cfoo
Welcome To Celtics Green!
Posts: 1
|
Post by cfoo on Apr 12, 2010 22:18:16 GMT -5
now that the steroid era is over and players are starting to look like human beings again. Do small market teams actually have a chance? I was watching the royals today and heard the comment speed kills. The royals back int he day were a speed team with gap power. Are we getting back to baseball being baseball again and different styles of play being successful vs just loading your lineup with a bunch of juiced money grubbing idiots?
Somethng has been lost in sports the past several years. When free agency came about. With the influx of foreign talent. Players lying about their age just to get a better contract. Players juicing just to get a better contract. I've been a fan for a long time. And people have forgotten what integrity actually is and why it's important. I enjoy watching a game of actual human beings where smarts and different styles of play can actually succeed. I'm starting to see why a guy like Billy Butler is special and different and makes the game interesting. He's a pure doubles hitter who might not have gotten his due 10 years ago.
the same goes for every other sport. I personally think Lebron is a total roider. He brings in loads of cash for the league so Stern doesn't have the spine or balls to do anything about it. I'm not even sure he understands why these things are important. Teh game was so much better int he 80's because you had actual skill and different kind of players. Actual skill. Watching mchale with his post moves and different ways to score etc. It's the same with baseball.
In other words I'd love to see small market teams become relevant. Teams like the Orioles and minny, kc, pittsburg, cincy etc.. It makes the game more interesting. death to the yankees.
|
|
|
|
Post by jrmzt on Apr 13, 2010 0:08:46 GMT -5
Well thing with small market teams is unless they somehow draft a great player who will want to stay and not jump ship after a few years to the Yankees, then they don't really have a chance. Teams like Pittsburgh are so poor that if I'm not wrong, their entire team salary amounts to the salary of maybe 2 Yankee players. They just don't have the money to spend and because they have practically no talent there, free agents are less inclined to sign with them. So yeah pretty much they are just food for the Yankees or the Sox to keep beating year in and year out. Unlike the NBA where a single player can make a huge difference, the MLB is probably the most unbalanced league because of the zero salary cap. Even in the NFL, most teams get their chance..the Rams as bad as they were last year, have won a SuperBowl, same with the Saints etc etc...They just have to get lucky and grab a franchise QB because without a franchise QB, nothing will work no matter how many first round defensive stars you have. Although that may all soon change with the looming uncapped year in the NFL coming up...teams like the Cowboys and Skins will be able to splash like they have always wanted to.
|
|
|
|
Post by freshnthehouse on Apr 13, 2010 2:11:12 GMT -5
I don't think it's quite fair to lump the A's in with Royals and Pirates. The A's had winning seasons 7 of the last 10 seasons, with several division titles. But you are right that they are equal when it comes to spending money (as in none of them do). Luckily for the A's, the have one of the best baseball minds in the business running things. Royals and Pirates spend crap money and make crap decisions, which is a killer.
But even now that we don't see the monstrous home run hitters of 10 years ago, talent is still the name of the game. And as long as the Yankees, Sox, and Mets can outbid 70% of the other teams for talent, MLB is never going to be fair.
A great example of this is when the Twins had to trade Santana because of financial reasons. First off, only in baseball does it happen that a team can't afford to keep a player who is arguably the best at what he does on the roster. Every team in the NBA could afford to resign Lebron. Every team in the NFL could afford to resign Peyton Manning. It's ridiculous. And when it came time for the Twins to trade Santana, they were basically screwed because there were only three teams that could afford to pay him! It's a sad state of affairs when on the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets are the only 3 teams out of 30 that can afford the game's best player.
