What is the future of MLB?

[Squall]

Are things looking up for MLB, or is the league still in trouble financially? I remember reading that MLB was going to contract -- in other words, completely get rid of 4 teams, reducing the size of the league to 26 teams -- but since the inital barrage of reports, I've heard nothing about it. Is that still the plan, or is MLB trying another way to make ends meet?

If MLB does contract, what teams do you think should go? I would think that MLB would attempt to keep all their teams in population centers (Texas, California, New York, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, and keep both Canadian teams) and eliminate 4 teams away from populations centers that also have few fans.
I also remember reading about reducing the size of the MLB schedule (182 games does seem like a lot), and attempting to make more games in the evenings on weekdays or weekend afternoons so that more people could attend the games.

And total interleague play -- I REALLY want this! -- is still an option on the table, I hope? All the other major professional sports leagues (NFL, NBA, WNBA, NHL) do this, so why doesn't MLB? Watching the same two teams play each other 20 times eventually gets old, even to some long-time fans. I want to see every MLB team play every other MLB team, home and away, at least four times a year each!!!

[TimTwoFace]

And total interleague play -- I REALLY want this! -- is still an option on the table, I hope? All the other major professional sports leagues (NFL, NBA, WNBA, NHL) do this, so why doesn't MLB?
*GIGGLE* I like how you suggested the WNBA was a major pro league. Hell, aside from a select few centres, the NHL is hardly a "pro" league in the US. The talent is there, but the interest isn't. :p

Anyway, I remember those reports about the MLB wanting to contract the Expos, Twins, and the two Florida teams...the same year that, later on, the Expos were surprisingly in playoff contention for much of the season (and finished above 0.500 for two seasons in a row), the Twins made the playoffs, and the following year, the Marlins won the whole shebang.

I think the biggest issues with baseball are the huge salaries, too many games (162? Come on...), and the drug problems we're always hearing about. I'm not the biggest MLB fan, and ya know why? Not only do I have no huge team affiliation (though it's generally split between the Little Orphan Expos and the Mariners, simply due to geography), but most games I HAVE watched were actually quite...boring. And with the potential of 162 of these a year, ugh. And how about revenue sharing? If that saved the NFL and made it into the excellently-run league it is today, why not the MLB? The NHL is also looking at this idea, to save itself before it spirals out of control like baseball admittedly has in recent years.

I love the interleague play, personally. I know a lot of traditionalists don't, and ditto for the wild card spots in the playoffs, but I like 'em. In every league, each team should play each other team at least TWICE - once at home, and once away. Leave the greater chunk of games to be in their own conference/league and even more of THOSE in their own division, but still, playing all of the league's teams would be a lot more interesting. The NHL does this (more or less), as does the NBA, so why not the MLB? I'd like to see the NFL try this too, but with 16 games a year and 32 teams, it just can't happen.

And hey, how about expanding the MLB playoffs to including 16 teams? You know, the three divisional leaders in each league, plus the next five best teams in each league to fill out the full eight - just like how the NBA and NHL do it. Keep the first two rounds to be out of 5, and lower the total of regular season games to less than 150 (at least). That would provide a lot more revenue for the lucky 16 teams that work their way in, but more fans would be involved with the playoff hype, and, let's be honest, the only really entertaining part of the MLB season is the World Series playoffs.

Not really much of a traditionalist here, but it can work. I like how the NHL is being run - aside from all the huge goalies, clutching, grabbing, obstruction, and lack of scoring, all of which need to be fixed, the uber-exciting playoffs are what should be paramount.

-Tim

[jrh31584]

My thoughts on MLB
1. Shorten the season by 3 or 4 weeks.
2. Figure out what to do with the Expos.
3. Keep the scheduling pretty much the way it is.
4. Fire Tim McCarver from a cannon into the sun.
5. Don't have opening day in Japan.
6. Drop the rule about banned players not being eligible for the Hall of Fame.
7. Some sort of economic reform.

[Weatherman]

Well, the NHL is having a major revenue problem due to the owners overdoing it on salaries while the expansion money was flowing and now the seemingly unstopable labor dispute next year.:shrug: I REALLY hope the two sides top being such morons about this and just hammer something out before they kill the NHL for good.:sad:
As for MLB, they need to find a new home for Montreal and Tampa stat, or just kill those two franchises in their entirety. The MLB owned Expos and the Devil Rays will never go anywhere with they way their owners are acting. Other then that, I think MLB actualy has a pretty good business model, relatively speaking. Most of the owners do need to stop soaking the public for sweetheart stadium deals though. Around the D.C. area we're already saying "We aint playing that game on yout rules".

I definately want to see more interleague play, and I want to see it spread out more. The teams in the East and West don't need to play each other as many times as they do. I'm sure the teams would appreciate having to do fewer longahul road trips, and we'd build more rivalries, like say, Baltimore and Philly, Boston and Philly, LA and Anaheim, Oakland and San Fran ect.

