The owners may want socialism, but I think most fans, including me, just want equal opportunity for each team to succeed. The NFL does the best of the four major pro sports in North America in that regard, and I think it's the main reason for its popularity. MLB does the worst, and I think it's the main reason it continues to lose ground vs not only the NFL, but also the NBA and the NHL.
As a lifelong Brewer I truly appreciate the comments and perspective about enjoying the ride. Needless to say, the trade deadline was frustrating again this year for Brewers fans with the Dodgers getting the "prize". Let's hope David can defeat Goliath come October - go BREWERS!
The league will use this as exhibit A in their salary cap doom talk. The players must not agree to a cap. What's the point of making millions of dollars a year of e you can't use your generational wealth to fight on this hill?
I grew up in the 50s and 60s. I followed the Tigers passionately even though I KNEW the Yankees would win every year. Their dominance makes these Dodgers look like pikers. This is nothing new.
We watched tennis even though we knew no one other than the big three had a chance. We watched golf even though we knew that Nicklaus and Tiger in their eras would win most everything that mattered. We watched the NBA even when we knew MJ would probably win.
I think they’re just two separate issues here. One is how the players and owners split up the revenue from baseball. The other is some owners are willing to spend the money it takes to win and other owners would rather take that money and put it in their pockets and keep it there. And that’s all there is to it. I don’t think either one has a ton to do with the other.
I’m a Rays fan. I think Rays fans just accept that the Rays are going to develop some stars, those stars are gonna go to some other teams, and then hopefully the Rays can repeat the process. But that does not mean that the Rays owner could not afford to keep those stars if they chose to.
Well put, Joe! A lot can happen between now and the final World Series game. Injuries, slumps, the immortal superstars become mortal. The season is a roller coaster ride! Enjoy it!
I largely agree with what you said here; I'm all in favor of the players getting as large a piece of the pie as they can. However, a salary cap "penalizes" only the top end of the salary scale. If the union wants to benefit as many members as possible, they should instead be focusing on a payroll floor and on increasing the minimum salary. That's another, and probably more equitable, way of extracting further dollars from the owners.
As a Red Sox fan, I'm so happy to have swept the Dodgers this weekend and turned our season around. But there's three former Sox players in the Dodger's dugout. We lost Mookie because we were cheap with our extension, and K. Hernandez was a walking catastrophe of errors. The Dodgers just develop and pick up the pieces of others better than anyone else. The Braves chose Olson over Freeman. The Angels are the Angels and let Ohtani go rather than build around him and Trout. The Yanks wouldn't pay Yamamoto more than Cole. The Rays didn't want to pay Glasnow. The Cards gave up on Edman. The A's DFA'd Muncy. Every team has these issues (look at Bregman and the Red Sox), but they all end up in LA. And currently LA is sitting on a lot of pitching that currently isn't pitching. But to Eleah, the Dodgers did this to play keep away with the Brewers.
The Red Sox sweeping the Dodgers this week is the best thing that could have happened for the “anything can happen in a short series” crowd. I’m among that crowd by the way.
I agree with Joe. Anybody (Well, almost anybody) can beat another team in a short series. Injuries happen, some players don't perform in the post season like the did in the regular season, while others do their best to cram a HOF career into the postseason. As a fan, all I can do is sit back and let it all play out.
Any baseball enshittification starts and ends with teams not investing in on the field talent. Those that rely on the teams that spend to make their own teams profitable. Don’t blame the team that is investing money to win. Investing in your scouting and minor leagues and analysts provide MLB jobs. Now, this seems to be paying off financially, but this is what you want from capitalism, not a contending Detoit team giving away its best player to avoid paying him his market price in order to make their billionaire owners even wealthier. That’s enshittification.
Does anyone here besides me actually like dynasties? And I know, I'm saying this as a (former, but until recently) Yankees fan. But there's something so... uncompelling, I guess, about a team that finishes .500 one year, gets hot August 20th the next year and rides the wave to the World Series, and then regresses to the mean and wins 75 games the following year. That makes for a great story when it happens once in a while (the 1960 Pirates and '69 Mets spring to mind), but when it happens every year, not so much.
You may think the Dodgers are evil, but they're compelling, they are a historically great team with incredible players and they're rightfully the envy of MLB, with a big fat target on their back for every other team to aim at. I'm an East Coaster, and I'll stay up late to watch the Dodgers, while I wouldn't do the same for, say, the Diamondbacks. I am also a recent convert to the Mets, who have proven time and time again that buying a championship team isn't nearly as easy as it looks.
I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I'll take sustained greatness — even the long dominance of the hated Astros — over mediocre teams bubbling to the top for a single season.
Not baseball, but basketball was more compelling (to me) during the Cavs-Warriors 4x annual showdown than it is with new teams in the Finals every year.
The owners may want socialism, but I think most fans, including me, just want equal opportunity for each team to succeed. The NFL does the best of the four major pro sports in North America in that regard, and I think it's the main reason for its popularity. MLB does the worst, and I think it's the main reason it continues to lose ground vs not only the NFL, but also the NBA and the NHL.
