:Q Manny Ramirez placed on waivers!

[Broohaha]

link

(reg. required)

i hope the O's pick him up!

sorry lagere 😛

 

[Lager]

Welcome to Boston... Vladimir Guerrero!

 

[Broohaha]

nope! vlad's comin to baltimore!!!

 

[Lager]

I hope we get Andy Pettitte this offseason. We need a lefty in our rotation badly.

Also, Vladimir Guerrero is the perfect fit.

 

[BlamoHammer]

Hopefully in my lifetime there will be a salary cap in baseball so that teams like the Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, etc can see what it's like to actually be responsible for the decisions that they make. If there were a finite amount of dollars available to most of the higher payroll clubs I guarantee that they would have but a fraction of the current success some of them enjoy. And yes, that means the Mets COULD get worse.

 

[flxnimprtmscl]

Holy crap :Q I'll admit I didn't see that coming at all 😕

Oh, and don't get your hopes up chowds. Vlad is going to NY if he goes anywhere.

 

[hawkeye81x]

Originally posted by: AngryPirate
Hopefully in my lifetime there will be a salary cap in baseball so that teams like the Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, etc can see what it's like to actually be responsible for the decisions that they make. If there were a finite amount of dollars available to most of the higher payroll clubs I guarantee that they would have but a fraction of the current success some of them enjoy. And yes, that means the Mets COULD get worse.

I agree. I'm a big Dodger and Angels fan, but this spending crap is getting way out of hand. I mean when the Yankees can spend $120 million more than the Florida Marlins and still lose the World Series, maybe expensive free agents should be reconsidered.

But until then, Nomar in L.A. in 2005 baby! 🙂

 

[flxnimprtmscl]

Originally posted by: AngryPirate
Hopefully in my lifetime there will be a salary cap in baseball so that teams like the Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, etc can see what it's like to actually be responsible for the decisions that they make. If there were a finite amount of dollars available to most of the higher payroll clubs I guarantee that they would have but a fraction of the current success some of them enjoy. And yes, that means the Mets COULD get worse.

What are you talking about? You are aware baseball has a luxury tax now which esentially serves the same purpose. The difference is some owners (like good old George) just don't give a fvck.

Btw, you're aware that the A's have one of the lowest payrolls out there right? Yah, they're a pretty crappy team...

 

[BlamoHammer]

Imagine what the upper echelon GM's like Billy Beane could do with proper resources...you think the A's would lose a World Series if they had both his talent AND $100+ million a year to spend on payroll? I think not.

 

[Broohaha]

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl
Holy crap :Q I'll admit I didn't see that coming at all 😕 Oh, and don't get your hopes up chowds. Vlad is going to NY if he goes anywhere.

you are COMPLETELY wrong on that. vlad has stated numerous times there's no way in hell he'll play in a big market like new york. that's precisely why baltimore is the perfect fit for him.

im so nice i went and found the article for you 😛

 

[Broohaha]

dp

 

[BlamoHammer]

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: AngryPirate
Hopefully in my lifetime there will be a salary cap in baseball so that teams like the Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, etc can see what it's like to actually be responsible for the decisions that they make. If there were a finite amount of dollars available to most of the higher payroll clubs I guarantee that they would have but a fraction of the current success some of them enjoy. And yes, that means the Mets COULD get worse.

What are you talking about? You are aware baseball has a luxury tax now which esentially serves the same purpose. The difference is some owners (like good old George) just don't give a fvck.

Btw, you're aware that the A's have one of the lowest payrolls out there right? Yah, they're a pretty crappy team...

Yes I am aware of the luxury tax, but it does NOT serve the same purpose. All it does is slap owners on the wrist and then let them spend as much as they want. I think the NBA has the best salary structure as it allows for teams to overspend a bit to keep their star players. My gripe with the NFL is there is almost too much parity.

And yes I know the A's have one of the lowest payrolls and have been extremely successful in the past few years. But if you still think that they are not at a disadvantage then wake up and smell the departing free agents.

 

[BlamoHammer]

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: AngryPirate
Hopefully in my lifetime there will be a salary cap in baseball so that teams like the Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, etc can see what it's like to actually be responsible for the decisions that they make. If there were a finite amount of dollars available to most of the higher payroll clubs I guarantee that they would have but a fraction of the current success some of them enjoy. And yes, that means the Mets COULD get worse.

