America's Pastime is Past its Cap Time

In 1999 Royals’ fans proved they had enough. In a game against the New York Yankees on May, 1 fans at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City donned T-shirts that read “$hare the Wealth.” They staged a protest against the financial disparity in Major League Baseball. That year, the Yankees had the highest team payroll in baseball at $188.13 million, compared to the Royals’ fourth-lowest team payroll of $16.53 million (The Daily Barometer). The Yankees were coming off their twenty-fourth World Series title; the Royals hadn’t made the playoffs since 1985. Royals’ fans turned their backs every time a Yankee hitter stepped up to bat and threw fake $100 bills into the outfield (The Daily Barometer). The group of 3,000 walked out of the stadium together in protest. In the next fourteen years, the Yankees won three more World Series titles and made the playoffs sixteen of the last seventeen years, and they still lead the league in team payroll at a whopping $197.96 million. The Royals still hold the fourth-lowest payroll, $60.92 million, and still haven’t been to the playoffs since 1985 (The Daily Barometer). The 27-year postseason drought is the longest in Major League Baseball.

The Royals are just one example of the many loyal fans crying for help because their team is hopeless; and if it doesn’t change their allegiance to baseball will be weakened. Fans have driven baseball to be known as America’s Pastime, they follow the players, buy the merchandise, attend the games and pass down their experiences to their kids. It’s not secret that fan attendance has a direct correlation with the team’s success, so it should be a priority to make sure all teams are on an equal playing field. However, that’s clearly not the case, many teams are suffering because of their financial predisposition, rich teams are taking advantage of their privileges and as a result the fan experience is effected. Baseball fans that follow poor, unsuccessful teams will lose hope in the sport, and baseball will eventually be “past its time.”

Even though there are many examples of organizations that are fighting the economic disparity in major league baseball, the implementation of a salary cap is still very controversial. The debate on how major league baseball should handle payroll regulations has created a schism between baseball executives because fiscal regulations are believed to have an effect on certain organization’s ability to succeed. Currently major league baseball has a luxury tax system, which is the softest cap of all of the major American sports. In result, small market organizations don’t have the financial means to compete for players in free agency with the economic superpowers of the Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees or Los Angeles Dodgers. Shorthanded organizations are subject to either accept their shortcomings, or create alternative non-monetary based philosophies in order to give themselves a chance to compete.

The only salary regulation in Major League Baseball is called a luxury tax, and it is a meager attempt to control the top spending organizations. Under the current system every organization is allowed to spend as much money as they want, but if they exceed 178 million dollar threshold, they will be fined. The Yankees have been fined for ten consecutive years, and they continue to pursue the most expensive players without a flinch. The Dodgers are currently fifty million dollars over the threshold, which is almost as much as the Padres entire payroll. The way a salary cap would work is once a team has reached the magic payroll number, they are forbidden to spend more, and as stated in an article on espn.com by Neil deMause, “This reduces salaries in two ways: Teams over the cap are taken out of the bidding for free agents (or for pricey trade targets), giving available players fewer options and reducing bidding pressure, and teams just below the cap will resist blowing their budget on a single player.” This would give small market teams a better chance of competing for free agents and celebrate meritocracy rather than purchasing power.

