2003 ML Baseball Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Steve_Tk]

Maybe he is and maybe I'm just jealous.

I have no clue how much money baseball as a whole brings in a year.

 

[Dennis]

And do away with interleague play. But for the Yanks/Mets and Cubs/ChiSox, do any of the games even mean anything to anyone? I'd much rather see more games against league opponents. For instance, the Phillies and Pirates only play once in April and once in September. That is simply not right.

I would also like to get rid of interleague play, seems to take a little of that something special away from the postseason.

 

[Evan Case]

Dennis,

I knew about the Brewers moving (they would probably be the team I'd suggest joining a hypothetically expanded AL West).

I didn't give a thought to each team having to miss a series though. IMO, it wouldn't be as much a problem as it would seem to be because schedules could be staggered and the teams needn't take three days off in a row, but instead spread the days over the course of the season. And it's not like the schedules are rigidly formatted either, with series of 2, 3, 4, and even 5 games peppered throughout the season... so I would think something could definitely be worked out. It would at least be better than the unequal divisional schedules currently in place.

And then interleague only exacerbates the problem.

Evan (edited for not thinking straight)

 

[Jason Seaver]

why doesn't MLB move an NL Central team into the AL West to even up the numbers?
...
And do away with interleague play.

These two goals are mutually exclusive. Moving a team (lets call them the Astros) from the NL Central to the AL West would result in 15 teams in each league, meaning either a longer total season, fewer games per team, or interleague play every day, since there'd always be an odd team out in each league.

The ideal solution would be to add two expansion teams, resulting in two leagues with four four-team divisions, no wild card, and no interleague play. Of course, since baseball's having a hard time finding a place for the Expos, that's not really an option.

 

[Evan Case]

The math just caught up to me. :b

Yeah, it'd be tough to work out.

I still think it looks wrong though!

Evan

 

[Phil L]

Moving a team (lets call them the Astros) from the NL Central to the AL West

Can you imagine the games at Ten-run Field if they had a DH?

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Agggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Phils battle back to steal the lead and lose in Bottom 9.

 

[Mark Pfeiffer]

Phew! The Reds don't blow another one at home.

Sorry Scott.

 

[Marvin]

The ideal solution would be to add two expansion teams..

Are you serious? And dilute the pitching even more? Contraction makes far more sense than expansion at this point. Is there really any need for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, or the Expos, just to name two teams..

 

[Dan Hine]

or the Expos

You mean the team that is leading the National League East and were respectable enough last year to be a team you didn't want to face in a do or die situation? Yeah, I think they should stick around. A change of scenery wouldn't hurt though. I agree with you that expansion isn't a good idea but neither is contraction. Look at what the Twins have done since talk of contraction began. You never know what's gonna happen throughout the season.

Teams like Tampa Bay aren't doing poorly b/c teams from Tampa can't play. They are doing poorly because the management of the team is making bad decisions. Bad signings, bad trades, poor scouting/recruiting, etc... What MLB should do is contract the idiots that run some of these baseball teams. But I don't think they can do that.

 

[Marvin]

...expansion isn't a good idea but neither is contraction. Look at what the Twins have done since talk of contraction began. You never know what's gonna happen throughout the season.

I never agreed with the decision to contract the Twins; that was just Selig trying to do a favor for his buddy Pohlad. And I wasn't really going on the current won-lost records; more by team attendance, though I don't know for sure those teams have the lowest attendance. For all I know, the Devil Rays may be outdrawing the Marlins.

 

[Steve_Tk]

Maddux finally pitches a good game.

Was interesting to see the pitching going on in the Royals/Indians game. Anyone watch that game? Was there ever a big brawl?

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Phillies break an OLD team record by scoring 13 runs in one inning!

(And more importantly: they won the game!)

 

[Michael Hughes]

Can we trade Benitez to anyone? Please? We'll toss in a free quartz watch.

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

If you were extraordinarily talented in your chosen line of work and someone offered you 30% more per year than your current employer (whom you work for because every major company in your business is part of a cartel which prevents you from negotiating with anyone else until you've worked for them for 5-10 years) and ten years of job security, would you turn it down? Of course not.

Oh, I completely agree. I think he would have been foolish to turn it down. I also think that baseball has totally gone insane in regards to salary (as has pretty much all other professional sport), and that in most cases, we the fans are paying the penalty in ludicrous ticket and concession prices. Thankfully(?), the recent attendance woes of the Jays have forced ticket prices down to a reasonable level, but smallish hotdogs are still $4.

But I'm still making the A-Rod Quarter Billion Dollar Bill. I don't know any other way to display my distress that's also humorous and bugs the opposing team. These are, of course, my goals here.

And my "permanent" blue dye has washed out, leaving me with a blondey-green mohawk. Ick! Time to try another dye or shave my head.

 

[Phil L]

But I'm still making the A-Rod Quarter Billion Dollar Bill. I don't know any other way to display my distress that's also humorous and bugs the opposing team.

Try thinking of a sign about Tom Hicks, who owns the rangers, gave AROD $252 million, and then complained about baseball's finances and demanded a salary cap in an interview from his yacht.

 

[Shane Martin]

Being a Dodger fan this year is no different it seems than the rest other than the fact our pitching seems to be healthy though our bullpen(really Ashby) has screwed up lately.

Our offense is pitiful however and going out and getting a bat is really the only answer. Their young/inexperienced infield of Izturis and Cora just doesn't seem to do. They are decent defensively but can't hit the broad side of the barn.

My fingers are crossed that our offense will get in gear because we can't rely on 3 guys for our entire offense the entire year.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Try thinking of a sign about Tom Hicks, who owns the rangers, gave AROD $252 million, and then complained about baseball's finances and demanded a salary cap in an interview from his yacht.

Something about that money perhaps buying some sort of starting pitching, for example.

 

[Phil L]

I'm kind of curious about how bad a pitching staff the rangers offense could support. It seems like John Hart is very curious and is trying to find out.

Could they wind the AL west if the had the starting staff of, say, the Twins?

 

[Ashley Seymour]

Even though I'm a Braves fan, Popular Science has a very interesting article on the Boston Red Sox hiring Bill James to bring his Sabermetric analysis to guide their team this year.

From the article: His job is to advise the team management on whom to trade, sign or cut. "I believe in making decision based on fact," James says, "and the facts are often states in numbers."

The Red Sox traded for second baseman Todd Walker and let pricey All-Star Cliff Floyd flee for the New York Mets. Walker's sabermetrics outplay Floyd's, but his power number don't. So the picks have drawn criticism. "Floyd's a home run hitter," laments Howard Bryant, sportswriter for the Boston Herald, "Walker's a very nice player, but he won't fill that gap."

TODD WALKER
TRADITIONAL STATS (2002)
BA .299
HR 11
RBI 64
SABERMETRICS
2002 WIN SHARES 24
CAREER AVG.