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besson3c · Jul 3, 2006, 12:59 PM

We're almost at the halfway point.

I've been rooting for the Blue Jays, and if they were a National League team, there were several points during the season so far where they would have been the second best team in the league behind the Mets. As it stands, they have too much competition in the AL.

My prediction is that the AL will win the all-star game, and an AL team will win the World Series.

Baseball seems to be pretty well split now with some teams doing exceptionally well and dominating, and most other teams playing around or under .500 ball. Most of the teams with the exception of the Tigers who are dominating have very high payrolls.

Is it time to forcefully push forward that salary cap?

Albert Pujols · Jul 3, 2006, 01:15 PM

one word: Cardinals.

Railroader · Jul 3, 2006, 01:25 PM

Detroit has the best record in the league right now.

nredman · Jul 3, 2006, 03:00 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

We're almost at the halfway point.

I've been rooting for the Blue Jays, and if they were a National League team, there were several points during the season so far where they would have been the second best team in the league behind the Mets. As it stands, they have too much competition in the AL.

My prediction is that the AL will win the all-star game, and an AL team will win the World Series.

Baseball seems to be pretty well split now with some teams doing exceptionally well and dominating, and most other teams playing around or under .500 ball. Most of the teams with the exception of the Tigers who are dominating have very high payrolls.

Is it time to forcefully push forward that salary cap?

i know the feeling, my Twins have been playing lights out lately but with the Tigers and (those f'ing) White Sox winning its hard for the Twins to catch up. their bad start is really biting them in the ass. hopefully they can keep winning and maybe get the wildcard

oh and the NL sucks

Ghoser777 · Jul 3, 2006, 04:33 PM

I predict the Cubs will have the worst record in baseball... ever.

Dork. · Jul 3, 2006, 04:51 PM

Although I agree that MLB needs a salary cap, it's not a given that the teams that are sucessful all have "very high salaries" compared to the others. Here's a link that lists current 2006 payrolls by team.

The Yankees are the most egregious at nearly $200M, with the Red Sox weighing in at $120M. But then the next eight are between $103M and $90M, with only eight teams at less than $60M. Trailing the pack is the Marlins, whose payroll is less than $15M. Their are five individual Yankees who are paid more than the entire Marlins team!

There are plenty of teams with payrolls above $90M that are sucking this year. (And it gives me great pleasure to include the Braves in that category!) Money alone is no guarantee of success. In fact, it may guarantee the opposite, as you go ahead and bid on the premier free-agents, even though they may not be the est fit for your club.

So, here's a question for discussion: If you set a salary cap, where would you set it, given the payrolls currently on the books? And no matter where you set it, will the Marlins ever end up spending anywhere near that much?

besson3c · Jul 3, 2006, 04:57 PM

Originally Posted by Dork.

Although I agree that MLB needs a salary cap, it's not a given that the teams that are sucessful all have "very high salaries" compared to the others. Here's a link that lists current 2006 payrolls by team.

The Yankees are the most egregious at nearly $200M, with the Red Sox weighing in at $120M. But then the next eight are between $103M and $90M, with only eight teams at less than $60M. Trailing the pack is the Marlins, whose payroll is less than $15M. Their are five individual Yankees who are paid more than the entire Marlins team!

There are plenty of teams with payrolls above $90M that are sucking this year. (And it gives me great pleasure to include the Braves in that category!) Money alone is no guarantee of success. In fact, it may guarantee the opposite, as you go ahead and bid on the premier free-agents, even though they may not be the est fit for your club.

So, here's a question for discussion: If you set a salary cap, where would you set it, given the payrolls currently on the books? And no matter where you set it, will the Marlins ever end up spending anywhere near that much?

Very interesting list... Complicates all of my thinking.

SVass · Jul 3, 2006, 05:11 PM

The salary cap should be that each player can get as much as the owner makes! Investment of one's labor should have at least the same value as investment of money. sam

real · Jul 3, 2006, 05:35 PM

Originally Posted by Albert Pujols

one word: Cardinals.

Three words New York Mets

And I dont even like them. but cards in the NLCS

its going to be a good one

besson3c · Jul 3, 2006, 05:44 PM

Three words: Kansas City Royals!

Stogieman · Jul 3, 2006, 06:10 PM

Two letters: A's

rickey939 · Jul 3, 2006, 06:26 PM

Whoever has Rickey Henderson will win it....

Matt OS X · Jul 3, 2006, 06:45 PM

Originally Posted by rickey939

Whoever has Rickey Henderson will win it....

