MLB Salary system is a joke

Post #21 » by **Basketball Jesus** » Fri Apr 4, 2008 8:28 pm

Ayt wrote:Still, those advantages are still clearly less of an advantage than being able to spend enormous sums on your active 25 man roster.

Well, yes and no. Payroll dollars are not all constructed equally. A good portion of a team

Post #22 » by **Basketball Jesus** » Fri Apr 4, 2008 8:49 pm

Look at the AL here. 3 of the 4 teams to make the playoffs last year were in the top 5 in league salary. The Tigers missed and they are one of the teams you listed as spending over $130M. That said, were not looking at one year. The Red Sox, and Yankees are consistently competitive.

Again, you can

Post #23 » by **Basketball Jesus** » Fri Apr 4, 2008 8:53 pm

Mind you, before anybody gets the wrong impression, I don

Post #24 » by **Chach** » Fri Apr 4, 2008 10:20 pm

The last few years, Tampa has handled the situation of playing in the AL East perfectly. They have a few star players (Crawford, Kazmir, Upton), they have picked up wise FA players (Pena), and their farm system is just about to burst with talent. Their payroll will continue to increase the next several seasons as they resign guys like Kazmir and Upton to long term deals (they will have even more wiggleroom with Baldelli's contract coming off) and the team will become very competitive. Big names don't win big crowds, winning does. If the team is competitive and winning games, people will come. And they have enough talent NOW to beat the Sox and Yanks a bit, imagine how talented that team will be in 2-3 years with a rotation of Kazmir/Shields/Price/Davis/McGee. Oh yeah, they also have the #1 overall pick in the draft this year. Tampa has done things perfectly, they aren't wasting money on middle relievers or a starting pitcher to give them an extra win or two a season but instead, they invest money in the draft and amateur talent and development and as that team becomes more exciting and competitive, they will make more money by having larger crowds. Bigger crowds equal more money to spend on keeping the team together which leads to even bigger crowds wanting to see Tampa win the division.

The Marlins didn't need to trade Cabrera. The Twinkies didn't need to trade Santana. They chose to because the front offices thought the talent they could get back in terms of dollars was worth it the offset in money. That's their choice, no one is holding a gun to their heads. The long term deal that Santana signed is still below his MORP value so it is stupid to think that the Twins couldn't afford him, ESPECIALLY as they are moving into a new stadium that is going to be a considerable cash cow for the franchise. mahalo
~Chach~

VinnyTheMick · Post #25 » by **VinnyTheMick** » Sat Apr 5, 2008 4:31 pm

heemer wrote:
An example off the top of my head is Giambi. How many teams could afford to pay him that kind of money for that kind of production? Its a horrrible deal! hes a productive player and not a waste of a roster spot, but hes getting paid as an MVP caliber player. This sort of thing would cripple some franchises but it doesnt seem to hamper New York and that allows them to make up for poor personel moves.

Yeah, its not like Giambi had won an MVP then almost won another one before signing with the Yankees. Oh, wait.....

& Giambi's deal along with others (Pavano's or Randy Johnson's for example) kept the Yankees from getting Beltran. He was going to take 10 million less to play for the Yankees but the Yankees wouldn't bite because of payroll. Payroll also contributed to the Yankees ultimately passing on trading for Santana. So yes, the Yankees actually do have a threshold.