Links for Saturday afternoon..
- Yoenis Cespedes' deal with the Athletics is now official, according to the club's Twitter account. Cespedes' deal is for four years and is reportedly worth $36MM.
- In a corresponding move, the A's opened a spot for Cespedes on the 40-man roster by placing Scott Sizemore on the 60-day disabled list. Sizemore will miss the entire 2012 campaign after tearing his left ACL.
- Outfielders Rick Ankiel and Brett Carroll, who are both on minor league deals, are making a solid case to make the Nationals' major league squad, writes Bill Ladson of MLB.com.
- Although people in the Nationals organization like Davey Johnson wanted him to return, Livan Hernandez says that he knew early on that his time was up in Washington, tweets Ladson.
- The Brewers renewed the contract of right-hander John Axford this afternoon and the two sides continue to talk about a multiyear deal, tweets Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
- Right-hander Kiko Calero is considering a procedure similar to what Bartolo Colon underwent as he weighs a comeback, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter).
- Both the Yankees and Red Sox are operating differently in 2012 thanks to the luxury tax threshold of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, writes Alex Speier of WEEI.com. The new provision, Speier writes, creates the possibility for more payroll parity than the game has seen in years.
I personally like that the clubs that aren’t bringing in the revenue but are in a big market won’t get revenue sharing money. It is only fair, just because the yankees or RS spend and actually care about winning doesn’t mean that they should have to give to the other clubs. Yes oakland has a small market so they need some support, but Washington DC?? That is like the 5th biggest market in the country, same with Toronto, if they spent their money correctly then they should bring in revenue.
It’s not worth much if a team in a populated area is not very baseball-oriented. Being competitive doesn’t guarantee a fanbase. The Expos spent money, drafted fairly well, and were competitive, but were forced to move to Washington DC because they couldn’t draw a crowd.
The Marlins similarly are competitive more often than not but fail to draw crowds. The set the record for lowest attendance during a World Series in 2003.
That’s why revenue sharing is necessary, even if it gives teams incentive to spend less. Without it, teams like Tampa and Oakland wouldn’t stand a chance at all, even if they draft and sign players well. The NFL has the highest degree of revenue sharing and as a result, they also have the highest degree of competitive balance in professional sports.
Montreal being an exception because it is another country and a hockey country at that, they are mutually exclusive. New York has 8 teams, only two of them are baseball. It became a baseball city somehow and it wasn’t because of the Mets. Winning can change that sort of thing, though again, I admit the Expos’ situation was an exception to that rule.
A lot of misconceptions there. The Blue Jays are in another country but they can draw a crowd without competing every year because they have a decent size fanbase, even with a hockey team.
Winning can equal a larger fanbase for cities where baseball is already a big sport, but there are many instances in which this doesn’t hold. I already mentioned a few: the Marlins, Rays, Oakland, Expos, Padres. My argument was that a team cannot solve its financial problems by spending as if they were anything close to the Yankees. Revenue sharing is set up to help competitive balance, not disrupt it.
Teams like Toronto, A’s, and Rays should be relocated if they can’t get more support in the next 5 years. The attendance is poor, while their teams are not bad, especially the Rays should move to Orlando and build a dome. I also think a dome in Charlotte would do alot better than Tampa.
Toronto will be fine when they start winning more.
Where else could these teams move to? I was trying to come up with other cities that could support a Major League franchise. Las Vegas and Portland come to mind.
Charlotte and Orlando too.
Move the RAys to Orlando. No way baseball is going to have 3 Florida teams when their current 2 teams are 2 of the worst in attendance (Yes the Marlins may increase this year but let’s wait and see)
I think its odd how the Marlins built this new stadium that only holds 37,000. That’s less than Fenway.
I think its odd how the Marlins built this new stadium that only holds 37,000. That’s less than Fenway.
Hartford! Would be cool, and is wealthy enough, but too many NYY, RS, Mets fans here…. Hartford metro is like 1.2, and springfields is like .8, so that is pretty big and they only 20 miles apart. And it is same size as oklahoma city, but has other nearby cities.