Nah, not the Mets.

Let's go Yankees. Experience says it all.

Agasthya · Jul 3, 2006, 06:46 PM

Originally Posted by Albert Pujols

one word: Cardinals.

Fire LaRussa and we might have a chance.

aberdeenwriter · Jul 3, 2006, 06:46 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

We're almost at the halfway point.

I've been rooting for the Blue Jays, and if they were a National League team, there were several points during the season so far where they would have been the second best team in the league behind the Mets. As it stands, they have too much competition in the AL.

My prediction is that the AL will win the all-star game, and an AL team will win the World Series.

Baseball seems to be pretty well split now with some teams doing exceptionally well and dominating, and most other teams playing around or under .500 ball. Most of the teams with the exception of the Tigers who are dominating have very high payrolls.

Is it time to forcefully push forward that salary cap?

"'All men are created equal' says the American Declaration of Independence. 'All men shall be kept equal' say the Socialists."

Winston Churchill

rickey939 · Jul 3, 2006, 06:54 PM

Originally Posted by Matt OS X

Nah, not the Mets.

He's done "wonders" with Reyes though...

aberdeenwriter · 07:13 PM

2006 World Series Prediction

NY Mets vs Boston Red Sox

Winner: Red Sox in 7 Games

Series MVP: David "Big Papi" Ortiz

Most Valuable Hitting Instructor: Rickey Henderson

On February 10, 2006, Henderson accepted a position as a hitting instructor for the New York Mets. He has left the door open to returning as a player. [1]

Henderson while in attendance at the July 2nd Yankees vs. Mets game announced that he was offered to return to San Diego Surf Dawgs as a player for the 2006 season, which would be his 31st in professional baseball, but decided he had enough. Ricky Henderson was sporting his necklace with 1406 written in diamons on a gold plate.

Unique playing style

Henderson's playing style has one especially unusual feature: he throws left-handed and bats right-handed. Many right-handed throwers bat left-handed, but the opposite is extremely rare, especially among non-pitchers. Another left-handed thrower who batted right-handed was former Yale baseball player and President George H. W. Bush. Explaining how that happened, Rickey once said, "All the other kids playing around me were batting right-handed, so that's the way I thought you were supposed to do it, so that's what I did, too. At one point, I wanted to be a switch-hitter and try the left side, but I was hitting .300, .350 in the minors, and they [the A's] wouldn't let me do it."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickey_Henderson

RGB · Jul 4, 2006, 03:28 AM

I can only hope so.

Here's to a White Sox repeat!

- Lifelong Sox fan.

besson3c · Jul 4, 2006, 11:56 AM

Originally Posted by Matt OS X

Nah, not the Mets.

Let's go Yankees. Experience says it all.

I don't want the Yankees to win simply because of that list Dork posted listing franchise payrolls.

nredman · Jul 4, 2006, 12:10 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

I don't want the Yankees to win simply because of that list Dork posted listing franchise payrolls.

what happened to your royals last night, they gave it to the twins

i'll take it

aberdeenwriter · Jul 4, 2006, 12:22 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

I don't want the Yankees to win simply because of that list Dork posted listing franchise payrolls.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Even if my friend arrives at my bedside by way of a questionable path let us be fellows for as long as it serves our purpose.

Go Red Sox!

besson3c · Jul 4, 2006, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by aberdeenwriter

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Even if my friend arrives at my bedside by way of a questionable path let us be fellows for as long as it serves our purpose.

Go Red Sox!

So Iran is your friend? It's the enemy of Iraq, which is also your enemy!

You should stop supporting terrorism.

aberdeenwriter · Jul 4, 2006, 12:39 PM

besson3c here's my reply to your post.

http://www.soulcast.com/post/show/47...ns-070406-0938

besson3c · Jul 4, 2006, 01:01 PM

Originally Posted by aberdeenwriter

besson3c here's my reply to your post.

http://www.soulcast.com/post/show/47...ns-070406-0938

You got yourself a blog! Congrats!!

aberdeenwriter · Jul 4, 2006, 01:17 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

You got yourself a blog! Congrats!!

Censorship is the mother of invention or something like that. Thanks. But, I'm really not thinking like a blogger. I just wanna continue to chat and exchange pleasantries here with all of you. Starting a blog and commenting on the posts (here or those in the P/L where I'm banned) in my own space is the only way I can think to do that.

