Tiger - Yankees or Red Sox fan?

[joshtpa]

To that - I will agree. Serious rebuild mode...or just get better physical trainers. We got stymied with our injuries (Wang, Posada, Matsui, Damon, A-Rod, Giambi, Joba, the list goes on).

Did you just call it REBUILDING? They have a $200 million dollar payroll!!!! Highest by a landslide, and that is rebuilding? Thats Yankee speak for "We invested badly in other teams players".

[pjsnyc]

If I remember correctly they won like 15 of their last 16 before the series right ... I always love seeing a small market team do well ... I really want to give it up for the Rays this year ...

I'm totally rooting for the Rays should they advance to the post season.

As for instant replay - I think it makes sense. I mean how many times have you seen Umps converse over whether or not a ball was fair or foul or over the wall only to get the call wrong anyway? This way it'll take just as much time to determine the right call with close to zero chance of screw ups (and less whining by the Managers). This is one thing Bud Selig has decided on correctly - only HR calls whether or not they went over the fence/fair/foul.

[pjsnyc]

Did you just call it REBUILDING? They have a $200 million dollar payroll!!!! Highest by a landslide, and that is rebuilding? Thats Yankee speak for "We invested badly in other teams players".

Yeah, but they're dipping into their farm system. Joba, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy (ugh), and such.

[golf_junkie27]

Being a die-hard Sox fan I can't believe I am about to say this ...

Or as soon as they can figure out how to spend the $100mm that is coming off the books, this year.

I'm a Yankee fan and plenty of Yankee fans embarrass me. Seriously, I have never seen a fan base with a sense of entitlement. They boo the best player in the game, whenever they can: Arod. Never mind that for four seasons he was the biggest bargain they ever had, costing them between $11 and $13 million a season. As great as an offensive player Jeter is, he's had some horrendous post seasons, nine to be exact: BA of 250, 111, 200, 211, 118, 148, 233, 200 and 176. They talk about his "intangibles" and what seperates him from Arod. Yeah, they're named David Cone, a healthy David Wells, a prime El Duque, a young Andy Pettitte, David Weathers, Graeme Lloyd, Mike Stanton and Jeff Nelson. Tiger is smart and from SoCal. He should be cheering for the Angels.

[pjsnyc]

...Graeme Lloyd,..

OMG...the only thing that guy is good for is doing elbow drops all the way from the bullpen.

[joshtpa]

Yeah, but they're dipping into their farm system. Joba, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy (ugh), and such.

Rebuilding does not really mean just having a few young pitchers. They have a payroll almost double everyone else in baseball. hardly rebuilding.

[pjsnyc]

Rebuilding does not really mean just having a few young pitchers. They have a payroll almost double everyone else in baseball. hardly rebuilding.

ok, justin christian, brett gardner, robinson cano, melky cabrera (though they've been in the league for a couple of years), dan geise, i could keep going

[joshtpa]

You cannot be Rebuilding with the highest payroll in baseball....It doesnt make any sense.

[golf_junkie27]

You cannot be Rebuilding with the highest payroll in baseball....It doesnt make any sense.

Sure you can. You can bring up the youngsters in reserve positions, play them twice a week and see what you have. You can do this with your pitchers, too.

There are about eight teams with a payroll of $100mm or more and two that are approaching $140mm. I think it's good for the game that teams are spending this money. It let's the fans know that there money is being spent on the field as opposed to going into their pockets like the Marlins owner.

[golf_junkie27]

OMG...the only thing that guy is good for is doing elbow drops all the way from the bullpen.

That may be true but in two postseasons he did not allow a single run.

[joshtpa]

Yes, a couple are approaching 140 mill, but lets not forget that is still 60 mill shy of the Yankees. That is about the Rays and Marlins payroll combined...(the 60 mill, not the 200 mill). Rebuilding is Yankee talk for we are not so good.

So 8 teams with a payroll of over 100 mill and 24 that cant even sniff that...And that is GOOD for baseball? That makes no sense. There is a reason the NFL is king in this country. Every team has the same chance. Explain why the Steelers and the Chiefs and all of the other "small market" teams can compete in the NFL and not the MLB? Because of the greedy owners of the large markets in MLB. They were worried about players using things to make it unfair, how about certain owners spending 8 times as much as smaller markets.

Some will say, what about the Rays this year? Wait two years when the evil empire comes in and buys players. Its a majorly flawed system. The Marlins proved it a few years back, when they flat out BOUGHT THE WORLD SERIES!

[pjsnyc]

You cannot be Rebuilding with the highest payroll in baseball....It doesnt make any sense.

Um...that statement is impossible. The definition of rebuilding is just that...no matter what the payroll is.

[golf_junkie27]

Yes, a couple are approaching 140 mill, but lets not forget that is still 60 mill shy of the Yankees. That is about the Rays and Marlins payroll combined...(the 60 mill, not the 200 mill). Rebuilding is Yankee talk for we are not so good.

I hope you realize that for the last three years, on average, 18 teams were within 5 games on September 1st of a playoff position. That's more than half the league. What more could you ask for? You also have a vast majority of teams spending north of $80mm. Explain how a team in the sixth largest city in the country and fourth biggest television market, Miami, has such a low payroll when the Detroit Tigers are spending $140mm? As for the NFL, that's monopoly money. The way it's structured the teams never have to take a hit unless they want to. They are dates set where they can release a player and never take a salary cap hit. None of the NFL contracts are guaranteed. To the NFL's credit, they also have a mandatory minimum that the teams have to spend. It's almost $70mm. This way, you don't find a situation where the Marlins are getting $30mm from revenue sharing and having a payroll that's less. As for "buying all the players," name me one team, just one, where the entire starting 9 was home grown and not the result of a trade. Edit: For exact figures, ten MLB teams are spending $100mm or more. Four teams are spending between $95-99mm. That's almost half the league spending at least $95mm. The game is healthy, viable and have set new attendance records each of the last three seasons. There is nothing wrong with baseball except for ONE team that refuses to spend money: The Florida Marlins.

[joshtpa]

Florida Marlins proved that they could just buy a world series TWICE!
There is something different between the two. Its called revenue sharing. Without it on a grand scale, the rich will always get richer. two years ago, the yankees paid more in luxury tax than 5 teams payroll. Alex Rodriguez salary is more than 60% of 5 teams in the MLB. That is just not healthy for sports. And when young teams do get good via the draft and everything else, the big teams (yankees, detroit, chicago, boston, and LA) cherry pick the players. Look at the rosters of the big teams and see that less than 50% of the starters came from system. More than 50% were via free agency.

[CG031]

How did the Marlins buy two W.S.?

[joshtpa]

Go back a few years and check it out. Load up on free agents, then dump them right after the WS.

[JCDot33]

How did the Marlins buy two W.S.?

It's called a "fire sale" ...

I have to agree, the Marlins did buy those two world championships ... I have read through this thread and one thing, however insignificant it might be, has been over looked ... What about the players ... Now, I don't begrudge them any for following the money, hell, I'd do the same (who wouldn't really) ... but why is it such a rarity in today's game to have a player stay his whole career in one town? Why, as a fan, do I have to route for, "the laundry" and not my favorite player anymore ... why doesn't someone just stand up and say, "no, I am going to stay here and play for this town my whole career? Some of these guys need to show a little bit of character ...

[JYB]

born and raised in the Bronx, NY and i hate the yankees. they are a complete joke.