And take a look at the last two off seasons. Two years ago the Yankees went out and got the 2 best starting pitchers and the best position player. They almost spent more on free agency then the rest of the league combined. And this year the Red Sox went out and got the best starting pitcher, the best shortstop, the best 3rd basemen, and the best center fielder. it's insane.
|
|
|
|
Post by jrmzt on Apr 13, 2010 2:53:58 GMT -5
I don't think it's quite fair to lump the A's in with Royals and Pirates. The A's had winning seasons 7 of the last 10 seasons, with several division titles. But you are right that they are equal when it comes to spending money (as in none of them do). Luckily for the A's, the have one of the best baseball minds in the business running things. Royals and Pirates spend crap money and make crap decisions, which is a killer. But even now that we don't see the monstrous home run hitters of 10 years ago, talent is still the name of the game. And as long as the Yankees, Sox, and Mets can outbid 70% of the other teams for talent, MLB is never going to be fair. A great example of this is when the Twins had to trade Santana because of financial reasons. First off, only in baseball does it happen that a team can't afford to keep a player who is arguably the best at what he does on the roster. Every team in the NBA could afford to resign Lebron. Every team in the NFL could afford to resign Peyton Manning. It's ridiculous. And when it came time for the Twins to trade Santana, they were basically screwed because there were only three teams that could afford to pay him! It's a sad state of affairs when on the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets are the only 3 teams out of 30 that can afford the game's best player. And take a look at the last two off seasons. Two years ago the Yankees went out and got the 2 best starting pitchers and the best position player. They almost spent more on free agency then the rest of the league combined. And this year the Red Sox went out and got the best starting pitcher, the best shortstop, the best 3rd basemen, and the best center fielder. it's insane. Wait..the Twins are not poor. They are anything but poor. They have a pretty decent attendance record, a billionaire owner, and a great manager and they do make the playoffs more consistently than others. They are just real tight wads and its hard to blame them when the Yankees, Sox and Mets can outspend them. However, they should have kept Santana. Its kinda like how they are paying Joe Mauer 180million I think...it shows that they are willing to spend..But they were also lucky that Mauer was willing to take a pay cut to be with them..180million would be the least that the Yankees and Sox would pay for him. Especially the Yankees who have an aging Posada and need to replace him badly. Who better to replace Posada than Mauer, arguably the best catcher in MLB history. Thing is, some teams are poor like the Pirates, and some teams..are just real stingy..the Twins are lucky they have a great front office because if they didn't and on the budget they had, they wouldn't make the playoffs as many times as they did. However, now it remains to be seen if they surround Mauer with the players it takes to win a World Series because he can't do it alone..pitchers will just walk him like how they do with Pujols. As for the As, they had their great years. Unfortunately, lately they've become part of the Yankee farm system..anyone good from there just gets snapped up once their contracts are done. They're still a decent team, had some of my fav players too like Rickey Henderson. |
|
|
|
Post by freshnthehouse on Apr 13, 2010 3:03:54 GMT -5
Wait..the Twins are not poor. They are anything but poor. They were one of the lowest revenue teams in the league when they were in the dome. they''re attendance has been good, but the dome generated zilch for income. Barely any box suites, corporate packages, things like that. And our TV deal is slightly less than average. TV deals are where the money is made. That's one of the main things that puts the Yankees in their own stratosphere as far as raking in money. They've got an incredibly lucrative TV deal. But for the Twins, this stadium is definitely a step in the right direction. They'll still never be in the realm of the Sox and Yankees, but they should at least be in the middle of the pack. Switching sports here, but one thing that drives me nuts is when knucklehead Minnesota Vikings fans bad mouth Zigi Wilf, owner of the Vikes. the guy spends serious cash to put a contender on the field, all the while playing in the 2nd worst stadium in the NFL for generating money. Dude is one of the best owners in the league. |
|
|
|
Post by jrmzt on Apr 13, 2010 3:59:21 GMT -5
Yeah well Vikings fans are better than Eagles fans. Least they don't hate their QB for bringing them to one super bowl and 5 NFC championships..apparently thats not enough for em. They need super bowls as consistently as Montana or Aikman or Bradshaw gets em or else it won't be enough. Now who have they got? Kolb? That guy barely played a few games and hes going to have the weight of what Donovan had on him. They're going to expect more than just a super bowl appearance, consistent playoff appearances and 5 NFC title games out of him. Good look to those Eagle fans and their hopes. No running game, and a half decent defense and they're going to be expecting a super bowl. Oh well the Colts have shown you can win a Super Bowl with barely a running game so I guess it can be done.