I don't want to disrupt anything or piss anyone off. I just wanna talk.

besson3c · Jul 4, 2006, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by aberdeenwriter

Censorship is the mother of invention or something like that. Thanks. But, I'm really not thinking like a blogger. I just wanna continue to chat and exchange pleasantries here with all of you. Starting a blog and commenting on the posts (here or those in the P/L where I'm banned) in my own space is the only way I can think to do that.

I don't want to disrupt anything or piss anyone off. I just wanna talk.

Ever think about starting up your own forums?

aberdeenwriter · 01:51 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Ever think about starting up your own forums?

Email me.

besson3c · Jul 4, 2006, 01:36 PM

Originally Posted by aberdeenwriter

Email me.

aberdeen's email

You might want to delete your email address from the public forum, or else it might be captured by spam email harvesters.

I've emailed you as requested though.

Dork. · Jul 4, 2006, 01:36 PM

One of the biggest Baseball mysteries of all time is exactly what the financial position of these ballclubs are. During the last labor negotiations with the union, it was widely suspected that teams were kept artifically impoverished in order to make it appear that the players were being too greedy. Well, let me rephrase that -- Baseball players generally are too greedy, but the owners were trying to pass themselves off as victims when in reality, they're just as greedy. In many cases, finances were manipulated to make it appear that teams were running a loss, to generate tax write-offs for their owners.

A few years back, Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon both owned 50% of the Mets, and had a clause that if one wanted to sell, the other party would get the forst chance to buy their share. Well, Doubleday wanted out in the middle of these labor negotiations. The appraiser who was hired to value the team valued it at $400M -- and Doubleday sued, saying that the value of the team was being artifically dimished by the appraiser (who he claimed was "in cahoots" with the MLB comissioner) in an attempt to get a better position in labor negotiations. The suit was settled out-of-court, so we don't really know how much a team like the Mets are worth.

Say what you want about Mr. Stienbrenner and his high payroll, but at least he places championships above pure profit. Do you really think that the Marlins aren't able to afford more than $15M in payroll? Bud Selig is a tool, but I'd vote for Steinbrenner for Comissioner in a heartbeat! Unfortunately, I think the next comissioner after Bud retires will be the former owner of the Texas Rangers who will find himself unemployed in January 2009....

Dork. · Jul 4, 2006, 01:37 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Ever think about starting up your own forums?

Yeah, maybe you can call it "NotFuzzy"?

besson3c · Jul 4, 2006, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by Dork.

One of the biggest Baseball mysteries of all time is exactly what the financial position of these ballclubs are. During the last labor negotiations with the union, it was widely suspected that teams were kept artifically impoverished in order to make it appear that the players were being too greedy. Well, let me rephrase that -- Baseball players generally are too greedy, but the owners were trying to pass themselves off as victims when in reality, they're just as greedy. In many cases, finances were manipulated to make it appear that teams were running a loss, to generate tax write-offs for their owners.

A few years back, Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon both owned 50% of the Mets, and had a clause that if one wanted to sell, the other party would get the forst chance to buy their share. Well, Doubleday wanted out in the middle of these labor negotiations. The appraiser who was hired to value the team valued it at $400M -- and Doubleday sued, saying that the value of the team was being artifically dimished by the appraiser (who he claimed was "in cahoots" with the MLB comissioner) in an attempt to get a better position in labor negotiations. The suit was settled out-of-court, so we don't really know how much a team like the Mets are worth.

Say what you want about Mr. Stienbrenner and his high payroll, but at least he places championships above pure profit. Do you really think that the Marlins aren't able to afford more than $15M in payroll? Bud Selig is a tool, but I'd vote for Steinbrenner for Comissioner in a heartbeat! Unfortunately, I think the next comissioner after Bud retires will be the former owner of the Texas Rangers who will find himself unemployed in January 2009....

Bush? Does he still own the Rangers?

What a dumbass... he should have bought a better team.

Hehhe... It would have been funny if Bush bought the Oilers (as in, Edmonton Oilers)

Dork. · Jul 4, 2006, 01:46 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Bush? Does he still own the Rangers?

What a dumbass... he should have bought a better team.

Hehhe... It would have been funny if Bush bought the Oilers (as in, Edmonton Oilers)

No, he sold them before becoming Governor of Texas, IIRC. His biggest accomplishment as the owner of the Rangers was trading away Sammy Sosa to the Cubs.

aberdeenwriter · Jul 4, 2006, 01:48 PM

Originally Posted by Dork.

Yeah, maybe you can call it "NotFuzzy"?

That's VERY Funny!

I don't want to do anything to disrupt or hurt the number of visits or patronage or loyalty to MacNN.

