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What? no posts about MLB contraction??? (1 Viewer)

John Besse

Supporting Actor
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Jun 22, 2000
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I have nothing against the Twins or the Expos. But, if their attendance is crappy... And baseball is losing money... Well, I feel the cuts have to be necessary. Although I would rather see a new baseball commissioner who might be able to make a difference. Bud Selig is a loser and is ruining the MLB. If only he would enforce salary caps and not allow a CERTAIN TEAM to buy the World Series every year.
Anyways, I do not want to see the Twins go. Nor do I want to lose the Marlins or the Devil Rays. As far as the Expos, I'm not really worrying either way. But it really does suck that Canada will be down to only one MLB team. I just hope there isn't another baseball strike next season. I heard on the news speculation about that. If that happens, MLB will probably be doomed for good.
Does anyone else hate Bud Selig as much as me?
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Mark Pfeiffer

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Jun 27, 1999
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Leave it to Major League Baseball to make the most boneheaded decisions possible. The World Series that just finished was one of the best in recent memory AND actually made baseball a subject of national interest. So now they talk about slicing off two teams and potential work stoppages for next year. Way to go!
I'd hate to see the Expos go--not sure why, but I have a soft spot for them and their goofy logo--and definitely don't think the Twins should be victims in this mess. I was excited to see the Twins play when I was in Toronto this summer since they were one of the great stories until, oh, mid-August. There's too much backroom tomfoolery going on with their situation.
I understand why Montreal will likely be eliminated. They had terrible fan support (although can you blame the fans when the talent leaking out of there for the last ten years is astonishing) and what seems to be a shoddily run organization.
Florida and Tampa Bay, though, haven't exactly been pillars of success. Plus, these are young franchises that aren't doing squat compared to Minnesota. It all stinks, if you ask me.
And they want to get this done in time for next season?! Are they nuts?!
Owners holding cities hostage for stadiums is dying. Voters aren't going for it. (Here in Columbus voters rejected proposals for an arena and soccer-specific stadium a few years back. Whaddya know. Private enterprise built them. We kept the MLS team and received an NHL franchise.) A lot of it is "keeping up with the Joneses". It would be one thing if some of these facilities truly needed to be replaced because they didn't have enough capacity or were structurally unsound. Are we going to be rebuilding new stadiums all over again in 25 years because the phenomenon has worn off?
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Carlo_M

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I don't think I'd mind contraction too much. MLB talent (especially on the pitching side) is really diluted, imo.
 

Brian Lawrence

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As much as I hate the Yankees, I am not gonna start blaming baseballs problems on the George Steinbrenners of the game. Lets face it, If the Twins owner where more like Steinbrenner, that team would not be on the chopping block right now.
My problem, is not with Billionaire owners who shell out the $$$$ for big name players. It's the billionaire owners who don't want to part with one single penny in order to give fans a winning team (God help the Fenway Faithful should Jeremy Jacobs get his hands on the Red Sox)
 

Joseph S

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I don't think I'd mind contraction too much. MLB talent (especially on the pitching side) is really diluted, imo.
Unfortunately, this isn't going to help. They will expand the rosters to 27 and there will be more players than before.
It's also looking like Selig wants all competition out of his NL and cram the AL West like the old AL East. All indications are that there won't be a reverse order selection of players like Radke, Guerrero, Milton, Vidro, etc. Montreal buys the Marlins and gets to keep 4-5 guys from the Expos. Then Anaheim(Disney) is bought out and gets 4-5 from the Twins. Texas is replaced by Arizona in the AL West and suddenly Oak, Sea, Arizona, and Anaheim are in the same divison. Yet, Anaheim adds a boatload of starting pitching talent to their already amazing young pitching staff.
So... the crappy teams will still blow and the WS champs are out of the NL. Anaheim and Fla get to stuff their rosters with fine young talent and Oak rots in the AL west until they are contracted.
Heck the Red Sox are being sold this winter, why can't they have Guerrero and Vidro or Mays, Radke, Reed, and Milton for free??? What's the difference Bud between Disney or a trustfund being bought out?? I'd say the new Red Sox owners are worse off than a new Fla or Ana owner in that they'll need to pay $1 Billion to get a new stadium built too. A few years of Guerrero and Vidro could keep the initial costs down and the talent up.
Then again the whole thing doesn't make any sense and the sooner Selig and his "Jacobsesque" daughter are gone from baseball the sooner baseball can move on.
 