Oh and yeah today I caught the Sox Twins game. Those suites in the new Target Field look pretty nice. Hope they sell out. Maybe then the Twins could get some better guys on the field. Its actually a great deal. I heard the commentator say one of those suites were about 100,000 a year for about 81 games a year which works out to be about 1,200 a game and each suit fits 15 people. So it works out to be about 80-90 dollars per game per person in that suite. Pretty worth it compared to some of the other suites around the league.
|
|
|
|
Post by freshnthehouse on Apr 13, 2010 5:10:17 GMT -5
McNabb has always been unappreciated in Philly. I would've loved to have seen the Vikes make a run at him. But we're stuck in the Favre waiting game for now.
A buddy of mine was at the Twins/Sox game today. Says the field is phenomenal. It'll be weird seeing a Twins game in an actual baseball bark instead of the dome.
I love the Twins lineup this year. They are going to score a ton of runs. I think the starting rotation will be the weak point. Solid but not spectacular. Even without Nathan the bullpen seems fine. This should be a good year for Twins fans.
|
|
|
|
Post by jrmzt on Apr 13, 2010 5:44:08 GMT -5
McNabb has always been unappreciated in Philly. I would've loved to have seen the Vikes make a run at him. But we're stuck in the Favre waiting game for now. A buddy of mine was at the Twins/Sox game today. Says the field is phenomenal. It'll be weird seeing a Twins game in an actual baseball bark instead of the dome. I love the Twins lineup this year. They are going to score a ton of runs. I think the starting rotation will be the weak point. Solid but not spectacular. Even without Nathan the bullpen seems fine. This should be a good year for Twins fans. Yeah seems weird without the Metrodome. As for the Favre waiting game, some analysts have said that Favre hasn't given an answer because he wants to skip training camp. Which makes sense since this was what he did last year. I doubt the Vikings would be contented to wait on Favre until the very last minute. I got a feeling that Favre has already agreed to come back but he won't announce it publicly until training camp is over. However, if Favre doesn't return, the Vikings could either draft a QB or trade for one. Jason Campbell might be an option..or they could draft a guy like Colt McCoy...would be a waste to have such a complete team on both defense and offense but not have a star QB to run it..waste of a years worth of pay. |
|
|
|
Post by eddietours on Apr 13, 2010 9:45:10 GMT -5
question how the hell are the twins going to playing in October in that stadium !!!!!! crazy
|
|
cfoo
Welcome To Celtics Green!
Posts: 1
|
Post by cfoo on Apr 13, 2010 11:31:02 GMT -5
well the royals now have a competant GM at the helm now. Dayton Moore has pulled a raef lafrentz with guys like jose guillen. The problem is small market teams cant go out and get big name free agents because players dont want to go there. What Moore has done is sign whoever to fit their payroll and rebuild the farm system and allowed players to develop. Now they have 52 mil coming off hte books the next two years and young players coming up. They've extended Greinke etc.. Allard Baird ran that team like they were the red sox with no plan and then wondered why he had to trade guys like DAmon, Beltran and Dye for 10 cents on the dollar because their hands were tied. Baird is now with the Red Sox coincidently and is better served in a big market.
|
|
|
|
Post by freshnthehouse on Apr 13, 2010 15:51:36 GMT -5
question how the hell are the twins going to playing in October in that stadium !!!!!! crazy It'll be cold, but not much worse than some of the other northern cities (chicago, detroit, new york, boston, etc). For example, the average high in October for Minneapolis is 58. Boston's is 62. |
|
|
|
Post by eddietours on Apr 14, 2010 9:26:57 GMT -5
Really not bad i thought it would get really cold by that time of the year in minneapolis maybe it was all the Fargo scenes that got me thinking of the snow jejeje
|
|
