World Series title, and you've got to cut salary for a few years to get back into the positive and be able to save up the capital to afford your part of a stadium deal? As a Marlins fan, it's frustrating that they've had holes that could have been easily filled for $8 mil, but I have to look at it big picture. This is setting the franchise up long term better. If MLB was forcing them to spend, they'd be in much worse shape overall.

 

 

I don't think what we have is perfect, but mandating spending is not the answer. I'm always amazed when fans of small market teams advocate for salary floors and caps. I don't think people realize that it probably won't get a very long way towards changing things unless we start having soft contracts like the NFL, where players can be cut for a fraction of what they are owed. Baseball has a lot of checks and balances in place right now that people don't necessarily understand.

 

I'd like to know how revenue from the big YES and MESN type of networks works. If anything, I would think that is a place to look into making some changes. The Yankees aren't able to spend 200 mil a year because of ticket sales. It's not just fan support that makes those payrolls possible. But the Yankees don't make any money if they don't play anyone so their value is not derived solely from them. Do they pocket every dollar made from a TV deal? If so, that's an obvious place to look for change.

[mpolak21]

Maybe they should have relegation, like they do in soccer. If your team sucks bad enough, it gets to be AAA.

 

I'd love to see an American pro-league adopt that system. There are too many teams in almost every pro-league anyway, it would be a pretty interesting twist.

 

--Mike

[bobbob1313]

And what do you do when the fans completely abandon that team and they have no resources to rebuild?

[u2roolz]

I haven't seen one Red Sox spring training game on tv yet.

It's like they're not showing them on NESN or something?

Even MLB blacked out a game this past Sunday vs. the Orioles.

 

Oh well.

[Lammycat]

 

I'd like to know how revenue from the big YES and MESN type of networks works. If anything, I would think that is a place to look into making some changes. The Yankees aren't able to spend 200 mil a year because of ticket sales. It's not just fan support that makes those payrolls possible. But the Yankees don't make any money if they don't play anyone so their value is not derived solely from them. Do they pocket every dollar made from a TV deal? If so, that's an obvious place to look for change.

 

Steinbrenner owns a good percent of YES that broadcasts to around 10 million and nets around 250 million per year. NESN is majority-owned by the Red Sox and also has a lot of subscribers. These cable network shares in huge markets help fund payroll. Advertising and subscriptions add a nice chunk to both BOS and NYY incoming money. Sales/fan support do go a long way, too. The NYY are the most widely-recognized logo/sales item in all of sports. High ticket prices allowed by fan support helps, too. This is nothing you don't know. I think a good part of it basically stems from fan supprt and allows the owners to capitalize on that through other means: airline and hotel specials/packages for games, etc.

[bobbob1313]

My question was more to do with how does MLB split the revenue from those types of TV deals?

 

If the Yankees pocket every dollar from YES, then that's an obvious place to look for revenue sharing changes. The Yankees don't make a dime if they don't play anyone, so there's an argument to be made that the money the Yankees receive from YES should be split up. Yankees keep 50 cents of every dollar, the rest goes into a pool for the rest of baseball. I'm pretty sure that's how ticket sales are handled and merchandise, so I don't think it's that radical.

 

I think any potential changes should avoid changing the actual game on the field too dramatically. Personally, I don't think the competitive balance problems are that big, I think they are natural and expected. Any changes to "fix" competitive balance should not be focused on the field, but off.

 

If I were to suggest some on field solutions, they'd be along the lines of shortening the amount of time between pitches, changing the amount of times a coach or manager can go to the mound, limiting pitching substitutions that slow the game down. Those types of things have more to do with the play on the field, but they are smaller and you would almost not notice them.

 

I would also be down with Bill James' suggestion to increase the size of bat handles. This would, theoretically solve two issues, by lowering strikeouts (larger bat handle is going to naturally promote bat control) and limiting broken bats, which have been a problem recently.

 

Any moves to increase the size of the strike zone or change the mound are, in my opinion, using a hatchet to fix something that only needs a scalpel.

[The High Heat]

Todd Helton has signed a two year extension with the Rockies through 2013 with deferments beginning in 2014. With his current contract ending in 2011 the Rockies have taken themselves out of the running for landing that year's potential FA first basemen Pujols, Howard, Fielder and Gonzalez.

[bobbob1313]

Well, when you've got the chance to pay Todd Helton 25.5 million dollars for his age 36-40 seasons (not to mention another 10 million for 10 years after that), you've got to do it.

[The High Heat]

My question was more to do with how does MLB split the revenue from those types of TV deals?

 

If the Yankees pocket every dollar from YES, then that's an obvious place to look for revenue sharing changes. The Yankees don't make a dime if they don't play anyone, so there's an argument to be made that the money the Yankees receive from YES should be split up. Yankees keep 50 cents of every dollar, the rest goes into a pool for the rest of baseball. I'm pretty sure that's how ticket sales are handled and merchandise, so I don't think it's that radical.