John Tillman

Supporting Actor
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Feb 2, 1999
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595
As strange as this sounds I don't quite get how all these new stadiums have popped up in the last decade. Here in NY where everyone around the country loves to bash (not to mention what the terrorists like to do) we get to utilize one structure that is dam near 100 years old and the other one from the late fifties/early sixties.
Even though NY has had our share of winning, the local municipality has not exactly bent over backwards to accommodate. Early last year, Yankee stadium had multiple rusted iron girders voluntarily falling off the aging structure. We also have two NY football teams playing in the same stadium for more than a decade... in New Jersey.
By their actions (or lack of) I suspect that the city expects MLB to possibly fold, and they don't want to get caught with multiple hundred million dollar structures to eat. Just a little insight into the hometown of Steinbrenner which a lot of people like to bash for his success. He obviously operates on a business level first and sports enthusiast second. Maybe that's what it'll continue to take for success in the future.
 

Joseph S

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Even though NY has had our share of winning, the local municipality has not exactly bent over backwards to accommodate.
That's simply not true. The State and City have provided the stadium for free, paid for a total rehab, paid for the recent repairs, and have indicated a willingness to build a new Yankee stadium at 100% taxpayer expense. Steinbrenner has had and will continue to have the same freeride like Mil, Balt, Cleve, Sea have. This is not going to be the case in Boston and Minn where the owner will be forced to pay for the entire stadium and if they're lucky will get the roads and offramps for free.
 

Michael*K

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I don't think I'd mind contraction too much. MLB talent (especially on the pitching side) is really diluted, imo.
I agree. The talent pool is too watered down now. Bring on contraction! And bring it on for the NHL also, where the dilution of talent is far more noticeable.
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John Tillman

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Sounds like Minn might not make it due to the stadium situation. If the new owners of the Red Sox won't spring for a new facility do you think the city will let it fold?
 

Rachael B

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I think they should move one of the teams to Mexico City. It's no worse than flying to the west coast. I was thinking Havana would be a good place too. The Havana team's name would of course be the Socialist Workers... On second thought the Havana thang might not work. They'd have to get a whole new team after every road trip, due to defections. There has to be places to move these teams to, me thinks.
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Daryl Furkalo

Second Unit
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Leave it to baseball to come off an incredible high, the World Series, and three days have the possibility of work stoppage AGAIN, and the loss of teams as well. Bud Selig has got to go.
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Joseph S

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quote: If the new owners of the Red Sox won't spring for a new facility do you think the city will let it fold?[/quote]
Yes, I think they would. They being the politicians. The Patriots almost left twice and if it wasn't for Bob Kraft building the new stadium (still in Foxboro after repeated attempts to get a site in the city) on his own dime, they would be gone already.
[Edited last by Joseph S on November 07, 2001 at 11:17 PM]
 

Aaron Schmitt

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May 26, 1999
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I will agree with everyone who say it's time for Selig to go. Unfortunately, the owners don't want to get rid of one of their own who is running the show. I would think it would be a conflict of interest to have someone who is running the whole show to be one of the people who owns one of the businesses (ok, technically Selig doesn't own the Milwaukee brewers anymore, technically). I would think congress would have looked into this more with basball's whole anti-trust exemption, etc, but unfortunately they didn't do anything about it.
And honestly, who would want someone running all of baseball who can't even run his own team well?
It's time for a smart person filled with common sense to be in the role of commissioner. Unfortunately it will probably take a huge labor war, and the ownership deciding that Selig isn't leading them properly for it to happen (highly unlikely that they'll admit that).
It's looking like I'm going to have to become a college baseball fan or something.
Aaron
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Lloyd Mann

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Jun 30, 1997
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Polad is a tightwad for sure, but new ownership would not solve the problem of the lack of revenue sharing, nor the fact that we have a stadium without the high buck suites for corporations to pay big bucks to get.
The Twins have won 2 world series in the last 15 years, only the Yankees have won more. The problem is they cannot maintain that, after doing so they lost much of the team due to the fact that they were then worth more on the open market than the team could afford to play.
This happened in both 88 and 92.
With the Yankees having a salary budget twice what the twins have, the only time they have a chance is with young unknowns who don't earn much. It's as if the Twins were a farm team for the rest of the league. Thats one reason why Kirby Pucket is such a local hero, he stayed on even though he would have made so much more elsewhere.
-Lloyd
 

Jack Briggs

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I don't think I've read in any of the sports media about what would happen to the structure of both leagues if contraction takes place. If we go back to 28 teams, does that mean we might get rid of the Central Divisions of each league, and do away with the Wild Card tier of playoffs?
(If MLB doesn't do this, then I think it's high time we returned to the pre-1962 season schedule of 154 games.)
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James RD

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Aug 4, 2001
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One option being discussed is Arizona moving to the AL West and Texas moving to the AL Central. Each league would consist of 14 teams with 3 divisions (West-4, Central and East -5).
 

Patrick_S

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If MLB doesn't do this, then I think it's high time we returned to the pre-1962 season schedule of 154 games.
Baseball went to the 162 game schedule in 1961.
I don't think there is any way that they would shorten the playoffs because that would mean less money.
 

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