| Author | Message | ||
     sbenois Citizen Username: Sbenois Post Number: 10744 Registered: 10-2001  |
He'd invoke the good sense of Bowie Kuhn and invalidate the A-Rod/Soriano trade. Steingrabber is once again making a mockery of the system. This is no longer baseball to Georgie, it's strat-o-matic and it's destroying the game. There is no way that teams in the second tier can complete any longer, even with a luxury tax. Selig should create a new league for the Yankees, the Mets, the Red Sox, the Dodgers and a few others. I'll go watch interesting teams like the Royals and the Marlins play. P.S. Yankee fans, please enjoy your $100 box seat ticket prices and those $9 hot dogs in 2005 when you're watching your team come in 2nd or third. If you think that winning at all costs is worth making the game completely beyond the economic reach of most people, think again. Baseball is dying because of this lunacy. Go ROYALS ---> Brought to you by Sbenois Engineering LLC <- Let's Go Royals | ||
| tom Citizen Username: Tom Post Number: 1968 Registered: 5-2001  |
thanks for breaking that story to MOL. Unbelievable. I make no bones about it: I'm a big Yankee fan. However, unless A-Rod can do middle relief, the Yanks finish no higher than second this season. Your economics are wrong, I'm surprised I have to tell you this. Box seats cost $100 because they can sell almost all of them at that price. Why should they lower the price if people will pay that much? It's our old enemies, supply and demand. Hot dogs don't count, though. The food sucks and they have a monopoly. It's kind of like Microsoft and security. | ||
| Duncan Citizen Username: Duncanrogers Post Number: 1531 Registered: 12-2001  |
I think we should finish Sbenois' query this way. .....he would repeal the designated hitter Alls Well That Ends Well. Playing through March 7. info at http://www.hometown.aol.com/theatr1010/ | ||
| Sylad Citizen Username: Sylad Post Number: 227 Registered: 6-2002 |
As a big Sox fan this hurts, the union not allowing A-Rod to go to Boston was bad for baseball. As soon as the Boston deal fell apart I knew that it would not be long before he would be a Yankee. The Sox could afford to pay his whole contract they were just not willing to do it. Just have to wait to see what happens, pitching wins and the Sox should have the edge there this year. | ||
| mfpark Citizen Username: Mfpark Post Number: 200 Registered: 9-2001 |
Sylad: As another Red Sox fan, I gotta say it was not the union who ditched the Red Sox deal. The Red Sox refused to pay $13 million more--less than one half of a season for A-Rod at his ridiculous salary. That is what the union asked to balance out the increased deferrals and reduced interest rate on the carry. The Red Sox got cheap at the last minute, after being able to unload Ramirez's bloated contract and ego and get the best shortstop in history. I blame Lucchino for this one. The Red Sox Nation is ill this morning. First, we get Schilling. Then they lose Boone, exposing an already weak infield. Looks like a lock? Nah, Steinbrenner with his unlimited budget wins again. The only ones who lose worse than the Red Sox are Steinbrenner's heirs and partners. | ||
| sbenois Citizen Username: Sbenois Post Number: 10745 Registered: 10-2001 |
If this goes through, the Yankee payroll will be $190 million this season, excluding luxury tax. That's more than the cost of buying 75% of the teams in MLB. Tom, Yankees fans who want box seats are not going to be happy when they shell out 400-500 bucks for a family of four to see the Devil Rays. ---> Brought to you by Sbenois Engineering LLC <- Let's Go Royals | ||
| Sylad Citizen Username: Sylad Post Number: 228 Registered: 6-2002 |
mfpark--I agree that the Sox got cheap and this may hurt them for a long time, but I also thought that the Union said no after A-Rod, the Sox and MLB agreed to the new contract. | ||
| Marc Citizen Username: Bautisma Post Number: 99 Registered: 9-2003 |
Noone is forced to pay $400-500 to see the game. If people think it is too high they won't go. A lot of people I know were disgusted with the product the Mets put on the field last year and didn't renew their season tickets. | ||
| bobk Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 4670 Registered: 5-2001 |
Guess we know what George is going to do with his tax cut. | ||
| anon Citizen Username: Anon Post Number: 977 Registered: 6-2002 |
I expected a thread on this subject on MOL. BUT In the middle of winter, two weeks after the Superbowl, in the middle of the Presidential primaries, just before the Wisconsin primary, in the middle of a War, in the middle of an economic recovery/downturn (?), The New York Times puts this on Page One above the fold! The most important news of the day! ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT | ||
| Carl Thompson Citizen Username: Topcat Post Number: 45 Registered: 4-2003  |
If Bud Selig had a brain… he’d have a real salary cap for baseball, the same as other sports, instead of the silly-assed luxury tax that just invites abuse by rich owners. | ||
| Carl Thompson Citizen Username: Topcat Post Number: 46 Registered: 4-2003 |
Back to the original question... that's a BIG if. | ||
| mfpark Citizen Username: Mfpark Post Number: 202 Registered: 9-2001 |
Sylad: The union said no because the reduction in contract value was too high--they could not stomach the highest paid player taking a small cut. But, the Red Sox could have received the union's blessing for an additional $12 mil or so--they chose not to do this, so I blame Lucchino more than I blame the union. That being said, oh will it be glorious if A-Rod and Jeter get into a feud, Lofton continues to be Lofton, Sheffield does not run for short flies in right, Williams goes into a funk for being a DH, and Giambi is busted for steroids--nah, that line-up looks too good to be true. | ||
| extuscan Citizen Username: Extuscan Post Number: 261 Registered: 6-2001 |
