Olnay:End divisional structure so Jays, Rays, Os can compete

[dagger]

Buster says there is no hope for Jays, Rays and O's to achieve sustainable success so long as Yankees or Bosox are spending around $200 million a year on player salaries.

His solution is to blow up the divisional structure, play a balanced schedule, top five teams make the playoffs. That way, the Jays, Rays and Os would be more likely to spend FA money on major league talent and those teams would have more appeal to free agents as potential playoff locations. Those cities would win, the players in general would gain through more free agent spending, and competition would be better served

It's Insider, but here is an excerpt.

Would it make a difference?

Well, consider how different recent history might look if there were no divisional factions in the past decade. In many years, rival talent evaluators regarded the Toronto Blue Jays as one of the 10 best teams in the majors. In a six-year period, Toronto won 86 games in a season twice and 87 games in a third season -- while playing an unbalanced schedule. Still, the Jays never made the playoffs.

If the divisional format was stripped away, the Rays, Orioles and Jays would more consistently have incentive to make moves to try to contend. If a player like Victor Martinez were assessing offers from Baltimore or Tampa Bay or Toronto, he would feel better about their chances for playing in the postseason.

[SolomonSkyHook]

I would want to see the The MLB do the following:

-Lower the amount of games in the season by removing interleague games and then some.
-Move one of the NL teams to the AL, to even out the leagues 15/15.

Schedule
- two 3 game series vs all 14 teams (84 games)
- two 3 games series vs division teams (24 games)
- two 2 games series vs non-division teams (40 games)

totals for 148 games

-Since there isn't an even # of teams in each league, each team will get consecutive off days, which i consider a good thing.

-Expand the playoffs by adding 1 more Wild Card team.
-Make all playoff series 7 games(maybe make the WC series 5 games)

[Scorpion King]

I would want to see the The MLB do the following:

-Lower the amount of games in the season by removing interleague games and then some.
-Move one of the NL teams to the AL, to even out the leagues 15/15.

Schedule
- two 3 game series vs all 14 teams (84 games)
- two 3 games series vs division teams (24 games)
- two 2 games series vs non-division teams (40 games)

totals for 148 games

-Since there isn't an even # of teams in each league, each team will get consecutive off days, which i consider a good thing.

-Expand the playoffs by adding 1 more Wild Card team.
-Make all playoff series 7 games(maybe make the WC series 5 games)

This is a good idea but this will never happen because loss of revenue for owners

[CapeCrusader]

I would want to see the The MLB do the following:

-Lower the amount of games in the season by removing interleague games and then some.
-Move one of the NL teams to the AL, to even out the leagues 15/15.

Schedule
- two 3 game series vs all 14 teams (84 games)
- two 3 games series vs division teams (24 games)
- two 2 games series vs non-division teams (40 games)

totals for 148 games

-Since there isn't an even # of teams in each league, each team will get consecutive off days, which i consider a good thing.

-Expand the playoffs by adding 1 more Wild Card team.
-Make all playoff series 7 games(maybe make the WC series 5 games)

I agree with your saying, but I like interleague play. Lets us see players that we wouldn't normally get to see yearly.

[darth_federer]

I like it as a Jays fan but what if you ended up with a situation where the playoffs were dominated by teams from one area. I think the division winner format should exist. Expand the playoffs though.

[ItsDanger]

I think 8 team playoff is the only realistic option. MLB needs a cap of some kind though.

One factor that plays against the big spenders: good pitching beats good hitting.

[raptorforlife88]

I think 8 team playoff is the only realistic option. MLB needs a cap of some kind though.

Getting a cap in baseball would be tough, especially a hard cap like in the NHL. And not just because of the rich owners, but the poor owners too. Everyone forgets that when you have a salary cap, you have a salary floor. And it's determined by revenue.

Going with the NHL example (and one where the owners gained concessions),

Not withstanding the cap and the nominal value of the players' contracts, the CBA stipulates that a fixed percentage of total league revenues (currently 57%) is to be paid to the players each season

So (and I'm doing this quite roughly), NHL revenue was about 3 Billion last year. 57% of that divied among the teams is about 57 million each. NHL's salary cap was 59 million last year, and salary floor is supposed to be 16 million below that. If the league doesn't spend that amount (57%) on salaries than that players get that money.

MlB revenues are obviously much much higher. 6.8 billion in fact. Now let's just go with the 57% (MLB union is pretty powerful). That means 129 million per team. The salary cap is going to be higher that, 140 million maybe? Where does that leave the floor? 80 million? 70 million? There were multiple teams that didn't hit that.

