Yankees have made the call

[elcheato]

Well those exact reasons are why Baseball will be the least popular sport out of the big 3 in America for a long time to come..

 

[Rios15]

You are aware that the Yankees will only go spend so much at the risk of paying out a ridiculous luxury tax? The Yankees paid a luxury tax in 2008 that was was about $140K less than the Marlins entire payroll. Yes, you couldn't just implement a salary cap today and strip away what has already been given out. You could grandfather contracts that came before such a cap was imposed...however teams who are over wouldn't be able to sustain a full roster until those big deals are up. Alot of owners complain about no salary cap but most will also admit that teams like the Yankees and Red Sox keep the money machine alive for all. Shared revenue is taken in by small market teams every year, freaking free money, and rather than spend it on players, they pay bills and/or take it in as profit. Implement a salary cap and the shared revenue system goes away...and teams like the Kansas City Royals fall even further into the red. Do you also think the Player's Association would go for a salary cap? When Gil Meche can land a $55 million contract...what would lead anyone to believe that baseball players are willing to make less money?

This is exactly why the MLB should of implemented a salary cap way earlier. All I'm trying to make a point of is it's not fair. The Yankees have fans worldwide. Not only because they are a classic team but the fact that they can compete 9/10 years whereas a team like the Rays may not even compete next year because they will lose their players to FA. The Rays will once again go back into that rebuilding state which will obviously lose them money. A salary cap would give every team the same chance to compete because everyone could spend up to the same amount of money. How good would the Yankees really be if there was a salary cap? Baseball would be much more entertaining for fans like you and me too. Imagine the playoffs races if all teams were even.

 

[A.E]

This is exactly why the MLB should of implemented a salary cap way earlier. All I'm trying to make a point of is it's not fair.

Playing the "what if" card doesn't help anyone's argument here. The system is fair and its effective. Basically a trade-off, the little guys are getting shared revenue to keep the afloat...in exchange for the big guys being allowed to spend on players.

The Yankees have fans worldwide. Not only because they are a classic team but the fact that they can compete 9/10 years whereas a team like the Rays may not even compete next year because they will lose their players to FA. The Rays will once again go back into that rebuilding state which will obviously lose them money.

What are the Rays really losing? They were able to re-sign Crawford once and they've had him during his prime. Crawford's hitting the open market at an age where OF's start to lose their mojo. Crawford will be about as good as he is for a couple more seasons and then he's another overpaid outfielder on a big market team. Teams like the Rays and A's find ways to win with younger players. All teams can win but smaller market teams have to find ways to win w/o high profile FA's. Would signing a 33-year old Cliff Lee to a 5-year deal guarantee the Pirates are in the postseason? Hell no, it wouldn't and after Lee's skills diminish, his salary would tear down the roster. Even worse, what if that small market team signs Lee to a big deal and then he's doesn't pan out? Big market teams can afford an expensive mistake like that.

The Rays are going back into a rebuilding stage b/c they want to, not because they have to. The Rays attendance has been so bad (despite how good they've been) that the franchise is forced to cut a ton of payroll in order to survive.

A salary cap would give every team the same chance to compete because everyone could spend up to the same amount of money.

A salary cap doesn't mean every team is going to spend the same amount of money. Do the Hornets spend as much money as the Lakers or Celtics on players each season? Are the Carolina Panthers spending as much money as the Minnesota Vikings right now?

How good would the Yankees really be if there was a salary cap? Baseball would be much more entertaining for fans like you and me too.

Who knows how good the Yankees would be with a cap? I am lead to believe that they wouldn't suck. New York is still a huge market and high profile players in every major sport want to play in the big markets. The Yankees would still land a ton of high profile FA's.

The Yankees actually completely owned baseball long before their payroll ever came close to $200M. They were better with homegrown players like Jeter, Pettitte, Posada,and roleplayers like Brosius and Leyritz. The massive FA spending and prospect dumping was after Steinbrenner became obsessed with maintaining that dynasty. Unfortunately, the organization lost sight on what gave us 4 championships in 5 years.

Imagine the playoffs races if all teams were even.

A salary cap isn't going to suddenly make all teams even.

Holy sh*t...this is a fantasy world some of you are living in here.

 

[Mexi]

im completely with AE on this
good posts

 

[MapleLeaf]

Don't sell your soul Cliff. You're a good guy. Don't go for the money

 

[Rios15]

Playing the "what if" card doesn't help anyone's argument here. The system is fair and its effective. Basically a trade-off, the little guys are getting shared revenue to keep the afloat...in exchange for the big guys being allowed to spend on players.

