How to fix baseball

[Atothe]

My system makes baseball more American, but you're right, it doesn't quite go all the way. I think baseball is better with a cap on amateur talent acquisition and that's why I've included that.

 

With no cap on talent acquisition and no revenue-sharing, you'd be forced to contract many teams or live with half of your league never sniffing the playoffs. And I don't think that's in the best interest of the big-market teams. IMO, they can make more money in a legitimate league of 30 teams even if it involves paying some of the small-market teams' costs.

 

Baseball is fighting football to get more talent into their systems. Capping amateur budgets would put them at a significant disadvantage

[Atothe]

Doesn't get away from punishing the player for being good. How about the Rays get 20% more bonus (from nobody)?

 

On top of the additional 20% they receive from the yanks or just in general?

[Abomination]

Baseball is fighting football to get more talent into their systems. Capping amateur budgets would put them at a significant disadvantage

 

It's already essentially capped though

[Angrioter]

Don't agree with elimating the drafting system.

 

Look at European football. The only real chance you have at getting elite talent (if you don't have an oil tycoon for an owner) is if you sign a kid when he's like 12 years old into your academy... And then the chances of that kid being sold 2-3 years into his professional career are sky high if he's any good. The end result is that the same 10 teams dominate the continent for eternity.

 

There is no Tampa Bay Rays in the EPL, Serie A, La Liga, Budesliga, etc. where a savvy GM can do the things that Friedman does.

 

La Liga: Real Madrid and Barcelona.............

[Abomination]

On top of the additional 20% they receive from the yanks or just in general?

 

The problem with penalizing a team in any way is that it will penalize the player as well. That's in part why we see marginal players right now still looking for work.

[z3r0s]

The problem with penalizing a team in any way is that it will penalize the player as well. That's in part why we see marginal players right now still looking for work.

 

Yup, just give an advantage to the team that looses the player. I also think you should only get compensation on players that haven't been FA's before. IE the Yanks don't get comp from losing a FA they sign for a year.

[NorthOf49]

It doesn't make it more American.

 

All American sports have a draft. A draft based primarily on your success in the previous season.

 

Apparently, all "American" sports are un-American to you.

Drafts are un-American, yes, but not as much as incentivizing losing is. Every team should strive to win every year. You shouldn't get stuff handed to you for being inept at managing your assets. That's American.

[dineke]

Shorten the game... way too much dead time in baseball.

[Atothe]

The problem with penalizing a team in any way is that it will penalize the player as well. That's in part why we see marginal players right now still looking for work.

 

Take ubaldo for instance. His aav is 10 mill a year right. So say the orioles have a draft budget of 6 million this year, they would forfeiting 10% of that which comes up to 600,000. Basically a late second round or later round pick money. Is that not better then a losing a first rounder?

[The Cats Ass]

Drafts are un-American, yes, but not as much as incentivizing losing is. Every team should strive to win every year. You shouldn't get stuff handed to you for being inept at managing your assets. That's American.

 

That's why my draft suggestion would be the best way.

[bigpaulie]

How about an NBA style luxury tax

 

A set upper and lower spending cap is set, say as an example 65 million and 130 million

 

 

If you spend more then 130 you would be "taxed" a dollar per dollar on the overage and teams would have to meet a minimum budget, to stop the Astros of the world from profiting on making a mockery of the game.

[Atothe]

Drafts are un-American, yes, but not as much as incentivizing losing is. Every team should strive to win every year. You shouldn't get stuff handed to you for being inept at managing your assets. That's American.

 

You're beating a dead horse. The rangers, redsox, Yankees, cubs and jays would overwhelm the rays, pirates, marlins, Rockies and etc. There needs to be a draft to level the playing field

[NorthOf49]

That's why my draft suggestion would be the best way.

Yeah your suggestion of randomizing the non-playoff teams could work too.

 

You're beating a dead horse. The rangers, redsox, Yankees, cubs and jays would overwhelm the rays, pirates, marlins, Rockies and etc. There needs to be a draft to level the playing field

As long as the bonus pools are weighted to reflect potential market size, what makes a draft more field-leveling?

[bigpaulie]

Another tax idea

 

The threshold could be set at $5 million above the cap. The charge would start at $1.75 for every dollar over and increase from there. Under that system, the dodgers would have been hit with a cap charge of over $150 million.

 

Of course, a team like the Yankees - with their $1.5 billion or Dodgers 7 billion local television contract can absorb that additional cost without putting much of a dent in the bottom line. The league wants to prevent teams from making the tax an annual thing. As such, recent proposals have included several different penalties for teams that exceed the tax threshold regularly, ranging from additional charges to the loss of cap exceptions.

 

So each team could net another 20 million from the tax fund.

 

1 Los Angeles Dodgers 220,395,196 Taxed 157,500,000

2 New York Yankees 203,445,586 Taxed 127 Million

3 Philadelphia Phillies 170,760,689 Taxed 65 Million

4 Detroit Tigers 148,414,500 Taxed 31 Million

5 Boston Red Sox 140,657,500 Taxed 13.75 Million

6 San Francisco Giants 136,042,112 Taxed 6 Million

7 Los Angeles Angels 127,896,250

8 Chicago White Sox 119,573,277

9 Toronto Blue Jays 117,035,100

10 Washington Nationals 114,194,270

11 Texas Rangers 112,939,500

12 Cincinnati Reds 109,401,962

13 Chicago Cubs 107,646,476

14 St. Louis Cardinals 102,790,110

15 Baltimore Orioles 90,993,333

16 Atlanta Braves 89,986,525

17 Arizona Diamondbacks 89,798,667

18 Milwaukee Brewers 88,837,366

19 Pittsburgh Pirates 79,562,000

20 Kansas City Royals 79,491,725

21 Minnesota Twins 75,802,500

22 New York Mets 73,996,639

23 Cleveland Indians 73,724,300

24 Seattle Mariners 73,499,643

25 Colorado Rockies 71,434,071

26 San Diego Padres 66,022,900

27 Oakland Athletics 60,372,500

28 Tampa Bay Rays 57,505,272 Does not meet minimum amount

29 Miami Marlins 35,720,400 Does not meet minimum amount

30 Houston Astros 21,133,500 Does not meet minimum amount

[Abomination]

Take ubaldo for instance. His aav is 10 mill a year right. So say the orioles have a draft budget of 6 million this year, they would forfeiting 10% of that which comes up to 600,000. Basically a late second round or later round pick money. Is that not better then a losing a first rounder?