I'm supposing there would be cable revenue sharing only by teams who are over a certain threshold in your suggestion. Teams like the Pirates don't have much to share.

 

Perhaps the payroll luxury tax should not be limited to the major league roster, but rather it should include money spent on draft picks being paid over slot and high-priced international signings. This way the Pirates, Royals, et al may be able to draft and sign the best prospects available and not be left empty-handed or with lesser talent after the draft. This is no consequence for teams who can afford it to sign first round talent in the eighth round and convince them financially to forgo college.

[sgtpepper64]

Don't ever gloat. It always comes back to bite you in the ass.

But it does help the Tigers' chances - by a great deal.

 

I know this is a little late, but I wasn't gloating. Nathan is a Tiger killer and a disgustingly good closer. I don't like to see anyone get hurt, but from a fan of another team in the AL Central, it makes it literally a different ballgame, no pun intended. I still think the Twinkies are the team to beat though, with out without Joe.

 

If anything is going to bite me in the ass, it'll be this monkey.

[sgtpepper64]

 

I think any potential changes should avoid changing the actual game on the field too dramatically. Personally, I don't think the competitive balance problems are that big, I think they are natural and expected. Any changes to "fix" competitive balance should not be focused on the field, but off.

 

If I were to suggest some on field solutions, they'd be along the lines of shortening the amount of time between pitches, changing the amount of times a coach or manager can go to the mound, limiting pitching substitutions that slow the game down. Those types of things have more to do with the play on the field, but they are smaller and you would almost not notice them.

 

I would also be down with Bill James' suggestion to increase the size of bat handles. This would, theoretically solve two issues, by lowering strikeouts (larger bat handle is going to naturally promote bat control) and limiting broken bats, which have been a problem recently.

 

Any moves to increase the size of the strike zone or change the mound are, in my opinion, using a hatchet to fix something that only needs a scalpel.

 

I agree with your last point. It seems like they are trying so hard to fix things that just aren't important. One of the beauties of baseball is the fact that the strike zone changes with every umpire. Some are large, some are small, but it always works out. It's a game that still has the human element, which can detract, but is mostly a good feature (this not applying to the instant replay debate). Change the strike zone to make it bigger or the mound size, would do the same thing that making the net bigger in hockey would do, alienate the fans that love the game, and not do anything to bring new fans to the game.

 

I don't know about you guys, but one of the things I love about baseball is the process. They're always concerned with speeding up games, making them shorter, but that's not what baseball is about. I think the way a manager changes pitchers, or whatever it is that takes so much time is what makes the game interesting. I've never met a true baseball fan who had any real problem with a game dragging on. Sure, it can get a little long and boring sometimes, but it's the nature of the game. It's the only professional sport that doesn't have a clock, which is what sets it apart.

 

I remember last year them telling Jim Leyland he had to jog, not walk out to the pitchers mound. Are you kidding me? Are we in fifth grade? I mean, that's childish and ludicrous. The 8 second collective difference, doesn't make one bit of change to the game if Jim Leyland runs or walks to the mound. I liked his response though "I smoke two packs a day, I can't run out there"(to paraphrase).

 

I just hate the idea of changing baseball in any major way, shape or form. There are things that need to be addressed, there are things that need to be changed, but there is also so many good things about baseball that set it apart and make it great, that we shouldn't compromise those things for the good of advertising, or speeding the game up so 3 more people will watch them. Those who like baseball will watch and those who don't, won't. Just like Hockey, who sees itself as a top 2 sport in the United States and it never will be.

 

I just want to tell Bud Selig and Gary Bettman (after I punch him in the face) that you have your fans, who love the game. Change it for the better if you must, but don't alienate the backbone of your business, the true fans.

[The High Heat]

What's this I'm hearing about MLB considering taxing all Cactus League teams to finance a Spring Training facility for the Chicago Cubs? Since when do the Cubs need welfare?

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

As big of a Cub hater as I am, the taxes on tickets and other tourist expenditures are more fair than the public

financing used to build, say, the new facility shared by the Dodgers and White Sox.

[The High Heat]

Top Red Sox prospect to undergo brain surgery tomorrow. Pretty serious situation here.

[PigSooie]

Yikes.

[uncool2pillow]

Top Red Sox prospect to undergo brain surgery tomorrow. Pretty serious situation here.

I think that's the same disorder a colleague's daughter has. She was diagnosed with this over a year ago and just had another surgery to try to "unparalyze her face" (as best I understand it). They've met several people who've made a full recovery from this, but it ain't short and it ain't easy.

[u2roolz]

Top Red Sox prospect to undergo brain surgery tomorrow. Pretty serious situation here.

 

Ryan Westmoreland is the man's name.

Yes, Theo Epstein put a no trade clause on this kid last summer. He's a local guy (from Rhode Island I think) who they want to build up and make a big name out of.

 

Between him (OF), Casey Kelly (P), Lars Anderson (OF), & Jose Iglesias (SS) these are the top Red Sox prospects for their future.

[Lammycat]

There's the Cuban Jose Iglesias, as well...