What are you talking about? You are aware baseball has a luxury tax now which esentially serves the same purpose. The difference is some owners (like good old George) just don't give a fvck.

Btw, you're aware that the A's have one of the lowest payrolls out there right? Yah, they're a pretty crappy team...

Something tells me that if the A's had Damon and/or Giambi still then we might have seen a very different postseason.

 

[RabidMongoose]

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: AngryPirate
Hopefully in my lifetime there will be a salary cap in baseball so that teams like the Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, etc can see what it's like to actually be responsible for the decisions that they make. If there were a finite amount of dollars available to most of the higher payroll clubs I guarantee that they would have but a fraction of the current success some of them enjoy. And yes, that means the Mets COULD get worse.

What are you talking about? You are aware baseball has a luxury tax now which esentially serves the same purpose. The difference is some owners (like good old George) just don't give a fvck.

Btw, you're aware that the A's have one of the lowest payrolls out there right? Yah, they're a pretty crappy team...

The luxury tax doesn't serve the same purpose of a salary cap if even one team surpasses it.

The A's are just extremely lucky to have three aces develop at right about the same time. It's just very hard for a small market team to do what the A's have done.

 

[flxnimprtmscl]

Originally posted by: AngryPirate
Imagine what the upper echelon GM's like Billy Beane could do with proper resources...you think the A's would lose a World Series if they had both his talent AND $100+ million a year to spend on payroll? I think not.

Why wouldn't they loose? Let's examine this a bit.

1) Brian Cashman (NY gm) does a damn good job which I don't think he gets credit for. So it's not like Beane is just doing a hell of a lot better job than the team with the huge payroll.

2) Even at their current incredibly low payroll the only thing screwing the A's the last few years is themselves. They had the NY on the ropes last year and they chocked it away. Good start in the Boston series and they chocked it away. It's not like throwing more money at that situation would help it.

Really I don't see how this argument can be made considering the last two world series have gone to small market teams after defeating the uber dollar powerhouse. Money can help you win championships but it's obviously not guaranteed is it?

 

[BlamoHammer]

Originally posted by: RabidMongoose

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: AngryPirate
Hopefully in my lifetime there will be a salary cap in baseball so that teams like the Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, etc can see what it's like to actually be responsible for the decisions that they make. If there were a finite amount of dollars available to most of the higher payroll clubs I guarantee that they would have but a fraction of the current success some of them enjoy. And yes, that means the Mets COULD get worse.

What are you talking about? You are aware baseball has a luxury tax now which esentially serves the same purpose. The difference is some owners (like good old George) just don't give a fvck.

Btw, you're aware that the A's have one of the lowest payrolls out there right? Yah, they're a pretty crappy team...

The luxury tax doesn't serve the same purpose of a salary cap if even one team surpasses it.

The A's are just extremely lucky to have three aces develop at right about the same time. It's just very hard for a small market team to do what the A's have done.

Exactly. A salary cap is like a roadblock to spending whereas the luxury tax is more of a yield sign.

 

[flxnimprtmscl]

Originally posted by: AngryPirate

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: AngryPirate
Hopefully in my lifetime there will be a salary cap in baseball so that teams like the Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, etc can see what it's like to actually be responsible for the decisions that they make. If there were a finite amount of dollars available to most of the higher payroll clubs I guarantee that they would have but a fraction of the current success some of them enjoy. And yes, that means the Mets COULD get worse.

What are you talking about? You are aware baseball has a luxury tax now which esentially serves the same purpose. The difference is some owners (like good old George) just don't give a fvck.

Btw, you're aware that the A's have one of the lowest payrolls out there right? Yah, they're a pretty crappy team...

Something tells me that if the A's had Damon and/or Giambi still then we might have seen a very different postseason.

They had Damon and Giambi in 02 didn't they? Oh, and a two game lead on the Yanks. They really did good in that situation huh?

 

[Entity]

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: AngryPirate

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: AngryPirate
Hopefully in my lifetime there will be a salary cap in baseball so that teams like the Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, etc can see what it's like to actually be responsible for the decisions that they make. If there were a finite amount of dollars available to most of the higher payroll clubs I guarantee that they would have but a fraction of the current success some of them enjoy. And yes, that means the Mets COULD get worse.

