MLB in turmoil ... should teams be contracted?

January 10, 2002 7:19 AM

MLB in turmoil ... should teams be contracted? Send Bud Selig an email telling him why you don't think that contraction should happen (or why it should). Or read one writer's opinion on why expansion never should have happened in the first place. One possible set of scenarios is discussed in Minneapolis. In Miami, no one seems to realize that the metro are a had a baseball team to begin with. What does the MeFi team think of all of this? What should we do with these teams that are losing money? Is a luxury tax going to solve the problem or just create more weird scenarios for capologists?
posted by purplecow (12 comments total)

Honestly, the game has too many overpaid whiny millionaires and not enough heroes for today's youths to look up to.

I stopped watching baseball years ago.
posted by PWA_BadBoy at 7:25 AM on January 10, 2002

Blame the Yankees.

They make money, so they are able to get more free agents.

Other teams, so that they can compete, and generate more revenue try to do the same. Yankees still win. Just about every other team loses money.
posted by Mark at 7:30 AM on January 10, 2002

I of course blame the yankees (disclaimer: I am a Red Sox and Phillies fan), but I don't think they're the only problem. The yankees are making the best out of the market.

I think that what we need is greater competition, something along the lines of soccer, where teams routinely move between divisions. That way, the deserving AAA teams would get to move to the majors, and the teams that don't or can't spend money to compete (like, say, the Expos and Twins), could lower their price structure to encourage real fans to visit their ball parks. That way the teams that don't want to compete could still make money and that might improve the overall economic picture.

A bit of a radical solution, but I think baseball has changed so much in the last 30 years since divisional play was introduced that it barely resembles its pre-1969 state.
posted by purplecow at 7:45 AM on January 10, 2002

The thing I want to know is how exactly Bud Selig got to be such a bitter man. (Granted, the fact that for a number of years he ran MLB out of an 8x10, practically windowless office in a decaying County Stadium may have something to do with it.) As a former Wisconsinite, and a Brewers fan, I find this sort of tough. Wisconsin wouldn't have major league baseball without Bud Selig, but how can I support the guy? I'm frequently embarrassed to admit that I like the Brewers, not because of their record, but because of their ownership.

Bud, I visited your new stadium in Milwaukee last summer. I thought it was nice. Now please leave the Twins and Expos alone. Thank you.
posted by mrbula at 8:01 AM on January 10, 2002

Well I'm an Expos fan, and I blame all the other teams! ;-) Oh, and the 1994 lockout... Seriously though, the picture is pretty grim here in Montreal for a baseball fan: almost everybody applauded the "contraction" news. In a sense, I guess we don't deserve a team. *sighs*
posted by qbert72 at 9:13 AM on January 10, 2002

curt flood was right. unfortunately, the owners were not creative enough to design a system that allows free agency, while at the same time encouraging players to stick with their teams.

teams rosters undergoing massive changes from year to year greatly diminished my enjoyment of the game, and the 1994 strike and cancellation of the world series killed it completely. i can't remember the last baseball game i watched more than one half of an inning, and i don't miss it at all.
posted by lescour at 9:29 AM on January 10, 2002

Out of curiousity, why should an international community like Metafilter be interested in some obscure sports team? Should I be posting links to articles about the Vipers, Grizzlies, or SmokeEaters? Shall we have discussions about truly important sports stars, like Abdur Razzaq, Steve Waugh, and Ashish Nehra?

I'll fully admit that I'm a mefi newbie. Perhaps it's always been acceptable to discuss commercial team sports every week, as a break from the insightful, interesting, and curious stories that are normally posted. If that's the case, I'll not grouse about it again.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:46 AM on January 10, 2002

While MLB is talking (loudly) about contraction, MLS (US Major League Soccer) has contracted already in this offseason: MLS Eliminates Fusion, Mutiny

posted by andrewraff at 9:58 AM on January 10, 2002

Out of curiousity, why should an international community like Metafilter be interested in some obscure sports team? Should I be posting links to articles about the Vipers, Grizzlies, or SmokeEaters? Shall we have discussions about truly important sports stars, like Abdur Razzaq, Steve Waugh, and Ashish Nehra?

i can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not. i just kind of hope you are.
posted by jerseygirl at 10:21 AM on January 10, 2002

To clarify: though MetaFilter has members from many country, the vast plurality of us are from the U.S. or Canada.
posted by kindall at 10:35 AM on January 10, 2002

Bud Selig should be caned and then removed. Congress should eliminate the sweetheart deal it has with MLB. The Expos should move to a country that would actually apreciate a MLB team like the Dominican Republic - or Cuba. And the Tribune Corp. should be given an enema for treating the Cubs like just any other "property."

The whole thing is shameful and the only bright spots are that 1) there's a special place in Hell for MLB execs that they'll all suffer in 2) Sammy Sosa is quietly replacing Kirby Pucket as the coolest ballplayer around 3) Vin Scully is still alive to broadcast games, even though the Murdoch-owned Dodgers are a joke.

Put Pete in the Hall.
posted by tsarfan at 2:02 PM on January 10, 2002

fivefreshfish-Out of curiousity, why should an international community like Metafilter be interested in some obscure sports team?

Well, fivefreshfish, first of all we dig obscure everything else around here, so why not sports teams. I'm not saying it should become ESPN.com around here, where we endlessly argue about all-star picks from 20 years ago, but a little "Talkin' Baseball" is always nice especially since it often links to larger subjects as well.
And even in an international community like MeFi, sports fandom is often a big part of local identity, whether it's my beloved New York Mets and Bridgeport Bluefish or a Brit members devotion to Manchester United.

And Tsarfan - True Kirby Puckett was the coolest player in baseball, but his replacement is Mo Vaughn(local hero alert) not Sammy Sosa!
posted by jonmc at 4:20 PM on January 10, 2002