An Open Letter to Baseball; a general rant

[exhawg]

I'd like to see a soft cap like the NBA. That way a team can go over the cap to keep their good players, but they can't sign FA's every year like the Yankee's do unless they are under the cap. Set the cap at $100 mil so that most teams could afford it. Anything you spend over 150 has the luxury tax. Trades have to equal out $$$ or the team receiving more $$$ must be under the cap.
I like the soft cap better than the hard cap because it keeps players in organizations better. $100 mil is a fair enough cap that most teams can afford it. Those that can't need to sell or move.

[FCollinsBuckeye]

Originally Posted by brodybuck21

lord they are going to kill my interest in anything outside of fantasy sports before too long

You and me both. I can't wait for the lingerie bowl this year.

[Dryden]

Originally Posted by exhawg

I'd like to see a soft cap like the NBA. That way a team can go over the cap to keep their good players, but they can't sign FA's every year like the Yankee's do unless they are under the cap. Set the cap at $100 mil so that most teams could afford it. Anything you spend over 150 has the luxury tax. Trades have to equal out $$$ or the team receiving more $$$ must be under the cap.
I like the soft cap better than the hard cap because it keeps players in organizations better. $100 mil is a fair enough cap that most teams can afford it. Those that can't need to sell or move.

MLB doesn't need a salary cap as badly as it needs a salary floor. If MLB is going to have revenue sharing (which they now do), they need to force the owners to invest that money in putting a product on the field. You could more quickly solve a lot of baseball's competitive balance problems by telling 18 teams they have to spend at least $85M than telling just four teams they can't spend over $120M.

[JCOSU86]

Originally Posted by exhawg

Anything you spend over 150 has the luxury tax.

And that would stop NY, Bos and LA....how?

Soft cap, revenue sharing. It's the only answer. Again, the [censored]ing Yankees are in the WS and the Indians (and many, many others) are in rebuilding 4.0.

Sucks.

[Bucklion]

Originally Posted by JCOSU86

And that would stop NY, Bos and LA....how?

Soft cap, revenue sharing. It's the only answer. Again, the [censored]ing Yankees are in the WS and the Indians (and many, many others) are in rebuilding 4.0.

Sucks.

One needs only to look at the city of Pittsburgh to see what happens with a cap and without: Steelers, champs, Penguins, champs, Pirates...no winning seasons since 1992 and none on the horizon.

[JCOSU86]

Originally Posted by Bucklion

One needs only to look at the city of Pittsburgh to see what happens with a cap and without: Steelers, champs, Penguins, champs, Pirates...no winning seasons since 1992 and none on the horizon.

I'm talking about only having a luxury tax. That wouldn't even slow down NY and Bos.

[OH10]

Originally Posted by JCOSU86

And that would stop NY, Bos and LA....how?

Soft cap, revenue sharing. It's the only answer. Again, the [censored]ing Yankees are in the WS and the Indians (and many, many others) are in rebuilding 4.0.

Sucks.

Just two years ago, the Indians eliminated the Yankees in the playoffs with an ace by the name of C.C. Sabathia...

Just sayin...

And I concur with the original post: Baseball sucks. The only way I've been able to stay interested is by cheering for any and all small market ball clubs until they are all gone. (needless to say, I'm done this year)

[JCOSU86]

Originally Posted by OH10

Just two years ago, the Indians eliminated the Yankees in the playoffs with an ace by the name of C.C. Sabathia...

An ace that is on.....the NY Yankees.

[cincibuck]

Originally Posted by FCollinsBuckeye

You and me both. I can't wait for the lingerie bowl this year.

My money is on Victoria's Secret, The've got a big boost up front and their receivers know how to get open.

[Dryden]

Originally Posted by Bucklion

One needs only to look at the city of Pittsburgh to see what happens with a cap and without: Steelers, champs, Penguins, champs, Pirates...no winning seasons since 1992 and none on the horizon.

Or ... the Steelers and Penguins were smart enough to not let Cam Bonifay anywhere near their organizations.

[Jake]

Originally Posted by LitlBuck

Your post is so on target there is no need for me to try and amplify on it except for the fact that I would replace the Reds with the Pirates.

FIFY

[cincibuck]

I think it was Steinbrener who complained that if he had to pay a luxury tax he wanted to see proof that the owners receiving the money from said tax were spending it on their teams... i.e. "why should I send money to Castellini to invest in widgets instead of pitchers?'

Funny, cause historically the owners as a group have been totally unwilling to open the books to the union or the public to show where the money comes from and where it goes, or the amount of money involved.

[Jake]

Originally Posted by Dryden

Or ... the Steelers and Penguins were smart enough to not let Cam Bonifay anywhere near their organizations.

The Yankees can cover up their personnel mistakes by just spending another $400 million to buy replacements. Teams like the Pirates have to live with theirs for years.

[Dryden]

Originally Posted by Jake

The Yankees can cover up their personnel mistakes by just spending another $400 million to buy replacements. Teams like the Pirates have to live with theirs for years.

It's one thing to not have the money to "write down" a Chien-Ming Wang blowing up in your face, it's another to already have Jason Schmidt or Aramis Ramirez on your roster and trade them for three boxes of Cracker Jacks and a foam finger, or to tie up over $100M you know you don't even have just on Jay Bell, Kevin Young and Jason Kendall.

The Pirate's problems over the past 17-18 years have less to do with the big market/small market disparity than they do habitual stupidity. Yes, small market teams can't bury mistakes in mountains of money, but Bonifay would've wrecked any organization no matter how much money he had to play with. He's wrecking the Reds now, as the "Special Assistant" to Walt.

[BuckNutty]

Link

Not everyone agrees with the original post in this thread. Susan Finkelstein will [censored] you for World Series tickets...or at least suck your dick.

Susan Finkelstein, 43, a rabid fan who really loves her Phillies.

Married with children, current Penn grad student in liberal arts and onetime assistant PR director at the University of Pennsylvania, she posted an ad on Craigslist.com: "DESPERATE BLONDE NEEDS WS TIX (Philadelphia)

"Diehard Phillies fan - gorgeous tall buxom blonde - in desperate need of two World Series Tickets. Price negotiable - I'm the creative type! Maybe we can help each other!"

Bensalem police were scouring Craigslist looking for illegal activities, like pornography, drug deals and child molesters, when they saw the ad from "Desperate."

Posing as a ticketholder, an undercover cop called Finkelstein in Philadelphia and asked if they could meet in a Bensalem bar Monday night.

At the bar, Finkelstein was willing to engage in various sexual acts in return for a ticket, said Bensalem Public Safety Director Fred Harran.

Then, she asked if the ticketholder had two tickets, and he claimed he did and she was willing to up the sexcapades, according to Harran.

After all, she posted on Facebook that she was "very, very liberal."

"She was overcome with Phillies fever," said her attorney William J. Brennan.