MLB 2013 Thread

[LuckyNumber7]

Seeing Fernandez pitch lights out was pretty cool.

Seein Cishek suck was not.

 

[gvox]

Aaaaand fresh from the files of "As Seen On TV":

 

[bono_212]

I don't know how much of this I can take. Yes, we're only 7 games in, but wow...what a seven.

 

[gump]

And the tying run was on base.

 

[Hewson]

The best was Nathan's reaction from the opposite vantage point, he says "wow", he knew the ump blew the call.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

That's brutal.

 

[bono_212]

The best was Nathan's reaction from the opposite vantage point, he says "wow", he knew the ump blew the call.

Definitely want to see this.

 

[Hewson]

Definitely want to see this.

Sportscenter had it last night, I'm sure will this morning.

 

[No spoken words]

For 7:

Love ’Em or Hate ’Em, the Marlins Continue to Develop Players - The Triangle Blog - Grantland

 

[mikal]

Is it time to replace the umps with machines (Skynet)?

 

[LuckyNumber7]

For 7:

Love ’Em or Hate ’Em, the Marlins Continue to Develop Players - The Triangle Blog - Grantland

Saw it.

Easy to hate them though.

They ought to just commit to a Cabrera trade but actually get prospects that develop out of it.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

Lifelong Marlins Fans Tossed From Home Opener for Protesting Loria - Miami - News - Riptide 2.0

 

[bono_212]

How long have I been out of the baseball loop that interleague play now starts in the first two weeks of the season?

 

[LuckyNumber7]

It's no longer some big event. It's how it should be...

 

[bono_212]

I wish it didn't exist, but anyways...it just kinda struck me when I was listening to the radio and I heard who the White Sox played yesterday.

 

[No spoken words]

There's interleague play every week now due to both leagues having 15 teams.

 

[the tourist]

Well, that was horrible.

 

[the tourist]

There's interleague play every week now due to both leagues having 15 teams.

I'm probably in the minority, but I think MLB should do something radical and expand and realign to remedy it. Add in two teams (hypothetically, let's say San Antonio and Montreal), have 4 leagues with 8 teams divided by geography.

The West: LA, Anaheim, San Diego, Oakland, San Francisco, Seattle, Colorado, Arizona.

The South Central: Texas, San Antonio, Houston, Kansas City, St Louis, Chicago, Chicago, Cincinnati

The North Central: Cleveland, Detroit, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Montreal

The East: Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, New York, New York, Boston, Washington, Baltimore

Each division plays 75% of its games in its division and the other 25% in its "league". Top four teams in each division play off (3 games for the first series, 5 for the second) against each other and move forward to a 5 game inter-division playoff and then a game world series.


I have too much time on my hands.

 

[Hewson]

I'm probably in the minority, but I think MLB should do something radical and expand and realign to remedy it. Add in two teams (hypothetically, let's say San Antonio and Montreal), have 4 leagues with 8 teams divided by geography.

The West: LA, Anaheim, San Diego, Oakland, San Francisco, Seattle, Colorado, Arizona.

The South Central: Texas, San Antonio, Houston, Kansas City, St Louis, Chicago, Chicago, Cincinnati

The North Central: Cleveland, Detroit, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Montreal

The East: Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, New York, New York, Boston, Washington, Baltimore

Each division plays 75% of its games in its division and the other 25% in its "league". Top four teams in each division play off (3 games for the first series, 5 for the second) against each other and move forward to a 5 game inter-division playoff and then a game world series.


I have too much time on my hands.

You do have too much time on your hands.
No way they expand when some teams are struggling...contraction makes more sense.
And your plan completely changes the current AL and NL set up...the DH rule and tradition will prevent that shakeup from ever happening (are you going to make the Cubs, Reds and Cards AL teams or White Sox, Rangers, Royals NL teams...etc etc. Imagine the Yankees and Red Sox becoming NL teams to appease your plan...no chance.)

Plus I can't see baseball going for a 1 game World Series.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

I'm probably in the minority, but I think MLB should do something radical and expand and realign to remedy it. Add in two teams (hypothetically, let's say San Antonio and Montreal), have 4 leagues with 8 teams divided by geography.

The West: LA, Anaheim, San Diego, Oakland, San Francisco, Seattle, Colorado, Arizona.