That doesn't it fair. Just because the "little guys" are making money off shared revenue, it doesn't bring fans to the stadium. If the Jays could win 100+ games a year, I'm sure the Rogers Centre would be packed. I'm saying it's not a fair system because the Jays would love to be in the Yankees place. I'm saying it's not a fair system because just because money is being made, the same teams are always going to make the playoffs consistently.

What are the Rays really losing? They were able to re-sign Crawford once and they've had him during his prime. Crawford's hitting the open market at an age where OF's start to lose their mojo. Crawford will be about as good as he is for a couple more seasons and then he's another overpaid outfielder on a big market team. Teams like the Rays and A's find ways to win with younger players. All teams can win but smaller market teams have to find ways to win w/o high profile FA's. Would signing a 33-year old Cliff Lee to a 5-year deal guarantee the Pirates are in the postseason? Hell no, it wouldn't and after Lee's skills diminish, his salary would tear down the roster. Even worse, what if that small market team signs Lee to a big deal and then he's doesn't pan out? Big market teams can afford an expensive mistake like that.

The Rays have a bunch of important guys expiring. Crawford is the most important in my opinion. He brings speed, power, contact, and defense. Yes, he wont be in his prime much longer, but this free agency will most likely put the Rays out of contention for a playoff spot from my view and it's all because a big market team with a lot of money is most likely going to sign him. Same goes for when a team like the Indians, like when they have to trade their star players for prospects because that's the only way they'll ever compete again and bring fans to the stadium. Obviously big market teams can afford to make mistakes with contracts because they HAVE money, small market teams can't. That's another advantage big market teams have. Look at the Jays with the Vernon Wells contract. If the Yankees took on that contract, it wouldn't be a problem, they'll continue to sign guys to their team, which will let them compete faster than the Jays can.

The Rays are going back into a rebuilding stage b/c they want to, not because they have to. The Rays attendance has been so bad (despite how good they've been) that the franchise is forced to cut a ton of payroll in order to survive.

If the Rays had money, they wouldn't have to rebuild. Florida is obviously known to suck in terms sports attendance, but a team like the Jays, the attendance depends on how good the team is doing.

A salary cap doesn't mean every team is going to spend the same amount of money. Do the Hornets spend as much money as the Lakers or Celtics on players each season? Are the Carolina Panthers spending as much money as the Minnesota Vikings right now?

I understand that. The point I was trying to make is that those teams could only spend UP to a certain amount. So they can't overspend and bring in a Miami Heat with Kobe, and CP3 on top of that. If the Miami Heat could of signed more stars, they probably would of.

Who knows how good the Yankees would be with a cap? I am lead to believe that they wouldn't suck. New York is still a huge market and high profile players in every major sport want to play in the big markets. The Yankees would still land a ton of high profile FA's.

Good point. I agree, but the Knicks sucked for too long now lol.

The Yankees actually completely owned baseball long before their payroll ever came close to $200M. They were better with homegrown players like Jeter, Pettitte, Posada,and roleplayers like Brosius and Leyritz. The massive FA spending and prospect dumping was after Steinbrenner became obsessed with maintaining that dynasty. Unfortunately, the organization lost sight on what gave us 4 championships in 5 years.

I'm just saying the Yankees shouldn't be able to compete every year like they have.

A salary cap isn't going to suddenly make all teams even.

No but every team could have a chance at signing guys. Teams wont always have to build off of prospects strictly.

 

[A.E]

That doesn't it fair. Just because the "little guys" are making money off shared revenue, it doesn't bring fans to the stadium. If the Jays could win 100+ games a year, I'm sure the Rogers Centre would be packed. I'm saying it's not a fair system because the Jays would love to be in the Yankees place. I'm saying it's not a fair system because just because money is being made, the same teams are always going to make the playoffs consistently.

Shared revenue may not bring fans to the stadium but it pays the bills when the box office sales don't. So I think you're missing the whole point behind the shared revenue system and economics behind it. And no, I don't think the Jays would pack the Rogers Centre in the regular season, regardless of wins. The Rays won 90 games and they couldn't give away enough free sh*t to get people into the stands. Again, economics...each team is a business and like it or not, they're top priority is money.

The Rays have a bunch of important guys expiring. Crawford is the most important in my opinion. He brings speed, power, contact, and defense. Yes, he wont be in his prime much longer, but this free agency will most likely put the Rays out of contention for a playoff spot from my view and it's all because a big market team with a lot of money is most likely going to sign him. Same goes for when a team like the Indians, like when they have to trade their star players for prospects because that's the only way they'll ever compete again and bring fans to the stadium. Obviously big market teams can afford to make mistakes with contracts because they HAVE money, small market teams can't. That's another advantage big market teams have. Look at the Jays with the Vernon Wells contract. If the Yankees took on that contract, it wouldn't be a problem, they'll continue to sign guys to their team, which will let them compete faster than the Jays can.

