S5Dewey

Solutions: 1) Have starting pitchers go more than 4-5 innings. Hey, it could happen! 2) All DH's to be seven inning games. Relax, I'm just spitballing, trying to come up with ideas to make baseball more attractive to people who aren't hardcore fans like us.

I've said for some time that all there should be 2 single admission Sunday DH's a month in each stadium. That would shorten the 'playable days' by 10 days and could prevent playing Word Series baseball in a snowstorm in November without shortening the season to fewer than 162 games. But of course it would also reduce the number of days with a gate by 10. Oh, the horror of it!!

Damn. I suppose I don't get the $200 either.

Per USA Today: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2022/01/13/mlb-lockout-news-players-union-not-impressed-thursday-proposals/6515436001/ Am I violating any copyright laws, etc by posting this link here?

This ^ was more to my point. It seemed that Lester & the Sox had a relationship that transcended baseball, and yet when money entered the picture all communication broke down. Sad.

The thing that irks me the most about the entire Jon Lester Red Sox career is that the Sox organization may have saved his life by making the very best cancer treatment available to him. I'm not saying that Lester should have jumped at the lowball offer the Sox gave him, I'm just saying that it pointed out what everyone knows: Not only is there no crying in baseball there's also no room for any emotion of any kind. It's all about the money, baby!

IMO one of the biggest problems with college football (and basketball) is that they're geared to being televised. As a fan I find it frustrating to see the linemen lined up and ready for the play while everyone has to wait for that guy in the orange jacket to get off the field. The fans at home don't realize how much time is elapsing because they're being "entertained" by the commercials while fans in the stands are being bored waiting for the play to happen. And "Media timeouts" in college basketball? Really? For all the issues we discuss here about how rule changes are bastardizing the game nothing has basterdized a game any more than prescribed timeouts during a basketball game. But... Money Talks! Ugh.

Televised football is a series of commercials strung together by a football game.

That's harsh. True, but harsh. :D

In my own defense, tongue-in-cheek humor doesn't always carry well on line. But thanks for the info. It corroborates what I believe most people think.

Behind soccer, too?

It looks like the owners are spoiling for a fight. As a bit of anecdotal evidence, In the 10 years prior to 2020 I probably watched 125 games a year on NESN and went to Fenway for 2-3 games a year. Then due to the virus that number was cut by probably 75%. Yeah, I missed it a little but I also learned that life goes on without MLB. Now I'm geared up for baseball again but I could be described as a "rabid fan". How's this lockout going to wash with the more casual fans? The owners need to take a close look at how this lockout may affect the more casual fan. They may be killing this goose that continually lays golden eggs at their feet.

But this lockout isn't about cutting ticket prices. In fact, the OWNERS - not the players - are responsible for the lockout. To add insult to injury they've also INCREASED ticket prices in Ft. M this spring!

Aha! Thanks.

You say ^this^ like it's a fact. Do you have a source? I believe that while this was a part of the reason for hiring Bloom the end goal was to have Bloom construct a team of good-value players, Bloom is also charged with identifying/selecting current MLB players and FA's to fill the weaker spots. I believe that because it's the job of the GM.

Here's something I didn't know, courtesy of Alex Spier (Sp?) ...that CBA [that just expired] included a sunset provision for the luxury tax after the 2021 season — meaning the normalized disincentives to spend freely would have gone by the wayside. There’s a 0 percent chance that owners would be willing to operate in an economic system that doesn’t include a luxury-tax threshold."

Also, among probably others, Jim Lonborg lost at least part of a season due complications following a skiing injury.

I don't have access to JH's office @ Fenway but IMO it's a collaborative effort. People in JH's position didn't make their money by making unilateral decisions. They made it by hiring people whom they think have good judgement, and listening to them. I don't think Bloom has an open checkbook to work with but if Bloom sees something expensive that makes good sense to him JH is willing to listen. That's why Bloom got hired.

The problem with spending bigger and bigger is that the penalties for doing it get bigger and bigger. MLB has attempted to rig the system to keep teams from improving year after year, not only in money but in draft picks. IMO we shouldn't realistically expect JH to spend more forever and in turn be willing to pay more and more in penalties. What we should expect is for the team to spend big for a few years to build a WSC caliber team, back the salaries down for a couple of years to avoid the penalties and then wash, repeat. I trust Bloom to know what he's doing and when the time is right he'll make the big splash(es) necessary.

1a. That could be true. Or it could also be true that the owners intend to have a shortened season that starts in, say, May or June. In that case they're still going to need a Spring Training. Where does that leave ST ticket holders who have come from all over the East of the Mississippi and have condos, rooms, and cars reserved for March? Will the Sox take the attitude of, "Gee, we're having Spring Training in May this year and we're willing to honor the tickets you've bought. It's too bad you can't make it. But.. it sucks to be you, I guess." 2a. That's the great question and the answer is yet to be determined. I do know that when they cancelled games in 2020 they gave ticket holders the option of their refunding the ticket money for games not played or applying it toward future games. I also know that they allowed ST ticket holders to opt out of tickets for the 2021 Spring Training season without jeopardizing their future tickets. But those was all for games that weren't going to be played. If there is a 2022 season (and I believe there will be, sooner or later) there will be a Spring Training and games are going to be played, and I don't trust the FO to not screw the fans. In the past I've been able to see both sides of the players/owners situation... but not now. Not that it matters, but I've now had an epiphany and I'm firmly on the side of the players. The owners have proven through their continual raising of ticket prices and access fees for cable networks (not to mention the price of beer at parks!) that fans will pay whatever is necessary to see baseball and have a good time. So what's the freakin' problem?

I agree, just as I've always known that people like me are a part of the problem, but there's a difference between a "lockout" as it involves the players and the teams and how a "lockout' by the fans and the season ticket holders in particular. This lockout will end eventually and life will go back to normal for the players and the owners. However, things are different for the season ticket holders who choose to 'lock out' the Red Sox. The teams are holding the season ticket holders hostage because once one gives up their ST tix they don't get a chance to buy them for future years. And there's a waiting list to buy them. I'd like to make a statement by "locking out" the Red Sox organization for this season by not buying ST tix for this year but if I do that I lose my ST tixs probably forever. Since I've been a Sox fan all my life and I'm now able to give myself the luxury of going to Ft. Myers I'm not ready to shut the door on it.

I got an email from the Sox recently saying that I should expect the bill for tickets in my mailbox next week (or I could pay it online!) I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the hubris of the ownership of a team who would lock the players out and then sell tickets to games that may not happen because of their own lockout. This is almost the definition of 'Having it Both Ways'.

FIFY! It'll only involve a cap if the players vote for it to happen.

Forever is a long time, but thus far there's been no sign of the value of a franchise going down.

...which makes me wonder if owners aren't willing to take an occasional short term loss on the operation of the team since it's an investment. The whole thing is mind-boggling to me when I stop to consider that they have a big income stream but in turn they also have big expenses. They deal in numbers of dollars that I can't begin to fathom. But, to bring this back around to the original point(s), whether they make money each year or not the owners who are tanking are just waiting for the windfall when they sell the team. That brings us to two reasons why MLB should stop the tanking. First of all, the owners are getting that money to make their teams more competitive (which they're not doing), and second, they are pocketing that CBT money while the value of the franchise skyrockets.