Despite the economic disparity, there are people satisfied with the existing fiscal policies. The biggest naysayers are the executives representing the player’s union. Adding a hard salary cap would decrease competition over free agents, and the player’s union will not let their players take a pay cut. Disregarding their monetary bias, the players’ union also makes the argument that Baseball is by far the most stable of the American professional sports, and it is the only one without a salary cap. In just the past few years, fans of the other major sports have experienced shortened seasons, lockouts, and a divide between players and owners only paralleled by the political parties in Washington. Using that alone as evidence, it seems a salary cap is the worst thing baseball could have happen to its player and owner relationship. There are other people who argue that the economic disparity has not created a competitive imbalance. David Schoenfield, from ESPN analyzed how baseball’s current system has effected the competitive sphere of the game and he concluded that, “Major League Baseball playoffs are actually far less predictable than the other sports. While the NFL has had just three Super Bowl winners that didn't have the best or second-best record in the league, the '05 Steelers were tied for fifth, the '01 Patriots sixth, and the '97 Broncos fourth, and the NBA has had just one champ that didn't have one of the two best records the '04 Pistons were sixth, baseball has had just two World Series champs which did have the best or second-best record, '05 White Sox and '98 Yankees” (Schoenfield). Schoenfield went on to conclude that adding a salary cap is unnecessary because baseball does not have a competitive balance issue. Jayson Stark of ESPN.com also makes the argument that baseball is the most competitive of all the major sports. “Even though the Cardinals had won the World Series as recently as 2006, baseball has still had nine different champions in the last 11 years. Nine. Had Neftali Feliz been able to get one more out in Game 6, it would have been 10 different champs in 11 years, for just the second time in the history of the sport. The only stretch in baseball history that can top the current run of nine winners in 11 years was 1982-92, when 10 different teams won. How 'bout that?, So where does the NFL stand? Glad you asked. The almighty NFL has had eight winners in the last 11 years. And when was the last time it had nine champs in 11 seasons? How about never. Ever. Not in the Super Bowl era. Not prior to the Super Bowl era.” (Jayson Stark). In conclusion, if baseball is the most stable and the most competitive of the major sports, the current system should remain the same.

The debate begins with the discussion of the competitive imbalance in baseball. If the competitive imbalance is insignificant, then there is no need to change to a system that has proven to be sketchy in other major sports leagues and associations. David Schoenfield and Jayson Stark make their argument by comparing championships in baseball to other professional leagues. Just because there is parity in the World Series winners, doesn’t mean there’s parity among all thirty teams. Of the eleven teams to which Stark refers, only the Florida Marlins in 2003 were not in the top half in the MLB in team payroll. The last seven champions have been in the top 11 in team payroll, with at least $98 million to spend. Stark and Schoenfield failed to recognize that baseball is the least star-player driven league of the three major sports. Basketball only has five players on the court at a time, and a great player like Kobe Bryant has the opportunity to touch the ball every time on offense. Football is a quarterback driven league, and the team with the best quarterback gives themselves the best chance of winning. In each respective sports league, there are select few star-players in the league that can single handedly propel their team into playoff contention. Therefore, if a team is able to retain a star player, give themselves a great chance of winning. Baseball is completely different; a star pitcher only affects one out of every five games and a star hitter typically only gets four at bats during a game, meaning it is more of a team-oriented sport so its playoffs have a lot more parody.

The competitive imbalance in baseball clearly exists in the bottom tier of teams. Brad Pitt may have said it best while he was portraying the Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane in the movie Moneyball, “the problem we're trying to solve is that there are rich teams and there are poor teams. Then there's fifty feet of crap, and then there's us.” Successful baseball teams are competitive in many facets, which requires organizations to sign multiple players with a variety of skills. If baseball were like basketball or football, organizations could build around one or two players and find a way to win. Instead baseball organizations must build an entire team of worthy competitors. The more players a team needs, the more expensive it costs, which is why there are many baseball organizations who have trouble sifting through the “crap.” The Kansas City Royals have missed the playoffs twenty seven years in a row, in fourty-four years the Padres have only made the playoffs five times, the Pirates have missed the playoffs for twenty one straight years, the Milwaukee Brewers have made it to the playoffs twice in the last thirty years, the Cleveland Indians have been hopeless the past decade, the Toronto Blue Jays haven’t sniffed the playoffs since they won the World Series in 1992 and all of these organizations are in the bottom ten in total player salary (Baseball-Reference.com). Of the 82 teams that made the playoffs since 2003, forty-three have come from the top-third in team payroll, and only twelve have come from the bottom-third (The DePaulia). If Major League Baseball executives analyze the competitive balance from the bottom up, there are clearly many organizations suffering. Baseball fans shouldn’t be subjected to a team with no chance of winning, especially when it’s caused by an uncontrollable predisposition.

