MLB Lockout Thread

[wildcard]

I am on the side of the Baltimore Orioles and their chance to be World Champs.    So far it seems to me that the Owners are holding the line on increasing the the Luxury Tax.    I see that as favoring the Orioles.

I think the players getting increases in the salaries for 0-3 year players including of a Bonus Pool of 50-60M is  a good move and a win for the players.

[osfan83]

29 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I'm all for shortening the regular season to 154 games IF, this means the playoffs start earlier, not if they just give more off days during the season.

Would you be in favor of two half seasons to determine the playoff teams? I find the regular season way too long, with way too many teams out of it before the half way mark. Harder to justify tanking if you still have a playoff shot 3/4 of the way through the season. Two 75 game seasons with top teams in each division making the playoffs at the end. If you win your division twice, you get a bye. 

[Tony-OH]

11 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Right.  That would have to be the caveat there.  I would hope to start the playoffs before October 1.  Start that last week of Sept Or so.

Really, I would be happy with starting the playoffs in early to mid September and having them done by mid to late Oct.  

To me, that would be optimal.  Move the trade deadline back to like June 30.  Short the season by 20 or so games.   

162 games is too much anyways, and if they expand the playoff teams, it makes more sense to try and start those playoffs in mid or at worse, late September. I also agree they need to have the season done by October. 

I use to be a purest when it came to keeping it at 162 games because of the records like Roger Maris' 61 home runs, 20 game winners, and 200 hit seasons. None of these are really that important any more. The home run records were tarnished with steroids and it's very rare for pitchers to win 20-games any more because pitches barely pitch more than 6 innings now a days.

I'm ok with expanded playoffs but they should be "play in" 3-game type tourneys which allow the four Division winners (I think they should go back to larger four Divisions) to have byes. 

[Tony-OH]

2 minutes ago, osfan83 said:

Would you be in favor of two half seasons to determine the playoff teams? I find the regular season way too long, with way too many teams out of it before the half way mark. Harder to justify tanking if you still have a playoff shot 3/4 of the way through the season. Two 75 game seasons with top teams in each division making the playoffs at the end. If you win your division twice, you get a bye. 

Yes, I've been a proponent of two seasons for some time now. It makes two pennant drives and gives the bad teams hopes for the second season and like you said, it limits tanking.

[Moshagge3]

I'm confused that these playoff proposals are leaking right now. MLBPA has firmly said that if any games are missed, they will not agree to any extended playoffs. They would look extremely weak if they backed off from this. 

[Moshagge3]

Joe Sheehan proposed a single-game elimination tournament with 16 teams for the postseason. I think that's perfect, as you can get that done in a couple of weeks. 

[Sports Guy]

2 minutes ago, Moshagge3 said:

I'm confused that these playoff proposals are leaking right now. MLBPA has firmly said that if any games are missed, they will not agree to any extended playoffs. They would look extremely weak if they backed off from this. 

The playoff proposals are for the new deal.  Two separate things.

[waroriole]

I’d love to see the players start signing with independent leagues. Since the owners don’t want to have ML baseball this season, let the players go elsewhere and generate good will for themselves. 

[SteveA]

1 minute ago, waroriole said:

I’d love to see the players start signing with independent leagues. Since the owners don’t want to have ML baseball this season, let the players go elsewhere and generate good will for themselves. 

I think (just based on my perception) that there have been a significant # of free agents choosing alternate paths this offseason, ranging from Korea, Japan, retirement perhaps earlier than expected, or even a guy such as Josh Reddick signing with the Mexican League.   I think that a lot of guys saw the writing on the wall that we might not have a full season, or even a season, this year.

I know there's guys making those choices nearly every year, but it seems more this year.   or perhaps just my imagination because there has been so little actual news this offseason that those type of announcements stand out more.

[Moshagge3]

1 hour ago, forphase1 said:

I know most everyone wants expanded playoffs, but I don't.  I don't even like the wild cards, though I get the reasons behind it.  In my mind a 162 team season is more than sufficient to determine who the best teams are, we don't need to expand the playoffs further and allow inferior overall teams to get hot and win a World Series.  I know I'm being the old man yelling at the kids to get off his lawn, but I've never liked them expanding the playoffs, even when I was one of those kids.    I know it's going to happen as the money is too great for it not to take place, but I really don't like it.

This is America, where college basketball fans will argue with a straight face, "My team went 7-9 in a tough conference and they beat the #20 team once and they were really competitive with the #17 team. Can you believe they didn't get a bid to play for the championship of the entire sport??? They really need to expand the tournament."

In baseball, they should give a trophy to the team with the best record in each league, then they can play whatever postseason tournament they want. 

[waroriole]

12 minutes ago, SteveA said:

I think (just based on my perception) that there have been a significant # of free agents choosing alternate paths this offseason, ranging from Korea, Japan, retirement perhaps earlier than expected, or even a guy such as Josh Reddick signing with the Mexican League.   I think that a lot of guys saw the writing on the wall that we might not have a full season, or even a season, this year.

I know there's guys making those choices nearly every year, but it seems more this year.   or perhaps just my imagination because there has been so little actual news this offseason that those type of announcements stand out more.

Very possible. I haven’t really noticed it, but if I was a fringe ML player I would’ve looked for other opportunities this year. I was hoping for more established guys to sign with their local independent team and give fans something to see. It would be a really strong statement to see Mike Trout and Max Scherzer out there playing for the love of the game while owners lock them all out. 

[forphase1]

47 minutes ago, Moshagge3 said:

Joe Sheehan proposed a single-game elimination tournament with 16 teams for the postseason. I think that's perfect, as you can get that done in a couple of weeks. 

That sounds terrible...

[Tony-OH]

57 minutes ago, Moshagge3 said:

Joe Sheehan proposed a single-game elimination tournament with 16 teams for the postseason. I think that's perfect, as you can get that done in a couple of weeks. 

Absolutely awful idea. One game series are a flip of the coin. 

[Moshagge3]

2 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Absolutely awful idea. One game series are a flip of the coin. 

They certainly are. As are best-of-three, best-of-five, and even best-of-seven series. But the single-elimination tourney would get great ratings (ratings always spike for a Game 7) and the winner would be so obviously illegitimate that people would have to give some recognition the team with the best record.

[osfan83]

1 hour ago, Moshagge3 said:

Joe Sheehan proposed a single-game elimination tournament with 16 teams for the postseason. I think that's perfect, as you can get that done in a couple of weeks. 

How about a series a 3 inning elimination games, and settle ties with a HR derby?