The high price of Yankee's tickets is a red herring... The highest average ticket price is at Fenway. Its a much smaller stadium, so supply and demand definately kicks in... In any event if I had to pay higher ticket prices... I would. The Yankees are #1 because they have the #1 fans! We foot the bill. We watch more games, buy more hats, and we pay top dollar for anything with an NY on it. We are the #1 fans, we make them the #1 team. If the Red Sox wanna win more games, I suggest thier fans buy more foamy fingers. ---John --John | ||
| mfpark Citizen Username: Mfpark Post Number: 203 Registered: 9-2001 |
Sbenois: I tried to explain to my son, a Yankee fan (imagine that) how it would feel to be someone in Pittsburgh or KC or St. Louis--you can't even care anymore about baseball. Very sad--even more sad that he cannot understand this. Someday when the taxes or other exigencies of life drive us from the New York area, perhaps he will understand how the great game has been gutted and brought back to the 1950's when Kansas City was the storehouse for Yankee stars. | ||
| Waldo Citizen Username: Discowaldo Post Number: 43 Registered: 12-2003 |
Everyone hates Steinbrenner because he has the money to make all this happen. If the Pirates had this much money, they would be buying big name players too. I cant see a team passing on an all-star player because they feel that it wont be fair for the other teams that they are playing against. Did Boston pass on Schilling because that would give them too good of a pitching staff? If you look at the stats you'll see that money doesn't equal winning and no money doesn't equal losing. Last year the team with the second highest payroll didn't even make the playoffs, and the team with the 20th payroll won the world series. Anyone can win any given day, despite their salary. Thats why they play the games. | ||
| bobk Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 4674 Registered: 5-2001 |
Look for Jeter to be traded before the start of the 2005 season. A-Rod is well aware of the importance of being the best shortstop of all times and will not be happy at third base. In addition he is probably a little better defensively than Jeter. | ||
| tom Citizen Username: Tom Post Number: 1976 Registered: 5-2001 |
best shortstop of all time? Wow, that's a couple of threads' worth in itself. Honus Wagner. | ||
| Hank Zona Citizen Username: Hankzona Post Number: 965 Registered: 3-2002 |
I have to say, Ive been walking around giggling from time to time about this one since Saturday night. Why? A-Rod is one of the premiere players of this and probably any generation. To see him play on any given day in NY will be a treat. Does his acquisition make the Yankees better? Yes. A lock to win the Series? Absolutely not. That is up to the pitching staff..but according to a source internally, after the season, the Yankees had a five person depth chart of starters they wanted...1. Vazquez, 2. Brown, 3. Colon, 4. Schilling, 5. Pettitte. They got 1 and 2 and they most definitely improved their bullpen. I'll miss Pettitte, but in addition to the Yankees management not wanting him (unfortunately), he really didnt want to be here any longer either (unfortunately too). Why have I been giggling? Because the trade isnt so much a great day for the Yankees as much as its a dark day for the Red Sux and to a lesser extent, the Mets. And not even to the Red Sux team, but to the fans (and management) who are the ones locked in this funk, not the players who turn over every couple of seasons. Steinbrenner wants to do three things...1. win it all, 2. make money, 3. stick it to the Sux and the Mets. He may not get 1...that is something you cant guarantee. The only thing you can guarantee is that you can put yourself in position to win it all...and he has done that once again. Number 2 will come in the form of more tickets sold and alot of A-Rod merchandise to go along with all the Jeter merchandise. Jeter wont be traded...he is not statistically close to A-Rod, but he has intangibles that any player new to the team understands almost immediately. When he got hurt in the beginning of the season, it was no surprise that Giambi, the new star, ran out to the field first and spoke reverentially of him in the post-game interviews that night. There are some awesome egos at work in that and most any lockerroom. Jeter and A-Rod most certainly have two of them..but I think all these articles about the lack of chemistry and the uprooting of Jeter (he may be moved to another position, sure) are the work of and "tradition" of sportswriters. These guys have their money...all they want is playing time and championships. Trading Soriano...you have to give up something to get something. He is an amazing talent...and undisciplined and fundamentally lacking. Amazing to watch..and maddening as well. Another thing that has me chuckling...the trade means the Sux are stuck with Manny. Yeah, I know, stuck with a .320 average and 135 RBIs, but he's still a pariah. This deal marks the decline of baseball and western civilization? Pro and big-time college sports have slipped into the Dark Ages long before this deal. If George is truly the epitome of evil, as Ben Aflac quacks (and really..who cares what Ben Aflac says), he is only one of the rings of hell. Steinbrenner didnt create the system..he just works it really well. Lucchino and the Sux management, who have also built a team capable of winning it all (they didnt have a shabby off-season), didnt work the system well on the A-Rod deal. | ||
| sbenois Citizen Username: Sbenois Post Number: 10747 Registered: 10-2001 |
Please share your joy with the 5,000 Pittsburgh Pirate fans who attend their games in July, August and September. Go outside of New York and a few choice cities and baseball is a dead sport by June because most teams can't compete. ---> Brought to you by Sbenois Engineering LLC <- Let's Go Royals |