The South Central: Texas, San Antonio, Houston, Kansas City, St Louis, Chicago, Chicago, Cincinnati

The North Central: Cleveland, Detroit, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Montreal

The East: Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, New York, New York, Boston, Washington, Baltimore

Each division plays 75% of its games in its division and the other 25% in its "league". Top four teams in each division play off (3 games for the first series, 5 for the second) against each other and move forward to a 5 game inter-division playoff and then a game world series.


I have too much time on my hands.

This is utterly absurd.

 

[PhilsFan]

Talent is too spread out to add teams. And considering I live 90 minutes from the Atlantic Ocean, putting Philadelphia in the "North Central" is pretty silly.

 

[BoMac]

There is a movement, and a groundswell of support, to bring MLB back to Montreal. Washington, Milwaukee, and others have had multiple teams, why can't Montreal? With stable ownership (i.e. not Loria), and a solid product, the city has shown that people will come out in droves to support a baseball franchise.

There are about 3.5 million people in the greater Montreal area and a team would draw people from eastern Ontario and perhaps northern New York state and Vermont (as the Expos did in the past). The Canadian dollar is more or less at par with the U.S. greenback, and a team would have the corporate support. A 35,000 to 40,000 seat stadium would be needed, but even that is possible.

The best possible scenario (at least from a Montreal point of view) is for the Rays to move north, creating a natural rivalry with New York, Boston, and Toronto.

In any event, a $400,000 feasibility study has been commissioned to determine if a baseball franchise would be viable, the results of which would provide momentum or stop the movement dead in its tracks.

 

[PhilsFan]

I like the idea of moving Tampa. That fanbase stinks and their ballpark is a farce.

 

[the tourist]

This is utterly absurd.

Why? Because it messes with the status quo?

Talent is too spread out to add teams. And considering I live 90 minutes from the Atlantic Ocean, putting Philadelphia in the "North Central" is pretty silly.

Is talent really spread out too thin though, or have we just gotten used to lots of superstars? There should also be a salary cap like in football. I know none of that will ever happen, but it's really too bad; it'd even things up and get rid of interleague stuff. It'd also make travel a lot easier on the players.

But yeah, that was just me spitballin' on the divisions.

 

[PhilsFan]

No, it's definitely too thin. Especially with pitching.

And a salary floor is much more important than a salary cap.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

No, it's definitely too thin. Especially with pitching.

And a salary floor is much more important than a salary cap.

This times a million.

The luxury taxes ARE working. There is greater parody now than in a long time, and even the Yankees are actively trying to cut payroll in order to stop paying the tax. Small market teams like Kansas City and Pittsburgh are finally starting to see the light of day.

There needs to be a floor to prevent situations like every team Loria ever owns.

Expansion is also ludicrous. Pitching is very thin. Moving teams and/or contraction makes much more sense, starting with the two teams in Florida. Oakland should also make the inevitable move towards silicon valley.

Contraction will never happen for the same reason why we will always have the DH... The players union would go ape shit at the loss of jobs. So movement is the way to go.

 

[gump]

And a salary floor is much more important than a salary cap.

Absolutely. And it's not like the new TV money has not changed the landscape already. With each passing year we see a thinner class of free agents, as even small clubs are able to extend their own young players (see Votto, Joey). A salary cap would probably be bad for the competitiveness of small market clubs: when salaries are roughly the same everywhere (like in the NBA), the stars will probably end up going to more attractive places (because of the club's tradition, or the city). Like the Lakers, Celtics or Heat have a better shot than the Bucks or Portland at luring stars.

I know this may sound hypocritical coming from a Yankees fan, but the correlation between payroll and wins in baseball is less pronounced than in any other major league sport. MLB is doing just fine. Being a well run organization is more important than payroll (look at the Cubs and the Mets - both teams are probably in a better place now with reduced payrolls than they were 4 years ago). In the grand scheme of things, a salary cap only means wealthier owners and less well-off players.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Good management, much like in any business, is the most important thing in running a franchise in any sport in any league.

 

[the tourist]

Plus I can't see baseball going for a 1 game World Series.

Nice catch.

 

[the tourist]

No, it's definitely too thin. Especially with pitching.

And a salary floor is much more important than a salary cap.

I don't know, man. Look at run-scoring trends over the last few years. It's definitely a pitcher's era. How can pitching be thin in a pitcher's era?

As for the cap vs. floor, I think a happy medium is important.