[Failure]

The MLB really needs a kick in the pants regarding the steroids issue. I love following the MLB and there's not much I'd complain about, I don't even mind the long 162 game season, but I hope someone blows this steroid issue sky high and screws the MLB over. Because their current steroid "punishment" plan is a joke, a total travesty. Until they decide to strengthen their current rules, a lot of us fans are going to choose to believe that steroid use is rampant, and much of the offensive displays we've seen these past several years has been a fraud.

[Squall]

*GIGGLE* I like how you suggested the WNBA was a major pro league. Hell, aside from a select few centres, the NHL is hardly a "pro" league in the US. The talent is there, but the interest isn't. :p

I love the interleague play, personally. I know a lot of traditionalists don't, and ditto for the wild card spots in the playoffs, but I like 'em. In every league, each team should play each other team at least TWICE - once at home, and once away. Leave the greater chunk of games to be in their own conference/league and even more of THOSE in their own division, but still, playing all of the league's teams would be a lot more interesting. The NHL does this (more or less), as does the NBA, so why not the MLB? I'd like to see the NFL try this too, but with 16 games a year and 32 teams, it just can't happen.

-Tim
With the regular season system the NFL currently has in place, every NFL team is guaranteed to play every other NFL team, both home and away, every 8 years. So, even though the NFL can't do it as easily as the other leagues can, they're still making sure that everyone plays everyone else, both home and away, in the shortest time span possible. :) (This wasn't true before the NFL's division realignment of 2002; before then, the schedule was less balanced and more random.)

And, what's wrong with calling the WNBA a professional league? :confused: They are people paid money to play sports for a living, and they're not playing sports for 'free' in college or high school. Isn't that the definition of a professional athelete? Talent issues and opinions aside, being paid a salary to play a sport for entertainment makes you a professional athlete, does it not? :p

I don't understand why some MLB "purists" hate interleague play. Playing the same team 20 times in a row, division rival or not, gets boring after a while. MLB has no excuse to NOT have every team play every other team, both home AND away, SEVERAL times a year -- after all, they play a freakin' 182 game regular season!!! :rolleyes:

[Anarky]

The Expos will most likely be sold and relocated in time for the 2005 season.

As for Squall's inquiry about contraction: no dice. The current CBA (collective bargaining agreement) states no team can be contracted until after the 2006 season. And even then it will be very difficult to do this:

A. The Devil Rays have 20+ years left on their lease. If the club folds, MLB may be on the hook for that lease. I don't think that's a pill they want to swallow.

B. MLB has stated time and again that it wants representation in Florida, meaning the Marlins are not likely candidates either. The 'Zinga gutted the '97 Champs. MLB cannot contract the '03 Champs. The Marlins will be remembered as the most farcical thing to happen to the league.

C. The Twins recent success has most likely saved them from being deleted. Hopefully the Twinkies can get an outdoor stadium because I hate the Metrodome as a baseball venue, just like I hate the trop at St. Pete, FL

bottomline: noone is going to be contracted because by the time the CBA expires, the MLB landscape would have changed dramatically since the Fall of 2001: the Twins became competitive, the Marlins won the title, the Expos will be relocated, and the Devil Rays are actually making moves to improve.

And take into effect the new ballpark factor. Almost every team has opened a new stadium in the last 10 years: Orioles, Indians, Brewers, Pirates, Reds, White Sox, Tigers, Mariners, Giants, Padres, Braves, Astros, Phillies, Rockies, Diamondbacks, Angels.

there is some bufoonery out there about the Athletics being contracted: hahahahahahaha. They'd be moved to Las Vegas before that happened.

Baseball doesn't need to kill off teams. They need to change the economics...and they need to look at things long-term. MLB would have far less troubles had they not been so greedy for expansion fees. They took millions from Miami, Denver, Phoenix, and Tampa-St. Pete. What they did was dilute the talent pool. They added 100 extra players, many of which (namely pitchers) are not ready for MLB competition.

Diluted talent, bandbox ballparks, juiced balls, and mashing gargoyles

I love baseball. I just hope someone can come in and just tear the current system down and start from scratch. MLB will have to fall on its face for that to happen...and it's close. MLB is on it's last toes...all it needs now a brisk breeze to tip them over (paging The Automatic Windmill Jose Hernandez)

[Weatherman]

MLB is in no danger, as far as I can tell, of colapsing as a league, but they do need to take a very serious look at the drug abuse policy, and the union needs to stop protecting the players who are doped up. It's not going to be a sucessful strategy as it's bound to blow up sooner or later. The revenue issue needs to be looked at too. I do not favor a cap myself as that seems to be looking at the wrong people for setting the salaries. What I do favor is a revenue sharing deal whereby above a certain payrool limit a team has to pay into an account which is then used to offset at least part of the difference between the teams above and the teams below the limit.

At the very least, the Expos need to be permanently relocated, like to say, Washington D.C. :eek: or at leat somewhere that can be permanent rather then the nomad existence on the two worst fields in the big leagues.

[SSJPabs]

It'd also be real nice if owners *cough* BUD SELIG *cough* didn't pocket the revnue sharing monies and then slash team payroll *cough* The Brewers. *cough*

[Quagmire]

The Expos are the only critical issue, and by moving them to the DC area, problems will be solved.

