A Question for you Baseball Fans........

[skinsfan44]

I don't watch Major League Baseball, except for the playoffs and the WS.

I instead watch Minor League ball (Frederick Keys).

But my question is...........

I saw a Visa com. with Stienbrenner (sp) of the Yankees with a wrapped up arm from signing to many checks, so he went with the Visa check card.

With that thought, why is it that in baseball where their is NO salary cap, the Yankees can sign and pay WAY more for there players, it is not called "Trying to buy a Championship", and they make a funny com. out of it, but when Snyder of our Redskins does the samething WITH a salary cap, where everyone pays there players the same amount of money, he is being said to be "Buying a Championship?"

Oh, by the way, I HATE the Yankees.

Go Red Sox.

[flave1969]

It is a good question. This year Houston find themselves on the verge because Drayton McLane put his hand in his pocket and added some extra quality to the nucleus of his team, Carlos Beltran comes to mind. The Yankees are so big that there seems too be a big hatred for them no matter what they do. Spending money of course does not buy a championship otherwise the Skins would have 5 right now.

For all the hatred of the Yankees, the manager still has to blend the team and make them play for each other. I think enough other teams have won the World Series for the haves and have nots too not really be such an issue. Is going out and getting A Rod that bad. Too me the team really at fault was the Rangers for getting themselves in such hock that theywere unable to build a team around A-Rod. They still pay some of his wages today which is ridiculous.

[GolfFreak]

I think everyone knows that he buys a championship every year ... that's what make the commerical so funny.

Or at least he tries to ... go Sox!!!

[badpigs442]

I don't watch Major League Baseball, except for the playoffs and the WS.

I instead watch Minor League ball (Frederick Keys).

But my question is...........

I saw a Visa com. with Stienbrenner (sp) of the Yankees with a wrapped up arm from signing to many checks, so he went with the Visa check card.

With that thought, why is it that in baseball where their is NO salary cap, the Yankees can sign and pay WAY more for there players, it is not called "Trying to buy a Championship", and they make a funny com. out of it, but when Snyder of our Redskins does the samething WITH a salary cap, where everyone pays there players the same amount of money, he is being said to be "Buying a Championship?"

Oh, by the way, I HATE the Yankees.

Go Red Sox.

Their is no salary cap in baseball because the players union won't allow it. Way back in 1994 the owners of the teams tried to find away to make a salary cap, and all it did was cause the players to strike, inevitably shortening the greatest season baseball had seen for 35 years. Players want to be paid whatever they want. And becuase Georgie can afford them he spoils his Yankee roster with a new Sheffield or Giambi or maybe even dare I say my boy Carlos Beltran every year.

[nyjunc]

The yankee have yet to "buy" a Championship. The latst dyansty was built from w/in and the payroll was in line w/ that of other clubs. When George started going back to his 80s ways is when the dynasty began to crumble. If winning was all about payroll Boston would have won by now, the Mets would have won, the dodgers and O's would have won. Yankee haters should be happy w/ what the yanks have done recently b/c it has made us worse.

By the way, people have celebrated George and not danny b/c George has won and danny has not.

[CarMike]

Built from within? Sorry nyjunc, but I disagree. Or perhaps i'm misunderstanding what you're saying.

A-Rod, Sheffield, Mussina, Loften, Giambi, Kevin Brown, and perhaps more that I'm forgetting about. If thats not buying "contender" I don't know what is.

BUT, and as much as it kills me to agree with nyjunc, he's exactly right about Steinbrenner winning and Snyder not. But, Steinbrenner hasn't won a title in a while now after spending a lot of money on FAs. But atleast Steinbrenner puts his money back into his team and not his pockets like so many owners do.

I may not like the Yankees, understatment actually, but at least they want to win and try to win. Thats why I like DS. Atleast he trying to win and not sitting on his money. But thats for another forum....;)

[nyjunc]

CarMike: We have TRIED to "buy" a title in recent years but it hasn't been successful. The dynasty teams of the late mid 90s-2000 were mostly homegrown and built through trades of giving up big time prospects(many of which became AS caliber players). The only big name FAs we signed for thiose teams were Jimmy Key(signed only after Atlanta outbid us for Greg Maddux) and David Wells and neither was that big or that high priced. We had a core of homegrown guys we built around.

[CarMike]

Gotcha nyjunc...

I remember back in the early '90s it was amazing the type of minor league system the Yankees had. Their AAA team could have won many games on the ML level....

Like I said earlier, I may not be a Yankee fan, but there's no doubt they are about winning. As a fan, you have to love that.

BTW, one of my favorite players actually plays for the Yankees. Derek Jeter.

Nomar and Derek are my favorite players. And just think. I dislike both teams about as much as I hate the cowboys...

[when Nomar played in Boston that is....]

[Spence]

Baseball does not need a salary cap, what they need is revenue sharing. The salary cap is a restraint on trade. Besides, no union will agree to a salary cap when the the owners refuse to open their books. You have to understand that ALL BASEBALL OWNERS LIE ABOUT THEIR REVENUES. All of them. Therefore, the owners tell the union to take their word for how much revenue is coming in and they'll set the salary cap according to that. Would you make such a deal with owners who have been proven to be liars again and again. We're talking about the same lizards who were fined more than a quarter of a billion dollars by a U.S. court for violating the collective bargaining agreement during the 1980s.

Owners in the NBA and NFL open their books so the union can check what they earn and then the salary cap is set from that. No one is asked to take anyone's word for it. The union knows what is going on. Baseball owners refuse to do that. Anyone who would agree to a salary cap under those circumstances is a complete moron.

[CarMike]

Very well said Spence....

[IowaSkinsFan]

Baseball does not need a salary cap, what they need is revenue sharing. The salary cap is a restraint on trade. Besides, no union will agree to a salary cap when the the owners refuse to open their books. You have to understand that ALL BASEBALL OWNERS LIE ABOUT THEIR REVENUES. All of them. Therefore, the owners tell the union to take their word for how much revenue is coming in and they'll set the salary cap according to that. Would you make such a deal with owners who have been proven to be liars again and again. We're talking about the same lizards who were fined more than a quarter of a billion dollars by a U.S. court for violating the collective bargaining agreement during the 1980s.

Owners in the NBA and NFL open their books so the union can check what they earn and then the salary cap is set from that. No one is asked to take anyone's word for it. The union knows what is going on. Baseball owners refuse to do that. Anyone who would agree to a salary cap under those circumstances is a complete moron.


Revenue sharing is the key.

Also, does baseball have a TV contract like the NFL?

[Minnesota Mike]

Revenue sharing is the key.

Also, does baseball have a TV contract like the NFL?

Baseball has somewhat of a league-wide contract a la the NFL, but it ends up being a much smaller percentage of what the team generates in TV revenue. In the NFL, the league deal is 100% of what each teams makes in tv money. In MLB it is a much smaller percentage and it varies by team. Most teams get the majority of their tv money from their local broadcast or cable deals, and not the national/league wide deal. This is where the disparity comes in.

In fact certain teams have abandoned selling their local cable rights to existing cable stations and have just started up their own cable stations instead. This way they can control the schedule and more importantly, they don't have to share the ad revenue with a 3rd Party station. The Yankees have YES, the Twins tried this too, with thier own Victory station. I'm pretty sure other teams have gone in this direction also.

Additionally this allows the team ownership more opportunities to play "hide the revenue" with all of these related party/subsidiary deals. So even if the teams were to let the players see the books, they would likely find that so many accounting games had taken place that it would take an Enron accountant to make any sense of it.

(PS - this is the issue that is at the heart of the NHL disagreement as well.)