I just want free expression within the rules.

besson3c · Jul 4, 2006, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by Dork.

No, he sold them before becoming Governor of Texas, IIRC. His biggest accomplishment as the owner of the Rangers was trading away Sammy Sosa to the Cubs.

Man, that guy can't do anything right!

I'm glad he didn't buy the Oilers.

aberdeenwriter · Jul 4, 2006, 02:00 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Man, that guy can't do anything right!

I'm glad he didn't buy the Oilers.

One day he'll be considered...

http://www.soulcast.com/post/show/47...ns-070406-1056

besson3c · Jul 4, 2006, 02:00 PM

I'm trying to think about what baseball would be like with Bush as commissioner. Would Bush be wiretapping the players to make sure they aren't using steroids?

besson3c · Jul 4, 2006, 02:02 PM

Originally Posted by aberdeenwriter

One day he'll be considered...

http://www.soulcast.com/post/show/47...ns-070406-1056

Abe, I don't really feel like responding to your blog, if that is what you were hoping... For one, it's not even on topic really. You are taking my goofiness and being too serious with it.

Plus, Bush sucks ass. He really does.

aberdeenwriter · Jul 4, 2006, 02:05 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

I'm trying to think about what baseball would be like with Bush as commissioner. Would Bush be wiretapping the players to make sure they aren't using steroids?

Their 'jocks' would have a different feel than before. The term 'LEAKERS' would take on a whole new meaning.

besson3c · Jul 4, 2006, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by aberdeenwriter

Their 'jocks' would have a different feel than before. The term 'LEAKERS' would take on a whole new meaning.

What? I don't get it... What would they be leaking?

aberdeenwriter · Jul 4, 2006, 02:09 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Abe, I don't really feel like responding to your blog, if that is what you were hoping... For one, it's not even on topic really. You are taking my goofiness and being too serious with it.

Plus, Bush sucks ass. He really does.

This is all new to me and I'm learning how to do it seamlessly. I don't want you to comment there. And just you wait. Bush as Baseball Commish would be great!

aberdeenwriter · Jul 4, 2006, 02:10 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

What? I don't get it... What would they be leaking?

If Jon Stewart said it you'd think it was brilliant.

besson3c · Jul 4, 2006, 02:16 PM

Anyway, who do you guys think will win the Allstar game?

aberdeenwriter · Jul 4, 2006, 02:17 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Anyway, who do you guys think will win the Allstar game?

Americans

nredman · Sep 6, 2006, 08:57 AM

Johan Santana struck out 12 and gave up only two hits to collect his eighth straight victory. He becomes the first 17 game winner!

Now if Francisco Liriano comes back and pitches well i'll be happy. Go Twins!!!!

Dork. · Sep 6, 2006, 10:02 AM

Originally Posted by nredman

Johan Santana struck out 12 and gave up only two hits to collect his eighth straight victory. He becomes the first 17 game winner!

Now if Francisco Liriano comes back and pitches well i'll be happy. Go Twins!!!!

I'll admit I like the Twins because:

- They are one of the teams that put the lie to the notion that "small market" teams can't compete. They compete by scouting young players and bringing them up through their minor league system. And they don't exactly scrimp on their payroll, either: their $60M payroll would fund the Marlins four times over.

- The Rochester AAA team became a Twins affiliate a few years back, so I get to see these young players in action.

So, I am Officially Rooting for the Twins to win the AL. But no more than that, OK?

besson3c · Sep 6, 2006, 10:13 AM

Looks like the Jays are out of it. They could have been in it or close if a few things had gone differently for them though.

Perhaps Halliday will win the Cy Young.

nredman · Sep 6, 2006, 10:15 AM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Looks like the Jays are out of it. They could have been in it or close if a few things had gone differently for them though.

Perhaps Halliday will win the Cy Young.

could be tough if johans stats are similar or better and the twins make the playoffs - but he deserves it if johan doesnt get it

typoon · Sep 7, 2006, 11:40 AM

Unfortunately I think It's going to be a Subway series. No one in the NL can compare to the Mets and Depending on who makes it in the Central and western Division not many people are as deep as the Yankees. With Matsui and Sheffield coming back Teams will have to watch out.

Also I think one of the most underrated pitchers should win the Cy Young. His Name Chien Ming Wang. His stats are just as good as Halliday's

rickey939 · Sep 7, 2006, 11:44 AM

The Royals won't make it past the 1st round of the Playoffs.

itai195 · Sep 7, 2006, 01:05 PM

I successfully predicted that the Giants would stink up the joint this year, what do I win???