The Rays are losing Crawford who's speed, power, contact, and defense is only going to head South with age. Soriano is actually their biggest pending loss b/c finding lights out closers is a real biotch...but I will say that they landed Soriano w/o having to spend a ton of money to get him & they could very well take a chance on another reliever that can turn out to be the same guy. Cleveland did the smart thing and traded Cliff Lee b/c they knew Cliff Lee alone wasn't going to get them a championship any time soon. Cleveland could of very well held onto to him but for what? Shapiro decided to cut payroll and play the prospects game b/c it was just time to turn over the roster. No, the Yankees would never do that but that's just b/c a city like New York doesn't have the patience and the year to year expectations are too high. A long time ago people started packing Yankee stadium b/c the Yankees win and the organization continues to use every means necessary to keep a winning product on the field, hence the stadium stays packed. The Pittsburgh Pirates had a championship caliber team, full house, popularity...but new ownership decided to drastically reduce payroll, they stopped winning, fans stopped showing up & they haven't rebounded. Pittsburgh also cut payroll b/c new ownership wanted to pocket more money, not b/c they couldn't afford it. Kansas City...same story. Can't say the Jays can't afford it either. This is a team that gave Frank Thomas, Rios, Ryan, and Vernon Wells a sh*tload of money. None panned out but the point is, the Jays are able to spend. Whether or not they choose to is their call...but it hasn't nothing to do with the word "can't".

If the Rays had money, they wouldn't have to rebuild. Florida is obviously known to suck in terms sports attendance, but a team like the Jays, the attendance depends on how good the team is doing.

If the Rays had money coming in from ticket sales and vending, then they wouldn't have to drastically cut player costs. Again, look at the economics of the small markets, the fan support they don't have, and how its even possible to stay financially competitive when nobody shows up for games. Would telling the Yankees they can only carry a payroll of $100M suddenly get the city of Tampa interested in watching baseball? If 90 wins and a division title isn't enough, then I don't know what the f*ck is.

I understand that. The point I was trying to make is that those teams could only spend UP to a certain amount. So they can't overspend and bring in a Miami Heat with Kobe, and CP3 on top of that. If the Miami Heat could of signed more stars, they probably would of.

You're only helping to make my point here. Even in a league where the is a salary cap...the bigger market teams manage to stack their rosters with All-Stars.

Good point. I agree, but the Knicks sucked for too long now lol.

The Knicks sucked for too long b/c they mismanaged their money, not because they didn't have any.

I'm just saying the Yankees shouldn't be able to compete every year like they have.

Why the f*ck not...b/c you're not a Yankee fan? The organization earns the money they spend, a lot of it comes straight out of our (fans) pockets, and I can't be unhappy with how they use a lot of that money to constantly put a top product onto the field. They aren't breaking rules, they aren't robbing banks, and they are the biggest draw in baseball. Television ratings are proof that nobody watches once the Yankees are done.

No but every team could have a chance at signing guys. Teams wont always have to build off of prospects strictly.

My f*cking eyes are starting to bleed Rios. You need to get this through your head...a salary cap WILL NOT make every single team fair and square on paper, on the field. The Pirates won't be out competing in the FA market with the likes of New York and Boston, the Marlins won't suddenly be making mass profit and the playoffs, and people in Kansas City certainly won't start flocking to the stadium most nights.

The only reason that you and every other fan of a small market team argue in favor of a salary cap is b/c you're frustrated with little-to-know success...while New York, Boston, and Los Angeles continue to see success, year after year. Does New York, Boston, and Los Angeles not always contend (more years than not) in every major sport anyways?

 

[Phil The Thrill]

Kinda like the Red Sox were this year when they missed the playoffs right?

A much different scenario. We were actually expecting not to make the playoffs for quite some time due to injuries to Beckett, Pedroia, Youkilis and Ellsbury, but yet we were still able to compete with the Rays and Yankees. The thing with Yankee fans are assuming the have Lee in the bag, which pisses me off, and makes me hope they wake up disappointed. Trust me, my friends who support them, all assume Lee is going to sign with them. One of my friends even jokingly said he has his Cliff Lee Yankees jersey on order.

Also, personally I think Lee is overrated, but that is just me. Didn't even have a winning record in Texas.

 

[VC15]

It's not like the Yankees didn't have injuries to key players last year...

The Red Sox were not a good team last year, it's just that simple.