In order to fix the competitive imbalance action needs to be taken. There are two different types of caps that baseball can use, one is the "hard salary cap," in which the sports league sets the maximum amount of money a team can spend on player salaries and flatly declares that no team can exceed it, period. The other, more reasonable form of payroll regulation is the "soft salary cap," in which the established limit can be exceeded under a small and specific list of circumstances, chiefly in situations when teams want to hold onto franchise players or iconic players that would sustain the value of their franchise

and, by extension, maintain the popularity of that sport in all of its league markets (The DePaulia). The soft cap makes more sense for a sports league, because it is in the best interest of a league to do what it can to ensure that beloved players can more easily stay with the teams that value them, and by extension, with the fan bases that love them. In the NBA this is called the Larry Bird Exception, and according to Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post, “encourages players to re-sign with their current teams in hopes of providing loyalty and stability with fans” (The Daily Barometer). Baseball also needs to implement a salary floor (The Daily Barometer). In the NFL, as a part of its salary floor, teams are required to spend nearly ninety percent of the cap on player compensation. This would allow for players in small markets to make more money, because their team would need to spend the money or face penalties. This would make profit focused owners hesitant to own a team, and encourage owners to strive for victories. The players union would never agree to a salary cap because it would decrease the competition over players and lower the average player’s income. To combat with this, adding a salary cap would allow Major League Baseball to get rid of arbitration. All players are under team control on the league-minimum salary of $480,000 during their first six years. After three years of service, players are eligible for arbitration (The Daily Barometer). If teams and players can’t come to an agreement, they go to an arbitration hearing. After three years, players could be eligible for free agency. The best young players often deal with arbitration for three straight years before they hit free agency. This would cut through the red tape and allow players to make money on the open market three years sooner.

Large market teams will always have an inherent advantage, but changing the economic structure will give smaller markets like Milwaukee and Toronto a fighting chance. The New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers will still be able to attract players because of their big spotlight, great living areas and storied success (HubPages). However, they wont dominate free agency, giving smaller market teams a smaller hill to climb.

Baseball has never been about money; it is special in this country, has been since its invention and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. The game is nuance, romance and passion all rolled into one. Let’s fix the financial woes and get down to what baseball is all about. 

-Blake Dale Lepire

Whats up with the Angels?

The offseason signing of MVP candidate Josh Hamilton was supposed to propel the Angels to the AL West team to beat, but the Angels’ loss to the Twins last night gives them a sad record of 4-9 on the young season. They are playing worse than the rebuilding Houston Astros, who are expected to be the worst team in the bigs. They are last in the AL West in offensive scoring, and second to last in runs allowed. The “Big 3” aka Trout, Pujols and Hamilton have had a very average start, and to make matters worse Vernon Wells is actually playing pretty well in pinstripes.

 

But it is still early, the Halos have 134 games to figure it out. Assuming  that their problems can be “figured out,” and that these last 13 games have been a simple slump rather than an exposition of glaring weaknesses. However, my 10^th grade history teacher told me that assuming makes and ass out of u and me, and the numbers say there is real cause for concern in Orange County.

Their offense will come around, Trout may not hit .330 this year but he is too good to keep batting .260 the whole year and once he gets going that will give Pujols and Hamilton prime RBI opportunities, assuming (there it is again) Josh Hamilton RElearns for the millionth time how to lay off a curveball in the dirt. They need to get Aybar back to solidify two spot, because Bourjus is too inconsistent to be at the top of the lineup. I think Howie Kendrick would benefit the most from hitting in front of Pujols but Scioscia seems to think Hamilton needs protection from protecting Pujols. Anyways, their offense is slumping, but when all of those guys are on, it may be the best one through nine in the game.

But, as the great Paul Bear Bryant said, “Offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships,” more specifically pitching wins championships, and the Angels’ staff needs Walt Disney’s magic to come to life if they are going to make the playoffs.

Weaver’s freak injury made their starting pitching really, really thin. CJ Wilson needs to step up and be an ace while Weaver heals, but lack of control has led to three average starts (1-0 4.00 ERA 1.5 WHIP). After Wilson, their starting pitching drops off a cliff, Joe Blanton is the new number 2 and he just received his third consecutive loss last night and is averaging 8.59 earned runs every nine innings. Tommy Hanson, and Jason Vargas sum up their rotation, and they have combined for 1-quality start.