I just don't foresee a cap structure coming into MLB.

Now the drafting structure I think is something that can be fixed.

[PimpHandStrong]

I think this is my first post on this board. I'm a Jazz fan, originally from Toronto (moved to California as a teen shortly after purchasing Raps season tickets for their inaugural season). Some of my fondest memories as a child were gong to Sky Dome for Jays games. I remember where I was when Joe Carter hit his bomb against the Phils.

Despite my relatively young age, I'm a traditionalist. Hate the DH, hate interleague play, hate expanded playoffs. Playing consistently better than every other team over a 162 game season shouldn't put you into a playoff with 9 (or 4, depending on how you look at it) inferior teams.

With that said, divisional realignment is THE solution IMO. Four 8 team divisions, with one division winner each in the playoffs (I know, I know, it's been done before). Alternatively, go to a balanced schedule without divisions (just two leagues), and have the top 2 (or 3...or even 4...ick) going to the playoffs. With the four division solution, you could have revolving divisions, possibly (a strange and unlikely outcome), to keep the two divisions in each league somewhat balanced (which is really what's killing the Jays now).

I'm curious if anyone has ever seen suggested a 3 league system, with 10 teams in each league. You could have the league champ from the league that won the World Series the previous season getting a bye to the World Series, and the other two league champs battling to face them. At that point, you'd have a choice of 3 or 6 playoff teams (with the 6 coming from two 5 team divisions from each league). meh.

Anyway, I've been following the Jays from a distance the last couple seasons, and since I'm growing tired of the NBA and the NHL, will likely follow them a lot more this coming season. I was searching for an NL team to cheer for, but since the most likely candidate, the Giants, just won a World Series, I figure I can't go with them just yet, so I'll likely just stick with the Jays until Mark Cuban finds a good deal for the Cubs or another NL team.

[flatjacket1]

I think there should be a luxury tax line in the sand, (Say, 125M?) and if you cross it then you have to pay dollar for dollar on every penny you are over the limit. (Like in the NBA). If you are over the tax, you cannot sign more than 1 type A free agent. This would cut down on the huge contracts without the mess of changing the traditional playoff system.

Aka Yankees 200M payroll:
200M-125M = 75M over
75M tax that is split between all other teams.

Every year all of the teams payrolls are averaged and that's the new luxury tax line.

This would help the poor teams financially afford to deal with low attendance, while punishing (not preventing) rich teams for huge payrolls.

Although this doesn't directly effect the playoffs short term, it would mean Crawfords 20M a yer deal would be 40M a year for the yanks, which would discourage these overspending teams from making the deals in the first place.

[hyper316]

nba doesn't have a good cap model, everyone want to change it, so why copy it?

[flatjacket1]

nba doesn't have a good cap model, everyone want to change it, so why copy it?

No, the MLB has a terrible cap model.

The reason "people want to change it" is because the owners are trying to change it to benefit them and the players are trying to change it to benefit them. Both are "unhappy" with where it currently is, which means its a great system. If both sides feel they are losing, its probably a good thing.

This is only 1 rule I'm saying they should add from the NBA cap. NBA has soft cap, luxury tax, MLE, bird rights, it gets confusing as heck. All I'm suggesting is a luxury tax. The tax would punish big spending teams while rewarding low revenue team (So its essentially another form of revenue sharing). Its better than adding an actual cap because the big spending teams can still spend all they want, it just makes spending tons of money a bad idea.

[raptorforlife88]

I think there should be a luxury tax line in the sand, (Say, 125M?) and if you cross it then you have to pay dollar for dollar on every penny you are over the limit. (Like in the NBA). If you are over the tax, you cannot sign more than 1 type A free agent. This would cut down on the huge contracts without the mess of changing the traditional playoff system.

There's a luxury tax currently in MLB. Not really like how you described but it exists.

http://static.espn.go.com/mlb/news/2002 ... 25253.html

I would like to see how that number is determined but I haven't found it anywhere. Either way the number the LT stands at is obviously incredibly high and only effects the Yankees at all.

[ATLTimekeeper]

I'd like some sort of payroll-draft pick arrangement. If you want to spend over $100 million, you forfeit your first and second round draft picks.

[victor page]

Something definitely needs to be done, the sport is dying. Right now, you've got teams like the Red Sox, Yankees, Phillies, etc... guaranteed to make the playoffs. You also get teams with random 2-3 year windows like the Rays.