What are you talking about? You are aware baseball has a luxury tax now which esentially serves the same purpose. The difference is some owners (like good old George) just don't give a fvck.

Btw, you're aware that the A's have one of the lowest payrolls out there right? Yah, they're a pretty crappy team...

Something tells me that if the A's had Damon and/or Giambi still then we might have seen a very different postseason.

They had Damon and Giambi in 02 didn't they? Oh, and a two game lead on the Yanks. They really did good in that situation huh?

You mean 01?

 

[RabidMongoose]

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: AngryPirate
Imagine what the upper echelon GM's like Billy Beane could do with proper resources...you think the A's would lose a World Series if they had both his talent AND $100+ million a year to spend on payroll? I think not.

Why wouldn't they loose? Let's examine this a bit.

1) Brian Cashman (NY gm) does a damn good job which I don't think he gets credit for. So it's not like Beane is just doing a hell of a lot better job than the team with the huge payroll.

2) Even at their current incredibly low payroll the only thing screwing the A's the last few years is themselves. They had the NY on the ropes last year and they chocked it away. Good start in the Boston series and they chocked it away. It's not like throwing more money at that situation would help it.

Really I don't see how this argument can be made considering the last two world series have gone to small market teams after defeating the uber dollar powerhouse. Money can help you win championships but it's obviously not guaranteed is it?

I think it's very hard to evaluate Cashman as a GM since Steinbrenner supposedly interferes too much. If we look at the team assuming that he was the main drive for most of these signings, then he's done a poor job, IMO. There are/were too many overpaid players on the team.

Of course the WS isn't guaranteed, but a large payroll enables you to 'eat' your mistakes much more easily. The A's with Long, Dye, and Mecir are severely handicapped - to a team like the Mets, Yankees, LA, Boston...that handicaps them a little.

Also, a small market team CAN win the World Series. They'll just have a hard time getting a 'dynasty' or a series of playoff seasons like the A's, who again are very lucky to get three aces developed at the same time.

 

[flxnimprtmscl]

Originally posted by: Entity

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: AngryPirate

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: AngryPirate
Hopefully in my lifetime there will be a salary cap in baseball so that teams like the Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, etc can see what it's like to actually be responsible for the decisions that they make. If there were a finite amount of dollars available to most of the higher payroll clubs I guarantee that they would have but a fraction of the current success some of them enjoy. And yes, that means the Mets COULD get worse.

What are you talking about? You are aware baseball has a luxury tax now which esentially serves the same purpose. The difference is some owners (like good old George) just don't give a fvck.

Btw, you're aware that the A's have one of the lowest payrolls out there right? Yah, they're a pretty crappy team...

Something tells me that if the A's had Damon and/or Giambi still then we might have seen a very different postseason.

They had Damon and Giambi in 02 didn't they? Oh, and a two game lead on the Yanks. They really did good in that situation huh?

You mean 01?

If my memory serves me correctly that was last years world series. So no, I mean 02. I think it was last years anyway 😕

 

[RabidMongoose]

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: Entity

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: AngryPirate

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: AngryPirate
Hopefully in my lifetime there will be a salary cap in baseball so that teams like the Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, etc can see what it's like to actually be responsible for the decisions that they make. If there were a finite amount of dollars available to most of the higher payroll clubs I guarantee that they would have but a fraction of the current success some of them enjoy. And yes, that means the Mets COULD get worse.

What are you talking about? You are aware baseball has a luxury tax now which esentially serves the same purpose. The difference is some owners (like good old George) just don't give a fvck.

Btw, you're aware that the A's have one of the lowest payrolls out there right? Yah, they're a pretty crappy team...

Something tells me that if the A's had Damon and/or Giambi still then we might have seen a very different postseason.

They had Damon and Giambi in 02 didn't they? Oh, and a two game lead on the Yanks. They really did good in that situation huh?

You mean 01?

If my memory serves me correctly that was last years world series. So no, I mean 02. I think it was last years anyway 😕

Damon was in Boston and Giambi was in NY in 2002...last year's world series didn't even have the A's...maybe I'm reading this wrong. 😕

 

[BlamoHammer]

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: AngryPirate
Imagine what the upper echelon GM's like Billy Beane could do with proper resources...you think the A's would lose a World Series if they had both his talent AND $100+ million a year to spend on payroll? I think not.