If a team’s starting pitching is struggling, the bullpen has to find a way to pick them up, and that’s nowhere close to happening. Ernesto Frieri has had a good start as the closer, only giving up one run in five innings, but he has also walked three in that span which would be detrimental if he didn’t have ten strikeouts on top of that. Mark Lowe and Kevin Jepsen are tied for second on the team in appearances, and they both only have one pitch that they can kind of throw for a strike, and when they do, it has been getting raked. Lowe has an ERA of 12 and Jepsen has given up an average of 9 earned runs.

These numbers are awful, and they should get better over the next 134 games, but how much better? Can they improve enough to compete with the A’s who have scored 30 more runs and allowed 20 less runs to date? Or How bout the Rangers, who are only allowing an average of 3 total runs per game without their opening day starter? It doesn’t look good for the Halos, they have very glaring weaknesses in their pitching staff, so it may be early, but Angel fan definitely have grounds to ‘freak out”

-Blake Dale Lepire

When NOT to Charge the Mound

As a pitcher, I understand that I may have a little bias in regards to this subject; however, last night's charging of the mound by Carlos Quentin (Padres' outfielder) was in my mind one of the most idiotic events I have ever seen in sports. I happened to be at the game when it happened and it was a 3-2 count when I saw Zack Grienke (Dodgers' pitcher) hit Quentin and I thought nothing of it and looked down as it happened. I only looked up to the sound of the people around me yelling "Fight!!" 

Quentin Charging Grienke

Now I'm not going to lie, my initial thought was "wow this is awesome I've never seen a brawl in person!" But after taking the time to think about it and hearing that Grienke had to leave the game due to a fractured collar bone from the brawl, I thought "why did Quentin charge the mound in the first place?" When I thought about it, none of it made sense. It was a 2-1 ball game and the Dodgers were winning in the 6th inning when Grienke hit Quentin in the arm with a 3-2 pitch to lead off the inning... 

Now in that sentence I can spot 5 good reasons that show that there was zero intent behind Grienke hitting Quentin:

1. It was a 1 run game (Don't want to jeopardize chances of winning)
2. The Dodgers were WINNING by 1 (Put the tying run on base?? Yeah why not)

Grienke About to Break His Collarbone

3. The pitch was never even close to Quentin's head (Main reason hitters get upset with brush back pitches, but the pitch never threatened his head)
4. It was a full count (If you are going to hit someone, you do it early in the count to not waste pitches)
5. It was to lead off an inning (Putting the tying run on base to start an inning is just asking to give up a run)

There is no way that you could convince me that the Dodgers intentionally hit a guy in the arm, in a one run game to lead off an inning. Quentin, as a guy who lead the National League in Hit by Pitches last year should understand better than anyone when someone is intentionally throwing at him. The facts add up to that there was obviously no intent behind Grienke's errant pitch and since intent behind being hit is usually the main reason that someone would charge at a pitcher, I really can't wrap my mind around why Quentin reacted the way he did.

Matt Kemp Confronting Quentin After Game

Matt Kemp was quoted to have said the following after the game: "I think Carlos Quentin went to Stanford. I heard there's some smart people at Stanford. That wasn't too smart.'' In the midst of the whole brawl, Grienke fractured his left collarbone and is expected to miss at least 6-8 weeks. Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said that he believes Quentin should not be allowed to play as long as Grienke is unable to pitch. I completely agree. There is never really a "right time" to charge the mound, but there are certainly times when one could justify it at least a little bit. This time, I don't think anyone is on Quentin's side.

-Dan Kolodin

Week 1 Analysis of the 2013 Season

The first week of baseball is over and what a week it was. Clean standings give every team a glimmer of hope, but six games have gone by and its time to start speculating. Who is going to have a breakout season? Which team is going to burst on the scene? Who is going to bust under the pressure? It may only be week one, but it’s never premature to talk baseball.

