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| Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment https://mail.chicagofanatics.com/viewtopic.php?f=92&t=43949 |
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| Author: | kujoe_7 [ Sun Mar 14, 2010 8:37 am ] |
| Post subject: | Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment |
Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment Yankees BlogLast Updated: 9:11 AM, March 14, 2010 NY POST .com Posted: 5:05 AM, March 14, 2010 HARDBALL Baseball does not have a competitive-balance problem. It might have a Yankees problem or a Yankees-Red Sox problem. But mainly it has a public relations problem. There is no salary cap and the Yankees have a payroll that dwarfs all others. That combination — more than anything — creates the perception that the sport lacks competitive balance. But repeating that over and over does not make it fact. Here is a fact: Eight different teams have won the World Series in the last decade or one more than has won the Super Bowl in the sainted, share-every-dollar NFL. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post BREAK ’EM UP! Joel Sherman says putting the Yankees and Red Sox in different divisions would be one way to create more competition in the American League. How can the Royals ever compete with the Yankees? Sounds great. It is repeated all the time. Just, it is ridiculous. The Royals’ biggest problem isn’t the Yankees; it is the people running the Royals. How about Kansas City produce a better record than the Twins one of these years before we worry if it can compete with the Yankees? The same goes for the Pirates, Nationals, etc. The only teams that have a legitimate gripe about the monster that is the Yankees — and the junior monster that is the Red Sox — are the Rays, Orioles and Blue Jays. They are in the same division. That brings us to realignment, which became a hot-button issue again in the last week. That is because my friend Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated reported that a radical plan was discussed by the 14-member “special committee for on-field matters.” That group, consisting mainly of managers and general managers, was assembled by Bud Selig to advise the commissioner on ways to improve all areas of the game. One idea that gained traction within the group was “floating” realignment, which would allow clubs to shift divisions annually based on, among other things, what a team thought its chances at contention were. So, for example, if a club believed it was a non-contender it might consider jumping to the AL East as a way to partially escape an expected dismal record by benefitting at the gate from 18 lucrative home dates against the Yankees and Red Sox. A person with ties to the advisory committee said that powerful people with the commissioner’s ear championed this proposal. Nevertheless, a friend of Selig said that plan has “no shot.” In the past, Selig has favored significant realignment to better honor geography and payroll similarity, but met massive resistance from ownerships unwilling to relocate divisions and/or leagues. There are many impediments to the proposal anyway, including that teams need their schedule for the following year by September to plot — among other things — ticket-selling strategy. Which team would know what division it would want to be in for the following year by September HARDBALL But the biggest impediment to this proposal should be common sense. This is proposing killing a mosquito with a Howitzer. Let’s return to the original premise, which is that — at worst — the sport has a Yankees-Red Sox problem. How do we know that? Consider that the Phillies are the Vegas favorites to win the pennant again (I actually like the Rockies if anyone cares). If Philadelphia does win, it would mark a third straight NL title. Yet no one is talking about the NL having a lack of competitive balance. So why disrupt five divisions? If there is a Yankees-Red Sox problem, then let’s address that. I would implement all three of the following ideas, but any one by itself would help: Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post BREAK ’EM UP! Joel Sherman says putting the Yankees and Red Sox in different divisions would be one way to create more competition in the American League. 1. Put the Yankees or Red Sox in the AL Central I know it sounds like blasphemy to break up the Rivalry. But the Rivalry is a bit of a sham. It has not been red-hot every year for nine decades. In the late-1990s, the Yankees’ biggest rival was the Orioles. There was a time when the Mets’ main rivals were the Cubs or Cardinals, and the world did not end when both were shifted out of the NL East. Eventually the Mets built rivalries with the Braves and Phillies. Rivalries will bloom from current competition even more than history. The reality is: If the Yankees and Red Sox are away from each other, their chances of making the playoffs both probably rise (because both could finish first in a division), but what also rises is the chances of the teams that finish second in those divisions also making the playoffs. Right now the Rays might be the third-best team in the majors, finish third in the AL East and not make the playoffs. If teams in the AL East only had to beat out the Yankees OR the Red Sox — not both — there would be greater hope within the division. 