Why wouldn't they loose? Let's examine this a bit.

1) Brian Cashman (NY gm) does a damn good job which I don't think he gets credit for. So it's not like Beane is just doing a hell of a lot better job than the team with the huge payroll.

2) Even at their current incredibly low payroll the only thing screwing the A's the last few years is themselves. They had the NY on the ropes last year and they chocked it away. Good start in the Boston series and they chocked it away. It's not like throwing more money at that situation would help it.

Really I don't see how this argument can be made considering the last two world series have gone to small market teams after defeating the uber dollar powerhouse. Money can help you win championships but it's obviously not guaranteed is it?

I never said it was guaranteed. I may have gone a bit overboard saying the A's wouldn't lose a series if they had the money but I would bet big money that if Beane wasn't on payroll food stamps they would have at least one championship right now. You are right in the fact that no one can help losing a 2 game series lead but the players, but I think it's somewhat naive to think that 1 or 2 or 3 more marquee players wouldn't affect these games at all.

The A's undoing this year was their offense. Granted no one would have guessed both Chavez or Tejada would have been that bad, but if those two guys dont produce then they really have nothing left. I still think that both of those two guys are second tier offensive players anyways. Chavez has a career high batting average of .288 over a full season and Tejada has had one big year, that when compared to the rest of the league, isn't that big of a year. What made his season MVP caliber last year wasn't his statistics, but the situations in which he came through.

If you just look at the HR and batting average from his 2002 season, you arent too much better off than Ellis Burks who hit 32 HR while batting .301. I dont know about you but Ellis isnt someone I would build my teams offense around. Tejada is a solid player, who gets a bit more attention than he deserves because he hits well as a SS. If Tejada were an OF you wouldnt hear much about besides the fact that he is a solid player.

The A's didn't have a player to hit over .300 or hit over 30 HR this year. They barely had two 100 RBI men (Chavez led the team with 106). If you couple that in with a team philosophy that despises the running game (the team leader had 10), then you have the makeup of a nearly anemic offense. If Oakland does not develop the stellar pitching staff that they have, they arent even sniffing the wild card.

 

[flxnimprtmscl]

Originally posted by: RabidMongoose

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: AngryPirate
Imagine what the upper echelon GM's like Billy Beane could do with proper resources...you think the A's would lose a World Series if they had both his talent AND $100+ million a year to spend on payroll? I think not.

Why wouldn't they loose? Let's examine this a bit.

1) Brian Cashman (NY gm) does a damn good job which I don't think he gets credit for. So it's not like Beane is just doing a hell of a lot better job than the team with the huge payroll.

2) Even at their current incredibly low payroll the only thing screwing the A's the last few years is themselves. They had the NY on the ropes last year and they chocked it away. Good start in the Boston series and they chocked it away. It's not like throwing more money at that situation would help it.

Really I don't see how this argument can be made considering the last two world series have gone to small market teams after defeating the uber dollar powerhouse. Money can help you win championships but it's obviously not guaranteed is it?

I think it's very hard to evaluate Cashman as a GM since Steinbrenner supposedly interferes too much. If we look at the team assuming that he was the main drive for most of these signings, then he's done a poor job, IMO. There are/were too many overpaid players on the team.

Of course the WS isn't guaranteed, but a large payroll enables you to 'eat' your mistakes much more easily. The A's with Long, Dye, and Mecir are severely handicapped - to a team like the Mets, Yankees, LA, Boston...that handicaps them a little.

Also, a small market team CAN win the World Series. They'll just have a hard time getting a 'dynasty' or a series of playoff seasons like the A's, who again are very lucky to get three aces developed at the same time.

Certainly it's an overpaid roster but is it talented? I'd certainly say so. When people look at NY's roster and it's salary I think they fail to really realize that money doesn't matter. He's trying to assemble the best team and neither he, nor George, care how much it costs. They can only have so large a roster so it's not like if he'd saved money on some of the talented (but overpaid) players he could have picked up a few more role players.