Hottest Start from a Player:

That’s easy, Chris Davis the first basemen for the Orioles has hit 4 homeruns and driven in 17 runs through his first 6 games compiling a .455 batting average and an OPS of 1.636. Is it a surprise? He has always had power and showed it last year belting 33 homeruns in 139 games. However, his problem has been playing time, so there isn’t much history on Chris Davis to be able to determine what kind of hitter he truly is. Davis started out with the Rangers who had a huge first base “problem” because they had three big first base prospects in Mitch Moreland, Justin Smoak and Chris Davis. In result, Davis didn’t get substantial playing time early in his car

eer, but maybe he’s always been this good and hasn’t been given the stage. Chris Davis will come back down to earth eventually, but maybe he stands on the ground a little higher than everyone thought.

Best Team That No one is Talking About:

The Arizona Diamondbacks

The DBacks are off to a 5-1 start, which ranks them tied for first in the National League West. Previously, I questioned DBacks GM Kevin Towers for trading potential superstar Justin Upton in order to increase team chemistry, but it seems to be paying off early. Martin Prado hasn’t gotten off to quite the start that Upton has in Atlanta, but his team first mindset has been contagious in the clubhouse. They are doing all of the little things right, taking the extra base, moving guys over, and getting two out RBIs. Their starting pitching had a solid first week, but their offense has been the difference. It has been very impressive to say the least, but this style of baseball is very effective in close ball games, so the only way Arizona will be able to maintain their success is if their bullpen is able to shut the door consistently. Heath Bell had a very shaky first week, and they may need him to solidify the eighth inning. Everyones talking about the Dodgers and the Giants out west, but don’t be surprised if the Diamondbacks find themselves in the mix.

Biggest Concern:

Toronto Blue Jays

The biggest concern is with Dickey, he needs to be an ace because the rest of the starters have limited experience pitching in big games and thus far he is 0-2 with an 8.44 ERA and the Jays have started the season 2-4 which is the worst record in the AL East. To back it up the offense has been abysmal ranking 20^th in the league in runs. It is still early and it’s not time to panic yet, but it was definitely a week to forget up in Canada. 

Blake Dale Lepire

Kansas City Royals Season Preview

2012: 72-90 3rd in AL Central

Another April, and the same question arises for Kansas City Royals fans. Are the Royals finally ready to be competitive? If so, they would be embodying the “dark horse” role, because their “stacked farm system” is still a farm system. Some guys are beginning to make a name for themselves, Alex Gordon shook the tag as a bust the past two seasons and Mike Moustakas may be the best third basemen no one knows about. Eric Hosmer struggled last year, but he’s only 23 years old and has a great swing with huge power potential. Fans are beginning to see the result of high draft picks each year, but with that comes a ball club that is extremely inexperienced. Maybe they can get hot and make a run, but then again they do share a division with the Detroit Tigers, looks like its Wild Card or bust.  

Strengths:

Young Lineup

The Royals were the best team in Spring Training this year, because their young studs came out and raked. However, the key for the Royals to carry their offensive success into the season will be Eric Hosmer, he needs to be a big RBI guy for the Royals to be competitive. Last year he batted an abysmal .232 with 14 homeruns and 60 RBIs, he needs to be somewhere in the .275 with 26 homeruns and 95 RBI range, numbers that are very attainable once he gets over his growing pains.

Weaknesses:

Starting Pitching

Royals management made a very controversial move trading big outfield prospect Will Meyers to the Rays for James Shields and Wade Davis. Whether, you think this was a stupid trade or not, it did increase their depth of starting pitching, and maybe more importantly moves Bruce Chen and Luke Hochevar to the bullpen. Starting pitching was a concern last year, but the Royals still lack a legitimate ace, not sure if this move pushes them into the playoffs, but they will definitely increase their win total from last year.

Prediction: 81-81, 4^th in the AL Central

Inexperience and lack of pitching  will keep the Royals from allowing them to sustain success over the long 162 game season. However, Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas are poising themselves to have monster years in 2013 and don’t be surprised if the Royals are in the playoffs within the next five years.

-Blake Dale Lepire