John Angelos Shared this

[weams]

And I will too.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>ALL fans players owners media & taxpayers will 1 day owe a debt to the author Tip of the(salary) capto Russell Martin <a href="http://dkonpittsburghsports.com/2014/11/11/column-tip-salary-cap-russell-martin/">http://t.co/sG0V6Msemp</a></p>— John P Angelos (@JohnPAngelos) <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnPAngelos/status/532635323692744704">November 12, 2014</a></blockquote>

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...is a systemic flaw. It’s rotten at the roots.

Baseball might end up with decent parity in the playoffs — I happen to feel that has far more to do with the fickle nature of starting pitching — but it’s built on a grossly inequitable floor that forces teams in one city to compete while counting every penny, teams in another to conveniently patch up mistakes by simply opening the checkbook.

Here’s another element that seldom gets raised in this equation: Fans get attached to players. And as with any relationship, they value the faith that it can last more than just a short time. Call that quaint, but it remains reality. If they believe there’s at least a chance that player can stay, they’ll invest emotionally and financially.

When they don’t believe … well, they spend an entire summer doing what Pittsburgh just did in pining for Martin, when simultaneously exalting and agonizing with his every great game, before he was even gone.

That doesn’t build baseball. It deteriorates it.

[weams]

Nothing will change. Any owner will be shouted down, declared a whiny welfare recipient for not being more grateful for the Yankees’ tablescraps. It won’t change if Nutting and/or Coonelly speak up, though I continue to feel strongly they should do far more. It won’t change until it starts with a seismic shift in the national media’s myopic, echo-chamber mentality on this topic.

Worse, this problem is about to grow exponentially. You’ve heard and read about some of the insane local TV deals, but you’ll still hear and read more about recklessly irresponsible and dishonest owners like the Marlins’ Jeff Loria than you will about the mounting disparity. That’s because it’s easier to extend that broader narrative by targeting Loria than to justify a system where, before long, the Dodgers will be able to shop the open market like Bill Gates at a flea market.

Bill Gates.

[Can_of_corn]

Bill Gates.

Bill is more concerned with his charitable endeavors.

[JimDH]

I hated to lose Bobby Grich. Somehow the show goes on. So far.

[TonySoprano]

Hey John,

Sell MASN under the provision you too can get one of those "insane local TV deals."

- your pal,

"Soprano"

[Camden_yardbird]

I have found in my time as a baseball fan that the really great rift, and source of ill will, towards big market teams, and maybe more so their fans, is the entitlement and utter disregard when dealing with this very topic.

A small market fan can get attached to a star (say Giancarlo Stanton) and hope that they will sign the reasonable deal and stick around, so the fan can buy a jersey, or tell their kids to root for that player and really get emotionally invested in that player. Meanwhile (and I live in CT, the middle of this) the NY and Boston fans are saying "Man he will look good in pinstripes or with the Sawks." And when, inevitably, those teams get those players, if the player succeeds he is a means to an end - a part of the machine. If the player fails, as many inevitably do, he's a "failure" and "worthless." I saw it happen with Carl Crawford. Knowing some TB fans, this was their guy, the first real homegrown star. To the red Sox fans he was a nuisance. Can't perform, don't want him, where if he were with the Rays he would still at least be appreciated even if there were a little decrease in his production.

Russell Martin is a big deal for Pirates fans, he is a big part of there most recent success, not just on the field, but also in getting people in the stands. Seeing him go will be very difficult for a lot of fans I know.

[Dipper9]

It's the Wieters conundrum that Buck spoke of a couple years ago. We develop him to go wear pinstripes.

I still remember nearly the complete rosters of the Orioles teams I rooted for in the 70's and early 80's growing up, because it was damn near the same players every year. Now a days I can barely name our starting lineup from 5 years ago.

Times have changed, for the worse in my opinion, but what can you do if MLB doesn't care enough to change it?

[MurphDogg]

The end of the steroid era has done more to promote parity in baseball than any attempts by the owners to rein in salary. No longer are most players able to maintain peak level performance into their mid 30's, when they are eligible for free agency and available to the highest bidder. Now most players don't hit free agency until they are on the downside of their careers and thus the impact of money is less pronounced.

[O-Arm36]

I don't feel I owe a debt to Dejan Kovacevic.

[gmelson26]

I don't see why they can't get it done. Works for the rest of sports... and it allows teams a better opportunity to market long term players. Find a middle ground in terms of budgets and get the union behind it. Share revenues and force the small market teams to spend 90mil on their team with a cap at like 145mil.

[Can_of_corn]

I don't see why they can't get it done. Works for the rest of sports... and it allows teams a better opportunity to market long term players. Find a middle ground in terms of budgets and get the union behind it. Share revenues and force the small market teams to spend 90mil on their team with a cap at like 145mil.

Do you think what is going on in the NFL, NBA and NHL is the system "working"?

NFL- Non-guaranteed contracts that are all signing bonus and illusionary years 4-8.

NBA- Expiring contracts are move valuable then players and teams tank and cut to try and make room for one of the 10 guys that you can build a franchise around.

NHL- Every couple of years the owners lock out the players and get another pound of flesh.

[Oriole1940]

I am a product of cutting my teeth on baseball from the 40's, and I agree with you completely, Dipper. It is a reflection to some extent of this "throw away' society. "Things" are often thrown away before their time. People , too, are routinely tossed. We see it everywhere now a days, from the workplace to the marriages. Without a mid 20th century perspective, I guess it is hard to realize the former attachment to players. IMO sooooo much is lost by no longer growing up with, or aging with "my' baseball players. Someone posted, concerning Nick, about sentimentality. In my day it was called loyalty, unashamedly so, fans/players.

[weams]

I am a product of cutting my teeth on baseball from the 40's, and I agree with you completely, Dipper. It is a reflection to some extent of this "throw away' society. "Things" are often thrown away before their time. People , too, are routinely tossed. We see it everywhere now a days, from the workplace to the marriages. Without a mid 20th century perspective, I guess it is hard to realize the former attachment to players. IMO sooooo much is lost by no longer growing up with, or aging with "my' baseball players. Someone posted, concerning Nick, about sentimentality. In my day it was called loyalty, unashamedly so, fans/players.

I don't know what my childhood would have been like without my players.

[brianod]

I completely agree but this doesn't seem positive for us going forward

[weams]

I completely agree but this doesn't seem positive for us going forward

No. It does not.