The market has shown some correction over the past two offseasons. Rediculous long term contracts like the ones Manny and A-Rod got are a thing of the past since both teams don't want them any more. Aside from Tejada and Guerrero, no one got more than 4 years this offseason.

I think the luxury tax also takes care of the salary cap issue, because teams (aside from the Yankees) won't want to go over the tax threshold and have to pay for it. Even the Yankees may stop sooner or later if they have to pay 50 million a year for passing the tax which could happen in the next 3 or 4 seasons.

With the success of the Angels and Marlins in the last two Octobers, I think baseball is looking up. The Yankees are still there, but they aren't taking the crown home every year. Small market teams like Oakland and Minnesota are also generating interest along with the resurgence of the cursed Red Sox and Cubbies.

2004 is going to be a promising season.

[Squall]

Why are the Montreal Expos a critical issue? Does no one in the Montreal area care about the team? Do they play to mostly empty stadiums? I don't know all the details on the Expos' woes...


I've also read several sports threads on several sports message boards that talk about how many MLB teams have "outdated" logos & uniforms, compared to some of their more contemporary counterparts in the NFL, NBA, and NHL. Is this why you don't see very many people wearing MLB merchandise (caps, T-shirts, jerseys, etc.) these days? I don't know what to think about this point of view. After all, in the NFL and NBA, retro merchandise is selling quite well these days (with throwbacks in the NFL, and hardwood classics in the NBA; both clothing lines are selling very well)... what do you think?

:eek:

[okendri]

It'd also be real nice if owners *cough* BUD SELIG *cough* didn't pocket the revnue sharing monies and then slash team payroll *cough* The Brewers. *cough*
Well the Brewers are up for sale, so hopefully they can get an owner who cares. The Expos play their home games in Montreal and Puerto Rico for one. In Montreal, the attendance is less than 10,000.

[Good Ol' Batmanuel!]

According to the show Deep Space Nine, the last World Series will be in 2042. The way things are going, I don't think that's very far fetched. :shrug:

[Weatherman]

In Montreal the Expos tend to draw fewer people then my local AA team does on the same nights that the O's play.:shrug:


What happened with the team was the previous owner, Mr. Jeffery Loria who now owns the Florida Marlins, pretty much ran the team into the ground to the point that the rest of the owners in the league bought the team from him for over 100 million dollars. The League still owns the team and it's been splitting it's "home" schedule bewteen Montreal and San Juan Puerto Rico. In the meanwhile, the League has been toying with the Washignton D.C. area and Portland, Oregon and now 5 other cities to try and extract the best deal they can get for the team. Being a resident of the D.C. area. this understandably anoys me.:mad:



As for the uniforms, the "throwback" baseball jerseys actually look pretty, uhh, ugly, even by throwback standars, though there are some around. They're not as prevalent, but they are around.

[TimTwoFace]

As much as I don't want to see another Canadian team go the way of the Nordiques, Jets, and Grizzlies - relocate somewhere in the US - the MLB should, in all reality, move the Expos somewhere. For many of their divisional rivals (especially Atlanta) and interleague games (Toronto) they draw huge crowds, but for the most part, many of the games in recent years haven't had attendances of more than 6,000. Considering this is still a solid ball club that has had above 500 records for the past two seasons, it's a shame more people aren't going to see them. Then again, Olympic Stadium is an atrocity to watch a game in - if that new downtown stadium was ever built, things may have been different.

-Tim

[Sheamon]

And hey, how about expanding the MLB playoffs to including 16 teams? You know, the three divisional leaders in each league, plus the next five best teams in each league to fill out the full eight - just like how the NBA and NHL do it. Keep the first two rounds to be out of 5, and lower the total of regular season games to less than 150 (at least). That would provide a lot more revenue for the lucky 16 teams that work their way in, but more fans would be involved with the playoff hype, and, let's be honest, the only really entertaining part of the MLB season is the World Series playoffs.

Thats absurd, it renders the regular season completely meaningless just like in the NBA and NHL. Its absurd that teams under .500 can make the playoffs in those leagues, no chance in hell is that happening in baseball. Make it that way then the regular season means much less, hense less people go to regular season games and you make things even worse.

I also completely disagree with you about interleague play, that should be eliminated entirely to keep the World Series and All Star Game unique. If my team makes it to the championship I want them facing someone they haven't seen at all during the year.

My solution for solving baseballs problems? Contract the New York Yankees.

[Tienshin]

Thats absurd, it renders the regular season completely meaningless just like in the NBA and NHL. Its absurd that teams under .500 can make the playoffs in those leagues, no chance in hell is that happening in baseball. Make it that way then the regular season means much less, hense less people go to regular season games and you make things even worse.
I agree, expanding the MLB playoffs is a bad idea...half the league making the postseason is a farce. On one hand it stinks that so many teams get left out especially when the deciding margin in a race for a wildcard spot might be .5 of game. But thats the drama...and besides...the MLB playoffs end far too late in October anyway. October is football season damnit.