Brewers to MLB: We need a salary cap.

[MaineDolFan]

After watching New York spend $424 million on three players, Brewers ownership is saying "enough is enough."  If owners band together and stand pat, they might be able to force something through.

Article is here.  Read, vote.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601079&sid=aew0QKinAX2c&refer=home

[YoFuggedaboutit]

This will never fly.  First of all, it's coming from the commish's former team.  Second, the players union will never agree to it. 

[Sunstroke]

Nah...why in the world would baseball ever want to be a fair game?

[Tepop84]

If you look at Baltimore or Toronto.  Why should they spend any money on free agents this offseason.  There is no way that they will win the division, and spending money on a good free agent would be just like burning money.

[EDGECRUSHER]

I am for one with a hard floor on spending. However, we all know that will never happen due to certain scumbag owners who like to pocket their profits, as opposed to the Steinbrenners who reinvest them towards the team. Gotta give those evil, childish bastards their due.

Like someone else here said, the player's union would never agree to something like that.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

For it to work, it would have to be like football.  Both a max and a min and enough profit sharing that all teams could afford it.

I like the football rules.  Even though if football was like baseball my team and Dallas would have every decent FA.   

[Tepop84]

I am for one with a hard floor on spending. However, we all know that will never happen due to certain scumbag owners who like to pocket their profits, as opposed to the Steinbrenners who reinvest them towards the team. Gotta give those evil, childish bastards their due.

Why should the smaller teams waste money when they have no chance of winning the division.  If Toronto spends 20 million more this offseason, do you think they will have any chance of competing with the Yankees or Red Sox, no they won't.  It will just be $20 million they wasted.

[EDGECRUSHER]

Tell that to the Rays, Twins and Marlins. When talking about money, people point to the Jays and say they have no chance against the Yanks and Red Sox. Guess what? They have little chance against the cheap ass Devil Rays as well and that has nothing to do with money. The Rays are just better right now.

The Jays have the bad fortune of just being in a division with 2 perennial contenders and now the Rays. Toronto could afford to spend more if they didn't just flush $126 Million down the toilet on Vernon Wells. At the time, that was the 6th largest contract in history. Vernon is a nice player, but he is not a superstar and he got paid like one and now Toronto is screwed for a long time. Hey, anyone want a 30 year old CF who can barely get on base with declining defensive value under contract for another $90 Million the next 5 years? Really, no one?

The Jays are screwed this year due to injuries and bad contracts. These fuckers thought David Eckstein was a good ballplayer. No amount of money can make you win if you think Eckstein is a good player. They also are giving over $10 Million to Scott Rolen so he can be injured and suck. On top of all of this, they had the 12th highest payroll in baseball, above the world champion Phillies and more than double that of the Rays.

No crying for the Blue Jays. They have money to absorb mistakes, but not enough to absorb three massive ones like BJ Ryan, Wells and Rolen.

[Tepop84]

Since there are so many medium and small market teams it makes it seem like they can compete because 1 out of say 25 of them will make a splash each year.  But there are 24 losing teams.  When the Yankees and Redsox make the playoffs 90% of the time.  Lets say that baseball is a car race and the yankees are a mclaren f1, and the bluejays are a toyota yaris.  Should the yaris owner spend $10k to try to improve his car, there is no way that he will win, and spending 10k is just going to waste it.  Maybe it helps him lower the margin of victory, but in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter.

[EDGECRUSHER]

The Jays had the best staff in baseball last year, but their offense sucked. With some smart moves like signing Giambi for a year or Adam Dunn for 3 seasons, they could've contended.

Yes, the Yankees greatly improved and the Red Sox didn't need to, but they aren't so far behind they have no chance. You can't just say "don't bother". They just have to be smarter in what they do.

[Tepop84]

So you think it is fair that the Jays have to be a lot smarter wrt free agency and get lucky, while the yankees and red sox just have to not get unlucky. 

[EDGECRUSHER]

No, there is a distinct advantage between those clubs. I just don't see it as a black and white issue. It's true that the Yankees spend a shitload more than any other team, but it's also true that the Steinbrenners aren't even in the top 10 of wealthiest owners in baseball. Their team is worth the most, but in terms of personal wealth, not even close. Yet, they put as much revenue back into the team as they can while guys like Pohlad and Glass just pocket those revenue checks and don't even bother.

On top of that, they pay so much in luxury tax and revenue sharing, that they pretty much earned the right to say "F You" to anyone they want. They pay the price for their unfair advantage. If the Brewers think it's wrong what the Yankees do, give Steinbrenner back his check.

I will be fine with a cap as long as a minimum level of spending is established so teams like the Marlins and Reds have to use those welfare checks on the team as opposed to buying themselves another ivory back scratcher.

[raptorsfan29]

The Jays had the best staff in baseball last year, but their offense sucked. With some smart moves like signing Giambi for a year or Adam Dunn for 3 seasons, they could've contended.

Funny you mentioned that, Cito the jays new manager (well technically old, but this is his second stint with the team, last stint was with 2 World series championship) said he would like Giambi.

On dunn, well Mr. Jackass (JP Riccardi) said comments about Dunn, that didn't go to well with dunn, so there is no chance dunn with be a jay anytime soon.

I think the jays can contend, they don't neccesairly have to beat the yankees and Red Sox to make the playoffs (22% (36 Games) of games against the two, 78% (126 games) against the rest) i figure it will be a split 18-18 against the two so the jays would need to go 77-49, not impossible.

[EDGECRUSHER]

The pitching injuries and loss of Burnett really hurts this team for 2009, but you can do anything if you have the pitching. They just made some bad moves on the offensive side that are killing them. The Wells deal was a disaster and will continue to be one for a long time.

But, freak things happened. In one season the Yanks suffered major injuries from:

Wang
Posada
Joba
Matsui
Brian Bruney
Jonathan Albaladejo (who is KILLING it in the winter league)

On top of that, career bad seasons from Cano and Jeter that likely won't be repeated. So, things happen that you can't foresee. Maybe Beckett goes down for 4 months and Matsuzaka's ERA is over 6 while Ortiz hits 9 HR in 140 games. It would be foolish to count on those things, but these things happen from time to time. No sense giving up on the season, but they need to improve offensively otherwise they have virtually no chance.

[Sunstroke]

On top of that, they pay so much in luxury tax and revenue sharing, that they pretty much earned the right to say "F You" to anyone they want. They pay the price for their unfair advantage.

This is the lamest thing I have ever read. It displays a complete ignorance to the simple matter of right vs wrong. In your world, it's ok for the Yankees to be wrong, because they pay extra for the privilege.

What a fukkin' joke...