Comments on Nick's Twins Blog: Following Up on Tuesday's Post

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2010-05-14T03:08:11.561-05:00

酒店經紀,
酒店工作,
酒店上班,
酒店打工,
禮服酒店,
禮服公關,
酒店領檯,
華麗幻想,
夢世界,
酒店經紀,
酒店工作,
酒店上班,
酒店打工,
禮服酒店,
禮服公關,
酒店領檯,
華麗幻想,
夢世界,
酒店經紀,
酒店工作,
酒店上班,
酒店打工,
禮服酒店,
禮服公關,
酒店領檯,
華麗幻想,
夢世界,

As a Yankee fan, of course I have heard all of thi...

2009-11-15T06:52:48.449-06:00

As a Yankee fan, of course I have heard all of this before. Obviously the Yankees have a clear advantage over a team like the Twins because of their differing levels of financial health. This however is not an unfair advantage. The Yankees weren't born as a multi billion dollar franchise. The team has earned their financial position fairly in an open trade market system. The competative balance of baseball doesnt end between the lines. The ability to properly market your team has always been a huge part of that competition. This includes choosing a good location for the team to play at. It seems abhorrent to me that some of you folks would put a reign on the lead horse, instead of whipping the the trailing horses. If your truly interested in greater "parity", you have to fold up a few organizations who simply have no intention to be competitive. Every team takes about 40 pitchers out of the talent pool. As a result, good starting pitchers are making too much for medium markets to compete for, or keep long term. As for true "small markets" they should stick to minor league teams.

Jack, Who's going to strike? The Pohlads? The pl...

2009-10-16T04:20:21.752-05:00

Jack,
Who's going to strike? The Pohlads? The players certainly don't want a salary cap.

Nick, You hit the nail on the head when you...

2009-10-15T23:39:56.779-05:00

Nick,

You hit the nail on the head when you said a big payroll does not guarantee a team success but it does give them a distinct adavantage over another. I have been arguing this point with other bloggers and baseball fans for a long time.

The Yankees against the Twins reminded me of how teams are picked on a playground. One team picks all the good players and the other gets nothing but mediocre and bad players. There needs to be a long, long baseball strike in 2012 until a salary cap gets implemented. It is the only way baseball can be fair to the smaller market teams. I would also say as a baseball fan anybody who is not for a salary cap is out of their minds. Just look at the four teams in the 2009 playoffs and that will tell you all you need to know.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. College work ha...

2009-10-15T21:23:40.582-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. College work has been keeping me busy.

You were definitely busy in responding to every Yankee fan's post from that previous thread, and I just finished reading it a few minutes ago, but here's something that I think you should have pointed out. Rob Neyer himself said this at the very end of his post: "So now we're just haggling over the appropriate and necessary degree. AND I WILL ARGUE, ALONG WITH NICK, THAT MLB STILL HAS SOME WORK TO DO."

I apologize since I didn't go through Neyer's thread, but apparently those fans were so enraged that they skipped over that line and didn't fault Neyer at all for agreeing with you.

The bottom line is the payroll imbalance allows fo...

2009-10-15T14:56:31.234-05:00

The bottom line is the payroll imbalance allows for a much greater margin of error. If the Twins make a mistake in signing a free agent or extending a contract, it can cripple them for years. If the Yankees do the same...they can just sign another one.

The Yankees spent money poorly for quite a few years over the past decade, but were still able to make the playoffs. There's little punishment to them or any other big payroll team for doing so; they're still usually competitive.

Right now, every Twins fan is dying a thousand deaths hoping Joe Mauer signs an extension this offseason, because they know that if he hits the free agent market teams like Boston or New York will be able to offer him 10-30% more than the Twins can. That's not a good situation for MLB.

This isn't about whining, it's about what works best for the sport. the NFL has significantly more revenue sharing, has good competitive balance, and is constantly growing as easily the most popular sport. In the NFL, all teams are punished for poor management. There's something to be said for that.

Thanks for the nod! Don't get me wrong: I used to ...

2009-10-15T13:00:13.593-05:00

Thanks for the nod! Don't get me wrong: I used to live in both Boston and New York, and I do love the fans there. Fans in those cities care deeply about the game of baseball, and know a hell of a lot about the strengths and weaknesses of their players. I'd give anything if the Twins organization had as much respect for their fans as the Yankee and Red Sox do. (The Twins seem to stock their media teams with total homers. I used to love listening to Jerry Remy, the Red Sox TV guy. I watch Twins games with the sound off.)

But, you can't deny the arrogance of thinking that payroll doesn't matter. Just because the Mets lose doesn't mean they don't have twice as much to spend as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, etc.

(Also, why would you ever build a new Yankee stadium?! Srsly, Steinbrenner?)

Nick, Your rephrasing of the Tuesday post makes m...

2009-10-15T11:26:55.505-05:00

Nick,

Your rephrasing of the Tuesday post makes much more sense, and sounds a lot less like bitter grapes.

I mostly agree with your takes on this, and baseball does indeed have a problem. The real problem is, they have no intentions of fixing it.

Let's move onto other topics, such as, how Billy Smith will do nothing or very conservative moves in the offseason (ie Pavano and OC).

Should Kubel or Cuddyer be traded while their value you is high (I am definately on board with trading Cuddy, because of his salary, if we can get major league ready prospects).

Keep up the good work!

Good comment. I agree completely.

2009-10-15T02:08:39.018-05:00

Good comment. I agree completely.

I think your description of ownership purely as bu...

2009-10-15T01:45:56.940-05:00

I think your description of ownership purely as business is not quite right. Many pro sports franchises have appreciated greatly in recent decades, but I do not think they are generally purchased for that reason (or for the yearly revenue stream). The Yankees under Steinbrenner are probably an exception.

But for someone like Pohlad, a sports franchise has a lot to do with entertainment. When you have that much money, the usual toys don't cut it anymore. To the extent a team is operated as a hobby, I do think the owner's finances are relevant. People of modest means have hobbies as well, on a much smaller scale of course.

No one should lose seriously damaging amounts of money on their hobby. But there was a time when the Twins were having more trouble signing draft picks than anyone else and had a skeletal payroll. Pohlad tried to contract the team in exchange for a payout from the other owners. His extreme wealth cannot be ignored in evaluating that legacy.

Having said all that, there is definitely a problem with structural imbalance. I don't think a salary cap/floor is the answer, but the 'luxury tax' already in place should be strengthened considerably.