Beckett is trash
Pedroia is massively overrated
Youkilis was a key loss
Ellsbury is made of glass (I don't know why he was such a key loss).

 

[Phil The Thrill]

Beckett definitely is not trash. Yes he isn't our ace anymore, but there are many teams he could be an ace on. Buchholz and Lester have taken on the ace role.

I fail to see how Pedroia was overrated. That one really puzzles me.

As for Ellsbury. How isn't he a key loss? Our outfield sucked last year, and he took a lot of speed out of it. Losing Mike Cameron made the outfield even worse.

So clearly if your missing four key players, you are not going to meet expectations. Plain and simple. Also we could not have been that bad if we were still able to compete.

 

[Mooche]

And this is exactly why the MLB is terrible..

This is also why I have never been seriously interested in this league. The whole basis of the Yankees picking up anything, and everything they want is a joke..

 

[elcheato]

im completely with AE on this
good posts

Probably cause the Dodgers consistently can afford a large payroll and spend 5 million dollars on late first round picks..

 

[footballplaya52]

Don't sell your soul Cliff. You're a good guy. Don't go for the money

+1

 

[elcheato]

zomg he better go it will give more money to other teams!!!!

 

[cruzg24]

Even if big market teams werent that good, they would still have better attendance than small market teams. Its all relative if you think about it, they can charge more because the demand to see games in big cities is higher. As opposed to a Rays game which I went to go see where half the stadium was empty and it was against the Phillies. A premier team who they lost to the previous year in the World Series. I also have to admit that a salary cap is why the NFL far exceeds MLB in popularity. Every team has pretty much the same amount of talent so every team has an opportunity to make the playoffs, there is enourmous amounts of parody in the NFL. Heck look at the Kansas City Chiefs this year and how they have managed to turn it around through smart ownership and coaching.

 

[STLZACH]

And this is exactly why the MLB is terrible..

<rant>
I agree.
They need to put a salary cap on the <Censored>. Seriously, this is ridiculous.

In baseball, there are like, 4-5 Clear-cut options for the playoffs every season. A few random occurences happen where those teams don't make it, like my ex-beloved Cardinals, or the Rangers.

The teams that have the most money make it. Period.

Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Cardinals, Giants, Dodgers, Mets, Phillies, Etc.

And on that note, some of those teams <Censored>ing trade off their top-RBI producer (*cough*Cardinals*cough*), and lose fans because of it. I'm one of them. I refuse to watch a <Censored>ing baseball game until they do 2 or more of the following.

-<Censored>ing Fire LaRussa. He's a senile idiot. Don't start with the "2nd Winniest Manager of all time" or whatever the <Censored> it is. I don't care. He's retarded.
-Trade Pujols. Not for a pitcher. We don't need a <Censored>ing pitcher, we have the best 1-2 in baseball.
-Stop trading our offense for scrub ass pitchers.
-Resign Molina for life.
-Stop being cheap and <Censored>ING GET US PLAYERS that will take us to the World Series. A middle infield maybe? A third baseman? Holliday and PooJols can't take you all the way. Hell, they couldn't even do it WITH Wainwright and Carpenter, who they aren't going to be able to resign anyway if they resign lazy ass (#5). Which is why they should trade him. Trade him for someone that can lead the team. Lead the Young Guys that may be able to run our MI for some time to come. Lead Rasmus, Freese, etc. Because Pujols is a terrible role model. Look what he did to Molina. Molina worked his as of to get where he is, and, don't get me wrong he's great, and my favorite player, but <Censored> he's walking to first base on half the <Censored>ing groundballs/pop-ups that he could probably realistically run out.

</rant>

 

[JoshHoward5]

It's not like the Yankees didn't have injuries to key players last year...

The Red Sox were not a good team last year, it's just that simple.

Beckett is trash
Pedroia is massively overrated
Youkilis was a key loss
Ellsbury is made of glass (I don't know why he was such a key loss).

Yeah we were just a bad team. That's why the Sox contended somewhat til the end, even without a former MVP, and other top player for the second half the season. I'll admit that Beckett isn't what he was a couple of years ago, but still having him out hurts.

 

[The Guid]

You're wasting your time man. Sox don't know injuries....they didn't lose such key guys as Nick Johnson and Chan Ho "I hadda lotta diarreah" Park

 

[Phil The Thrill]

^LMFAO, losing bench players and number 5 starters must be tough.

 

[cruzg24]

You're crazy if you think that for the Cardinals to make it to the World Series again is by trading Albert Pujols. He is currently one of the most prolific hitters in all of baseball and would easily without a shadow of a doubt already make it into the HOF with the resume that he has. If I had Albert Pujols on my team then I would be the happiest fan in the world.