Biggest markets without a team
-Portland
-Sacramento
-San antonio
-orlando
-Las Vegas
-San Jose
A’s should move to san jose.
I dont see orlando, vegas, sacramento supporting teams, unless it is the A’s that go to sacramento. Florida teams have both shown to have trouble drawing teams even when winning, Orlando i doubt because most of the people that go there dont head to the middle of the city and their is more other entertainment to do.
San Antonio may be able to support a team, especially with the Austin market being so close, and Dallas is still far enough away.
I actually discussed this kind of stuff last night on another board of possibly getting 2 expansion teams and making 8 divisions of 4 (possibly 4 divisions of 8 but highly unlikely) . For locations, some suggested Charlotte, Indianapolis, Memphis, Nashville, San Antonio, Portland
the a’s ARE trying to relocate, in case you missed it, since there has been almost no talk about it…
Why talk about that when we can instead focus all our attention on what brand of beer Josh Beckett likes and Derek Jeters favorite episode of Seinfeld?
Jeter’s favorite episode of Seinfeld is obviously “The Abstinence”
I posted this yesterday also.. But oakland didn’t draw when they were the best team in baseball and won 3 consecutive WS from 72-74.
those teams were dominant..As in a league of their own talent wise.. The Weaver led Orioles could match them with pitching, but they had a tremendous offense to go along with a top notch rotation as well in Oakland and had it not been for something called free agency…
The solid case being that the Nationals only have two outfield spots filled.
Technically one. LaRoche is a question mark which could move Morse to 1st.
“The new provision, Speier writes, creates the possibility for more payroll parity than the game has seen in years”
Except if you are the Pirates, Orioles, Padres, Indians and perennially refuse to compete… You need to start taxing teams who’s greedy owners refuse spend if you want fair and competitive balance…
I think that many teams just dont know how to correctly run a team. Tampa has shown that they can put together a good team on a small payroll. They develop entirely from within, they dont take on 15M in AJ salary, etc.
I think that many teams just dont know how to correctly run a team. Tampa has shown that they can put together a good team on a small payroll. They develop entirely from within, they dont take on 15M in AJ salary, etc.
Isn’t it true that Oakland has been seeking to relocate further south in the bay area, to San Jose? And, aren’t the Giants holding things up with MLB’s “territorial rights” rule? I wonder what MLB’s position is on this matter if it is true?
Also, both Tampa Bay, with its isolated location in St. Petersburg, and Miami have been working on new stadium deals. The Marlins should see considerable improvement in fan turn out in 2012 with the team’s new stadium. The Rays are also trying to relocate to a site east of Tampa to draw more fans from north central, central and south central Florida. It takes as much as 3-5 hours right now to drive one way to games from the Orlando area, for instance, because of traffic tie ups. So, the Rays lack of attendance is due to poor road access more than a lack of interest.
I, for one believe that MLB, sooner or later, will expand to 32 teams, for divisional balance, and to improve sectional rivalries with a full realignment of teams in both leagues.
Charlotte, with a 2M fan base would be an ideal addition, geographically. Las Vegas, too, once it climbs out of the depressed economy being experienced throughout Nevada right now. I’ll add three others worthy of consideration….. Vancouver, BC which also has a 2M fan base, Oklahoma City, an emerging sports town, and, possibly, Mexico City or Havana, once the Castro brothers are gone. I acknowledge, the last two are long shots, but both have potential fan bases in excess of 10M, which puts them on par with New York and LA, MLB’s two biggest markets.
Oh, another factor or two to consider in Toronto is the exchange rate between the dollar and the loony, Canada’s equivalent. A $20 game ticket on the US side of the border cost $26 (American) in Toronto for a Jays’ admission. Five or six years ago it was just the reverse. I don’t think they earn as much from broadcasting fees as some teams do south of the Canadian border either..
The A’s should try Chris Carter at third.
Cart was a +2 UZR in 71 innings at 1st base last year. No idea on his arm. Since he has only played LF in the majors, it probably is not that great.