I'm going to admit that I don't think I understood this at all even 3 days ago. Im still not sure I do. I was in Boston today for a conference the MIT biz school is putting on. It's my 2nd time at this conf and it seems pretty clear it has replaced the winter mtgs as the place to go to try to find a job for sports. Thankfully I'm gainfully employed and enjoy my job, but it's a pretty surreal experience nevertheless. Bill James was one of the featured speakers today. I don't think he does many things like this. And after seeing him today, I can understand why.
Anyway. I mention all this because I watched an MBA student present the economic changes likely to occur from the new cba, so I at least am aware of the issues.
The reverse incentives are pretty weird but I suppose not all that unlike other sports. It does present some problems for the rays. Assuming they would be able to maintain both their on field and draft performance.
And, as the student made the case today, seems to seriously limit mlbs ability to compete with football and basketball for talent. Previously, throwing money at the guys was about the only thing MLB really had to offer. Seems pretty shortsighted to me. Though, maybe does have the effect over the next few yrs of equalizing the talent. Not particularly forward looking though.
Alonso, Liriano & Grandal are ranked highest. The Cespedes signing tied the A's with the Padres in the most ranked players: SD – 6 OAK - 6 M’s – 5 Tex – 5 Stl - 5 Arz – 4 Tor – 4 TB – 4 Col – 4 NYY - ... more
BA released the numbers for each team, and the Padres look to be in a great position in 2012. Seven teams, including the Padres spent atleast 10m on their top-10 round picks last year. Of those teams ... more
I still can't believe they went this route in the new CBA. Yeah, let's talk all day and night about competitive balance and then throw a rule in which is going to help the Yankees and penalize the... more
I'm kind of curious what you are referring to. I don't think it was going to be long before the high revenue teams were able to get the lion's share of the draft talent. The more aggressive small... more
That was definitely a possibility. The Red Sox seemed to be the only big market team that took advantage of their resources that way, but nothing would have stopped other big clubs from deciding to... more
Re: Still the Stupidest Thing — Wahoo willy,Fri Mar 2 23:06
Is that really a problem, though? I suppose there is some marketing downside to losing the few athletes that baseball grabs between multiple sport stars now -- some of those guys can be very exciting ... more
People may appreciate the game. But, I think Americans really value stellar athleticism. I know there was a period of time where baseball was being populated by glorified softball players. But I... more
or lack thereof, here's a video of Jaff Decker hitting a nice two-strike homer off a lefty in the AFL. Best part is getting a side-by-side comparisson of both Decker & Gyorko when he crosses home... more
I can pretty much work around the schedule you guys need to keep as long as we're talking about something at 5pm or later. I don't think there is any chance my son gets to play tackle football before ... more
Yeah. From what I can gather, there should be a play-in game on 3/14. Though I can't seem to find a time anywhere. Does around the ballpark area make sense for you guys still? Anytime after 5 would... more
Hey guys - the response didn't seem overwhelming for Tuesday and I know Alan couldn't make it. I just had something come up at work that's going to make it challenging for me too. So...anybody have... more
I don't own much in the way of baseball memorabilia, but I treasure my 1979 Bill James Baseball Abstract. So, when the Simmons/James talk appeared on my iTunes this weekend, I was eager to jump on... more
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/top-100-prospects/2012/2613003.html The Cards & Rangers also had 6 named prospects. Hellofa lot easier looking at the work already done then... more