2. Eliminate the unbalanced schedule Eighteen games against each division opponent are too much. Yes, clubs such as Baltimore and Toronto love all those home dates against Boston and New York for attendance reasons. But the chances to compete diminish when 22 percent of your schedule (36 games) is exclusively against the Yankees and Red Sox. There is no reason why the number cannot be dropped to 12-14 games. 3. Add an additional wild card team Of all the ideas, this one seems to have the most traction, with one AL executive saying he has heard no objections to the concept recently and pegging it at “no less than an 80 percent chance” that it will be incorporated by 2012. If you read this space (thanks), you know I have championed this idea for nearly a decade: Have the two wild-card winners in each league play a best-of-three over three consecutive days beginning the day after the regular season concludes. The fringe benefits include that you would intensify division races because the winners get a few days off after the season to rest and line up their pitching. You would never again see a team that has clinched the wild card but still could win the division not play all out to win the division. In addition, you also honor the team with the best record in each league by having it play the wild-card series winner, meaning a well-rested team would get to use its No. 1 starter against a team with no rest that might have to use its No. 4 starter in a series opener. In five of the last seven years, the Yankees and Red Sox have made up 50 percent of the AL’s four playoff teams. So let’s at least drop that to 40 percent by adding an extra wild card. Would there be some scheduling issues? Yes. But the commissioner already is committed to removing so many extraneous off-days in the postseason plus the season could start a few days earlier and the schedule could include two or three day-night doubleheaders and, voila, you have created necessary days for a wild-card series. An extra wild card — like splitting up the Yankees and Red Sox or undoing the unbalanced schedule — would mean more teams in contention in July and August. Which not only would elevate hope but eliminate a lot of those salary-dumping trades that also generally favor teams such as the Yankees and Red Sox, and give the illusion of competitive imbalance. joel.sherman@nypost.com [b]God would that suck for the al centeral if the red sox or yankess came calling....the al and nl west are the ones that need more teams in their divsions. send houston to the nl west and figure out some how to add one to the al west.[/b] |
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| Author: | man of few opinions [ Sun Mar 14, 2010 11:02 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment |
i am in favor of getting rid of the unbalanced schedule. i am in favor of minor re-alignment, just to get the divisions the same size (no division should have only 4 teams - ridiculous). the notion of breaking up the red sox-yankees rivalry to somehow help the other teams is dumb. the yankees and red sox are cashing in on the rivalry and reaping the benefits of their financial investment, regional proximity, and the long-standing legendary rivalry they have developed through the years. they should break that up to give the royals a chance? wtf? if the royals want a chance, they should spend some money or sell the team to someone who will. that goes for all the teams who dont want to spend any dough. |
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| Author: | newper [ Sun Mar 14, 2010 1:31 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment |
man of few opinions wrote: i am in favor of getting rid of the unbalanced schedule. i am in favor of minor re-alignment, just to get the divisions the same size (no division should have only 4 teams - ridiculous). The reason they have one division with four teams is that you need to keep the leagues populated with an even number of teams in order to facilitate the interleague play rules and not have a team sitting around for three days doing nothing. You'd have to expand the AL by two and do a 5/5/6 arrangement like the NL, or you'd have to have year long interleague play, or you'd have to contract divisions down to 2 like it used to be. |
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| Author: | Keyser Soze [ Sun Mar 14, 2010 3:32 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment |
Realignment is pretty low on the list of things wrong with major league baseball. If they want to have a more competetive league here are some changes that would help more than realignment: 1. A salary floor. 2. International draft. 3. Ability to trade draft picks. 4. Change free-agent compensation. 5. Better testing for performance enhancing drugs. |
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| Author: | stoneroses86 [ Sun Mar 14, 2010 4:07 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment |
These assorted "geniuses" should quit attempting to tinker with this wonderful game. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Major League Baseball the way it is now. Joel Sherman is a meddler and a trouble-maker. The Glorious New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox will be in different divisions on the same day that the Israelis and Palestinians make complete and total peace with each other. I challenge Joel Sherman to a duel. |