I liken the Yanks to a person who just won the lottery. Say you just won a couple hundred mil jackpot and there's a house you've wanted all your life. So you go to the owners who don't want to sell and pay them a few mil more than the house is worth so it's an offer they can't refuse. People will look at you and say you overpaid but what do you care? All you want is the house and the money is no object to you.

 

[flxnimprtmscl]

Originally posted by: RabidMongoose

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: Entity

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: AngryPirate

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: AngryPirate
Hopefully in my lifetime there will be a salary cap in baseball so that teams like the Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, etc can see what it's like to actually be responsible for the decisions that they make. If there were a finite amount of dollars available to most of the higher payroll clubs I guarantee that they would have but a fraction of the current success some of them enjoy. And yes, that means the Mets COULD get worse.

What are you talking about? You are aware baseball has a luxury tax now which esentially serves the same purpose. The difference is some owners (like good old George) just don't give a fvck.

Btw, you're aware that the A's have one of the lowest payrolls out there right? Yah, they're a pretty crappy team...

Something tells me that if the A's had Damon and/or Giambi still then we might have seen a very different postseason.

They had Damon and Giambi in 02 didn't they? Oh, and a two game lead on the Yanks. They really did good in that situation huh?

You mean 01?

If my memory serves me correctly that was last years world series. So no, I mean 02. I think it was last years anyway 😕

Damon was in Boston and Giambi was in NY in 2002...last year's world series didn't even have the A's...maybe I'm reading this wrong. 😕

If memory serves me right the A's lost to the Yanks in the 01 ALDS, Choked against the Yanks in the 02 ALCS, and lost to Boston in this years ALDS.

 

[BlamoHammer]

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: RabidMongoose

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: AngryPirate
Imagine what the upper echelon GM's like Billy Beane could do with proper resources...you think the A's would lose a World Series if they had both his talent AND $100+ million a year to spend on payroll? I think not.

Why wouldn't they loose? Let's examine this a bit.

1) Brian Cashman (NY gm) does a damn good job which I don't think he gets credit for. So it's not like Beane is just doing a hell of a lot better job than the team with the huge payroll.

2) Even at their current incredibly low payroll the only thing screwing the A's the last few years is themselves. They had the NY on the ropes last year and they chocked it away. Good start in the Boston series and they chocked it away. It's not like throwing more money at that situation would help it.

Really I don't see how this argument can be made considering the last two world series have gone to small market teams after defeating the uber dollar powerhouse. Money can help you win championships but it's obviously not guaranteed is it?

I think it's very hard to evaluate Cashman as a GM since Steinbrenner supposedly interferes too much. If we look at the team assuming that he was the main drive for most of these signings, then he's done a poor job, IMO. There are/were too many overpaid players on the team.

Of course the WS isn't guaranteed, but a large payroll enables you to 'eat' your mistakes much more easily. The A's with Long, Dye, and Mecir are severely handicapped - to a team like the Mets, Yankees, LA, Boston...that handicaps them a little.

Also, a small market team CAN win the World Series. They'll just have a hard time getting a 'dynasty' or a series of playoff seasons like the A's, who again are very lucky to get three aces developed at the same time.

Certainly it's an overpaid roster but is it talented? I'd certainly say so. When people look at NY's roster and it's salary I think they fail to really realize that money doesn't matter. He's trying to assemble the best team and neither he, nor George, care how much it costs. They can only have so large a roster so it's not like if he'd saved money on some of the talented (but overpaid) players he could have picked up a few more role players.

I liken the Yanks to a person who just won the lottery. Say you just won a couple hundred mil jackpot and there's a house you've wanted all your life. So you go to the owners who don't want to sell and pay them a few mil more than the house is worth so it's an offer they can't refuse. People will look at you and say you overpaid but what do you care? All you want is the house and the money is no object to you.

How could the team not be talented?!? I could put together a talented team if put in Cashman's position. I think anyone with any grasp on the sport could put together a talented team given the Bombers payroll restrictions, or lack thereof. I dont think Cashman would enjoy the same success if he had to field a team on $100 million less. I think that Beane would enjoy a lot more success if given the same funds available to other teams. I think a salary cap would put the teams on a level playing field and allow the more talented front offices to show off their stuff. It would also hopefully reduce salaries for players that really arent worth it.