deacdixieboy
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First two series officially cancelled.
This might be a short thread in terms of the actually playing of baseball.
At least the WF baseball team may be worth watching.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33397392/mlb-lockout-only-reinforces-certain-ugliness-game
Disincentivizing tanking should be an easy decision, IMO. Tanking gains an MLB team relatively little. With basketball (for example), a single draft pick is 20% of the starting lineup, and a person who could be fed the ball as often as possible. With baseball, a single draft pick is 11% (or 10% if you are a DH pervert) of the starting lineup, and everyone needs to take a turn. Plus, an individual team's development system would have such an impact. Cleveland has had one of the better farm systems in the league despite never tanking. Same with the Dodgers. The Phillies have had four straight years of top 10 picks and almost nothing to show for it (jury is still out on Bohm). Tanking gives so little advantage compared to how much it hurts the game, but the owners IMO want less competition for free agents.
I don't know what to do about the length of the game-I feel like this is a pitching development issue that would be reversed by an emphasis on control over velocity-so, not something that would be in a CBA. Maybe reduce ad breaks (ha).
I'm glad to see there is at least one other purist on the planet who believes that baseball is not played with 10 players. What's next, a shortfielder?
I pray that the DH never comes to the NL. Posrep.
I'm with you on the DH. However, I think pitching is under rated at 11%. IMHO, the pitcher is as important to defense s the rest of the players combined. Pitchers who consistently throw high quality strikes are highly sought after players.
I'm not in for banning shifts. Let the hitters adjust to where the fielders stand. If the hitter can't or won't adjust, management will have to decide if the minus hitting is over balanced by other positives.
Personal shift story: softball season, I consistently hit to right field. One team massively shifted, putting all outfielders between straight away center field and the right field line. Second pitch I ripped deep into left field. Next at bat, no shift.
Nothing pisses me off more when two sides are both making $$ hand over fist and can’t come to an agreement.
Baseball is a dying sport. And instead of fixing it, they are just making it die faster.
Kids don’t watch it; most adults rarely have the 3 1/2 average hours it takes to sit down and watch as well.
I love baseball but am sick over this latest impasse.
the vast majority of MLB players are not making $$ hand over fist. A tiny % of active players are actually making a lot of money. Most are making near the minimum (which is a good annual salary, but considering most professional athletes don't get training for other careers, that minimum salary is not a lot to live on during and after their playing years).
In the middle is the fan, who might be tempted to blame the billionaires and the millionaires -- but that would be incorrect, and simplistic. Some players are millionaires. Nearly all of the owners are billionaires. As the money has risen, the players' share has fallen -- four years in a row and counting. All economies have a middle class, and baseball's -- like America's -- has been shrinking.
The minor league season will go on as planned.
But Manfred said he is just trying to give the fans what they want! Expanded playoffs and no shift. Neither of which I’ve heard one person ask for.