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| Author: | Mr. Reason [ Sun Mar 14, 2010 4:22 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment |
Go to one division for each league, take the top five teams from each league with the bottom two teams playing a three game series to see who plays with the other top three and let the chips fall where they may. Get rid of all of the fucking off days between the playoff games and let's play ball. |
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| Author: | rogers park bryan [ Sun Mar 14, 2010 4:34 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment |
newper wrote: man of few opinions wrote: i am in favor of getting rid of the unbalanced schedule. i am in favor of minor re-alignment, just to get the divisions the same size (no division should have only 4 teams - ridiculous). The reason they have one division with four teams is that you need to keep the leagues populated with an even number of teams in order to facilitate the interleague play rules and not have a team sitting around for three days doing nothing. You'd have to expand the AL by two and do a 5/5/6 arrangement like the NL, or you'd have to have year long interleague play, or you'd have to contract divisions down to 2 like it used to be. In a perfect world you get rid of 6 teams, and have 12 in each league. |
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| Author: | Colonel Angus [ Sun Mar 14, 2010 4:58 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment |
I like Reason's idea, but would cut the divisions down to 2. From there, there would be a division winner and three wildcards in each divison. The division winner would face Wildcard #3 in their division, and Wildcards #1 & #2 would play each other. The winners would face each other, then the winners of that would face the winner of the other division for the Championship. Itt would be like the basketball/hockey set-up, except teams would play their own division for the first 2 rounds. The first round should only be best-0-thr33 (all played at the higher seeds stadium), the next best-of-five (Two games at higher seed stadium, third & fourth at lower seed stadium, fifth back at higher seed stadium), the League Championships and World Series best-of-7, so it doesn't drag-on until Thanksgiving. |
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| Author: | lipidquadcab [ Sun Mar 14, 2010 5:01 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment |
Colonel Angus wrote: I like Reason's idea, but would cut the divisions down to 2. From there, there would be a division winner and three wildcards in each divison. The division winner would face Wildcard #3 in their division, and Wildcards #1 & #2 would play each other. The winners would face each other, then the winners of that would face the winner of the other division for the Championship. Itt would be like the basketball/hockey set-up, except teams would play their own division for the first 2 rounds. The first round should only be best-0-thr33 (all played at the higher seeds stadium), the next best-of-five (Two games at higher seed stadium, third & fourth at lower seed stadium, fifth back at higher seed stadium), the League Championships and World Series best-of-7, so it doesn't drag-on until Thanksgiving. I'm lost. |
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| Author: | jimmypasta [ Sun Mar 14, 2010 5:34 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment |
Instead of this bullshit,tell the Pirate & Marlin ownership spend money or your franchise is dropped. I think MLB should have a minimum team salary of say 75 million. You can't afford it,then fuck off. |
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| Author: | Darkside [ Sun Mar 14, 2010 5:35 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment |
jimmypasta wrote: Instead of this bullshit,tell the Pirate & Marlin ownership spend money or your franchise is dropped. I think MLB should have a minimum team salary of say 75 million. You can't afford it,then fuck off. No thanks. All that does is drive up salaries with no change in total quality of players. |
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| Author: | Colonel Angus [ Sun Mar 14, 2010 5:59 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment |
Sample: Lipid, lets say the Yankees, BoSox, Indians and Tigers are the top 4 in the AL East and the Angels, Twins, A's and Rangers are the top 4 in the West. The Angels would play the Rangers, best of 3 in Anaheim, the A's play the Twins best of 3 in Minnesota. Angels beat Rangers and Twins beat A's. Angels play Twins best of five. They win the first 2 games in Anaheim, Twins win the next two in Minneapolis, then Anaheim wins the fifth at home. The Angels go on to play, let's say the Yankees (who beat Tigers then Indians), for the AL Championship best of 7. |
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| Author: | lipidquadcab [ Sun Mar 14, 2010 6:00 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment |
16 teams in the playoffs? No thanks. |
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| Author: | Keyser Soze [ Sun Mar 14, 2010 6:46 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment |
Darkside wrote: jimmypasta wrote: Instead of this bullshit,tell the Pirate & Marlin ownership spend money or your franchise is dropped. I think MLB should have a minimum team salary of say 75 million. You can't afford it,then fuck off. No thanks. All that does is drive up salaries with no change in total quality of players. A salary floor would force teams to sign their better players to long term deals instead of trading them to the highest bidder (New York, Boston, LA). If there were a salary floor Pittsburgh could have an outfield of Jason Bay in left, Andrew McCutchen in center and Nate McClouth in right, Jack Wilson at SS, Adam LaRoche at 1B. That team would have a far better chance of competing over the shit they're going to run out there this (and the previous 18) season. |
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| Author: | Darkside [ Sun Mar 14, 2010 6:51 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment |
Keyser Soze wrote: Darkside wrote: jimmypasta wrote: Instead of this bullshit,tell the Pirate & Marlin ownership spend money or your franchise is dropped. I think MLB should have a minimum team salary of say 75 million. You can't afford it,then fuck off. No thanks. All that does is drive up salaries with no change in total quality of players. A salary floor would force teams to sign their better players to long term deals instead of trading them to the highest bidder (New York, Boston, LA). If there were a salary floor Pittsburgh could have an outfield of Jason Bay in left, Andrew McCutchen in center and Nate McClouth in right, Jack Wilson at SS, Adam LaRoche at 1B. That team would have a far better chance of competing over the shit they're going to run out there this (and the previous 18) season. Dude, if there's a floor, that's more money that's going to the players unless this is done in tandem with a salary cap. A floor doesn't keep higher value teams from snatching up the high priced talent. There's a finite amount of talent in the league. A minimum forces higher salaries on lower quality players. |
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| Author: | Keyser Soze [ Sun Mar 14, 2010 7:05 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment |
A free market isn't the problem. The Yankees can spend however much they want. The problem is with small market teams who receive money from MLB sources (Fox TV contract, MLB Network, luxury tax) and do not use that money to improve the product on the field. Some of the most profitable franchises in baseball are small/mid market teams. A floor would keep the talented players on the small market teams instead of selling them to large market teams for cheaper players. Then when those players get too expensive they sell them. It creates a never ending cycle of suck (i.e. the Pittsburgh Pirates). |
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| Author: | spmack [ Sun Mar 14, 2010 7:36 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment |
lipidquadcab wrote: 16 teams in the playoffs? No thanks. That wouldn't bother me. |
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| Author: | Darkside [ Sun Mar 14, 2010 7:38 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment |
spmack wrote: lipidquadcab wrote: 16 teams in the playoffs? No thanks. That wouldn't bother me. Better start the playoffs in mid September. |
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| Author: | W_Z [ Sun Mar 14, 2010 7:41 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment |
Keyser Soze wrote: A free market isn't the problem. The Yankees can spend however much they want. The problem is with small market teams who receive money from MLB sources (Fox TV contract, MLB Network, luxury tax) and do not use that money to improve the product on the field. Some of the most profitable franchises in baseball are small/mid market teams. A floor would keep the talented players on the small market teams instead of selling them to large market teams for cheaper players. Then when those players get too expensive they sell them. It creates a never ending cycle of suck (i.e. the Pittsburgh Pirates). yeah. they need a collective bargaining agreement. |
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| Author: | Colonel Angus [ Sun Mar 14, 2010 7:51 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment |
Darkside wrote: spmack wrote: lipidquadcab wrote: 16 teams in the playoffs? No thanks. That wouldn't bother me. Better start the playoffs in mid September. If the season ends on Sunday (say 10/3), play the first round (best of 3) Tuesday-Thursday (10/5-10/7), play the second round on Saturday (10/9), Sunday (10/10), Tuesday (10/12), then if neccessary Wednesday and Friday (10/13 & 10/15), Start the LCS on Sunday (10/17) and if it goes all Seven, it will end on the next Monday (10/25), then the WS can start on Wednesday 10/27). It wouldn't be much worst than what's going on now. |
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| Author: | lipidquadcab [ Sun Mar 14, 2010 8:11 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Separating rivals better for MLB than a radical realignment |
Fox Sports wrote: You can't script November
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