As a lifelong Brewer I truly appreciate the comments and perspective about enjoying the ride. Needless to say, the trade deadline was frustrating again this year for Brewers fans with the Dodgers getting the "prize". Let's hope David can defeat Goliath come October - go BREWERS!
The league will use this as exhibit A in their salary cap doom talk. The players must not agree to a cap. What's the point of making millions of dollars a year of e you can't use your generational wealth to fight on this hill?
I grew up in the 50s and 60s. I followed the Tigers passionately even though I KNEW the Yankees would win every year. Their dominance makes these Dodgers look like pikers. This is nothing new.
We watched tennis even though we knew no one other than the big three had a chance. We watched golf even though we knew that Nicklaus and Tiger in their eras would win most everything that mattered. We watched the NBA even when we knew MJ would probably win.
Get over it.
Hell yeah, Joe.
I think they’re just two separate issues here. One is how the players and owners split up the revenue from baseball. The other is some owners are willing to spend the money it takes to win and other owners would rather take that money and put it in their pockets and keep it there. And that’s all there is to it. I don’t think either one has a ton to do with the other.
I’m a Rays fan. I think Rays fans just accept that the Rays are going to develop some stars, those stars are gonna go to some other teams, and then hopefully the Rays can repeat the process. But that does not mean that the Rays owner could not afford to keep those stars if they chose to.
To BR Eleah
Jays fan here and we were told every step of the way that we couldn't beat any team we played in the playoffs.
Then when we beat them we heard that we had no chance against the Dodgers.
That was the best ride I'd been on until the Knicks finally won it all. Yes im a Canadian (west coast) with Jays and Knicks loyalties...
Of course this year is a little different for my Jays while the Dodgers lead the league again...
Well put, Joe! A lot can happen between now and the final World Series game. Injuries, slumps, the immortal superstars become mortal. The season is a roller coaster ride! Enjoy it!
Will Sugar be one of the movies? Very underrated baseball flick. Beautiful movie.
I largely agree with what you said here; I'm all in favor of the players getting as large a piece of the pie as they can. However, a salary cap "penalizes" only the top end of the salary scale. If the union wants to benefit as many members as possible, they should instead be focusing on a payroll floor and on increasing the minimum salary. That's another, and probably more equitable, way of extracting further dollars from the owners.
As a Red Sox fan, I'm so happy to have swept the Dodgers this weekend and turned our season around. But there's three former Sox players in the Dodger's dugout. We lost Mookie because we were cheap with our extension, and K. Hernandez was a walking catastrophe of errors. The Dodgers just develop and pick up the pieces of others better than anyone else. The Braves chose Olson over Freeman. The Angels are the Angels and let Ohtani go rather than build around him and Trout. The Yanks wouldn't pay Yamamoto more than Cole. The Rays didn't want to pay Glasnow. The Cards gave up on Edman. The A's DFA'd Muncy. Every team has these issues (look at Bregman and the Red Sox), but they all end up in LA. And currently LA is sitting on a lot of pitching that currently isn't pitching. But to Eleah, the Dodgers did this to play keep away with the Brewers.
The Red Sox sweeping the Dodgers this week is the best thing that could have happened for the “anything can happen in a short series” crowd. I’m among that crowd by the way.
I agree with Joe. Anybody (Well, almost anybody) can beat another team in a short series. Injuries happen, some players don't perform in the post season like the did in the regular season, while others do their best to cram a HOF career into the postseason. As a fan, all I can do is sit back and let it all play out.
Two thoughts. Maybe what is happening is the enshitification of baseball similar to Cory Doctorow’s theory of the enshitification of the internet.
And this from from North Dallas Forty
https://share.google/oiDX0t1lLuBBs1x95
Gotta love the Tooz.
Far out!
Any baseball enshittification starts and ends with teams not investing in on the field talent. Those that rely on the teams that spend to make their own teams profitable. Don’t blame the team that is investing money to win. Investing in your scouting and minor leagues and analysts provide MLB jobs. Now, this seems to be paying off financially, but this is what you want from capitalism, not a contending Detoit team giving away its best player to avoid paying him his market price in order to make their billionaire owners even wealthier. That’s enshittification.
Does anyone here besides me actually like dynasties? And I know, I'm saying this as a (former, but until recently) Yankees fan. But there's something so... uncompelling, I guess, about a team that finishes .500 one year, gets hot August 20th the next year and rides the wave to the World Series, and then regresses to the mean and wins 75 games the following year. That makes for a great story when it happens once in a while (the 1960 Pirates and '69 Mets spring to mind), but when it happens every year, not so much.
You may think the Dodgers are evil, but they're compelling, they are a historically great team with incredible players and they're rightfully the envy of MLB, with a big fat target on their back for every other team to aim at. I'm an East Coaster, and I'll stay up late to watch the Dodgers, while I wouldn't do the same for, say, the Diamondbacks. I am also a recent convert to the Mets, who have proven time and time again that buying a championship team isn't nearly as easy as it looks.
I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I'll take sustained greatness — even the long dominance of the hated Astros — over mediocre teams bubbling to the top for a single season.
As a diehard Astros fan, I approve of this message!! :)
Not baseball, but basketball was more compelling (to me) during the Cavs-Warriors 4x annual showdown than it is with new teams in the Finals every year.
Amen Joe!
Amen.