Rays fans haven't responded with increased attendance; it takes a long time to build up a fanbase. 2-3 years of contention won't do it.

Baseball was once a legitimately popular sport in Toronto - casual fans were everywhere. Your dry cleaner had an opinion on who the fifth starter should be. This was even in 1984 before they won anything. Now your dry cleaner couldn't name one single Jay player. Jays fans are now limited to a small hard core following. It will get worse. It's the same in dozens of other cities across North America.

[flatjacket1]

I'd like some sort of payroll-draft pick arrangement. If you want to spend over $100 million, you forfeit your first and second round draft picks.

Draft picks are hardly a way to punish a team... The Red Sox and Yankees already forfeit their first few rounds of picks every year by picking up type A free agents like its no big deal. Even if this rule was in place, it would make the teams go after more type A free agents, because otherwise they'd lose their pick for nothing.

I think there should be a luxury tax line in the sand, (Say, 125M?) and if you cross it then you have to pay dollar for dollar on every penny you are over the limit. (Like in the NBA). If you are over the tax, you cannot sign more than 1 type A free agent. This would cut down on the huge contracts without the mess of changing the traditional playoff system.

There's a luxury tax currently in MLB. Not really like how you described but it exists.

http://static.espn.go.com/mlb/news/2002 ... 25253.html

I would like to see how that number is determined but I haven't found it anywhere. Either way the number the LT stands at is obviously incredibly high and only effects the Yankees at all.

Thanks for that link, thats very interesting... I think they should modify it more and make it dollar for dollar. Its the most credible way to help us make the playoffs. It would prevent teams from spending on huge contracts.

Another idea: How about after your over a tax line you can't sign any Type A or Type B free agents? (But you can re-sign your own!)

[Michael Bradley]

I just find it fundamentally wrong to punish teams (Yankees, Red Sox, etc) for being profitable and having owners willing to spend. The Yankees make a truckload of money. They sell out all their games, have their own network, etc. Why shouldn't they be allowed to spend more money without being penalized for it? I mean, if Rogers were doing all that, would we be complaining about how unfair the game is? Probably not.

I think where baseball really needs to clean up is the draft. Eliminate the current slot system and have more of a fixed draft slot system (like the NBA), which will make it more likely that the best amateur talent goes to the worst teams (and you won't see top picks slide for signability reasons). If the best amateur talent is going to the worst teams, then it will be easier to make up whatever difference exists in payroll. Of course, that doesn't factor front office ineptitude (choosing the wrong player) or anything like that, but the best players should not be slipping for monetary reasons.

I want the Jays to make the playoffs again because they toppled one of the monsters (New York/Boston), not because baseball made it easier to make it. Keep the system the way it is.

[raptorforlife88]

Another idea: How about after your over a tax line you can't sign any Type A or Type B free agents? (But you can re-sign your own!)

Sure. But remember my post from before on a salary cap in MLB? You can't just arbitrarily set a tax number. There's a reason it keeps rising in the current system to something like 170 million. MLB revenues are huge. My earlier post had it coming out to about 129 million dollars a team on a percentage of revenue that would have to be spent. If you're going to have a luxury tax you have to set it at a reasonable place in relation to that. So it would be in the realm of 150 million dollars. At that point it would effect the Yankees, and maybe the Red Sox and really that's it.

[turtle_15]

They should run their playoffs like the NHL and NBA, the top however many teams in the AL and NL make the playoffs whether it be top 8, 5 or whatever. PLus seed it like the NHL where the division leaders get the top seeds, scrap the wild card and do it liek the other leagues it works for them

[Skin Blues]

They should run their playoffs like the NHL and NBA, the top however many teams in the AL and NL make the playoffs whether it be top 8, 5 or whatever. PLus seed it like the NHL where the division leaders get the top seeds, scrap the wild card and do it liek the other leagues it works for them

That would make too much sense. Even just scrapping the divisions and having the top 4 from each league would make a lot more sense and be more fair than the status quo. Don't know how they'd work it with 5 teams per league, seems a bit strange, but I'm all-for another wild card spot if that's the only option.

[Magic Bean]

I don't see how anyone can watch the havoc from the unbalanced schedule and divisions over the past 10+ years and think it's still a good idea.

Don't you all get tired of seeing inferior garbage teams like the Twins or Padres get into the playoffs (to get swept) only because they were skilled enough to get grouped with 4 or 5 other soft teams for 162 games?

The road to the playoffs should be the same for all teams.