 

Not much better. It suffers from the same problem, just not magnified quite as badly.

[Abomination]

Yeah your suggestion of randomizing the non-playoff teams could work too.

 

I would kind of like to see this in the BBDL Give all non-playoff teams an equal chance at the top pick in the drafts so there's no incentive for losing. We don't have differences in market size though.

[NorthOf49]

I would kind of like to see this in the BBDL Give all non-playoff teams an equal chance at the top pick in the drafts so there's no incentive for losing. We don't have differences in market size though.

Yep I'd definitely support that. We have a draft lottery in DDL which works well, but it may work even better if the worst teams aren't emphasized at all. Especially because everyone's market size is the same (or can't be accounted for). Why punish those who are the best at building fantasy baseball teams? That's the goal after all!

[The Cats Ass]

Yep I'd definitely support that. We have a draft lottery in DDL which works well, but it may work even better if the worst teams aren't emphasized at all. Especially because everyone's market size is the same (or can't be accounted for). Why punish those who are the best at building fantasy baseball teams? That's the goal after all!

 

You can't totally crush Boxy's spirit though...

[GeorgiaPeach]

Well supposedly the astros are low on funds because of their ballpark so what are they to do?

 

What are the problems with their park?

[NorthOf49]

First, MLB is not a baseball fantasy league.

 

Second, how is combining randomness (which has nothing to do with supporting success) with incentivizing losing (by excluding certain successful teams) somehow supporting the "American way."

 

You're simply throwing two allegedly unAmerican things together just so you can make sure there's a better chance a person who didn't do well one season won't get a better pick.

 

You wouldn't happen to be one of those fellows who think successful white males are discriminated against, are you?

Teams shouldn't be punished for succeeding, or rewarded for failure. That's not American and it detracts from the product's aesthetics.

 

The random factor is just a way to distribute the draft picks evenly (if you were to have a draft instead of a capped free for all). I've already admitted that even amateur allocation is not American, but it's a limitation I deem necessary for the overall product to succeed.

Edited February 24, 2014 by NorthOf49

[FireAlexAnthopoulos]

1. Hard salary cap

2. Hard salary floor

3. Fire AA and Beeston

 

There, baseball is fixed.

[KSaw]

I don't think that baseball is broken or in need of fixing. Tweaks? Sure.

1. Change the division round playoffs to a best of 7. The shorter the series, the more chance of an upset. Teams that didn't have a top 2 record in their league should really have to earn it.

 

2. A standard 100 seconds between half innings for all games, be they national broadcasts or not, regular season or playoffs. Keep games moving and consistent.

 

3. Create the 15-day contract. There are so many long time, suffering career minor leaguers who never get a shot because they would have to be added to a 40-Man Roster. Let's say a player with 7 years of minor league service and 0 MLB service can be called up as an asterisk 41st roster player. Some deserving guys would actually get a taste and we all might see some feel good stories.

[Smedley Butler]

That's not American

 

This particular brand of rhetorical ******** consistently baffles me.

[KSaw]

I would like to see them allow players recovering from injuries to use PED's like in the real world via a doctors note. The sheer amount of injuries going on is killing the already weak talent pool currently in the majors.

 

While I hear you, it is a slippery slope. Mark McGwire is the best example I can think of. Let's face it, fans had two choices with him. Get to see a super juiced home run machine play or not have him play at all. His back was screwed. The andro and HGH allowed him to recover and maintain.

[bigpaulie]

How does a team like the Astros, who had a new stadium built in 2000, say their woes are from the stadium?

[Jayday]

This is parody at it's best.

[BlueJayWay]

I like most of it. I would fix the draggy pace of play issues though. Main things would be to enforce the rule keeping batters in the box, and I would like to see some kind of limit on mid inning pitching changes.

[Abomination]

I like most of it. I would fix the draggy pace of play issues though. Main things would be to enforce the rule keeping batters in the box, and I would like to see some kind of limit on mid inning pitching changes.

 

I'd like to see a pitcher having to face at least 3 full batters (or the end of an inning) before they can be taken out of the game. The nonsense we see now where sometimes 4 or 5 pitchers are used in an inning just sucks.

[BlueJayWay]

I'd like to see a pitcher having to face at least 3 full batters (or the end of an inning) before they can be taken out of the game. The nonsense we see now where sometimes 4 or 5 pitchers are used in an inning just sucks.

Exactly. The thing where we go one hitter per pitcher and make like three or four changes in an inning just saps the energy out of a game at a time it should be exciting.

[bigpaulie]

Exactly. The thing where we go one hitter per pitcher and make like three or four changes in an inning just saps the energy out of a game at a time it should be exciting.

 

A great way to increase interest from younger fans as well, limit the pitching changes, maybe limit the warm up pitches from the bullpen, all would have great effects on the fan base, but limit the effects on the advertising dollars