Should MLB allow the Skanks to buy World Series titles?

[DocJJ]

I'm assuming MLB is happy to let the Skanks spend $245 million on the 3 best available free agents, because if the Skanks get the the World Series, that translates into more revenue for the sport overall.

So, as a fan of baseball, should I be happy the Skanks go to the World Series, since that is in the best financial interests of the sport? Or should I continue to whine and moan about the intrinsic unfairness that allows the richest teams to buy up the best players and essentially buy World Series titles?

[TiredofLosing20]

I'm assuming MLB is happy to let the Skanks spend $245 million on the 3 best available free agents, because if the Skanks get the the World Series, that translates into more revenue for the sport overall.

So, as a fan of baseball, should I be happy the Skanks go to the World Series, since that is in the best financial interests of the sport? Or should I continue to whine and moan about the intrinsic unfairness that allows the richest teams to buy up the best players and essentially buy World Series titles?

It doesn't really matter because there is clearly no indication that the teams want to change and definitely no motivation for the players union to make any significant changes to the current structure.

But I am there with you on whining and moaning...

[Fiver]

The financial structure in baseball is a mess, and the competitive disadvantage some teams are in is a farce, IMO. Could the Orioles be MORE competitive if they had been run better for the last 12 years? Of course. But even with a great baseball mind running the show, things really have to go almost perfectly for the O's to compete year in and year out. They cannot afford poor FA contracts, injuries to high priced players, or their top prospects to not pan out. The Yankees and Sox can afford for any of those things to happen, because they can just throw more money at any problems they have.

It is completely unfair that teams like the Twins, A's, etc have a better annual shot at the playoffs, with young, cheap teams, then teams like the O's and Rays do. Even if/when the O's finally put a 'good' young team on the field, there is a still a VERY good chance that they will finish 3rd in the division.

Baseball is extremely healthy financially, by all accounts, so this is unlikely to change in the remotely near future. It's a shame that half of the league has no hope, even 4 months BEFORE spring training opens, of legitimate contention.

[ChaosLex]

It's a joke. But what can you do?

[Dr. Andrews]

It's a joke. But what can you do?

The only way changes will ever be considered is if they win the next 10 world series titles...that would show how completely messed up the current system is. Anddd I think if talent were more evenly distributed among teams, thus giving everyone an equal opportunity at competing, the sport would generate more revenue than just having the Yankees win.

[Mackus]

MLB essentially allows the Yankees to buy playoff spots, not WS titles.

There is enough randomness and luck (mainly in terms of who is healthy and who is on a hot streak) in the playoffs that even a team that has twice the payroll of every other team really wouldn't be expected to win. Their odds are the highest, but not higher than the combined odds of every other team, or even close to it.

[Osfan13]

It is deffinately in MLB's best interest if the Yankees are involved in the playoffs every year. Both the market, as well as their following, are huge and everyone stands to make more money if Boston, New York, LA, and Chicago are involved in some way.

If this wasn't true, MLB wouldn't have a conniption over the ratings for every World Series.

[TiredofLosing20]

MLB essentially allows the Yankees to buy playoff spots, not WS titles.

There is enough randomness and luck (mainly in terms of who is healthy and who is on a hot streak) in the playoffs that even a team that has twice the payroll of every other team really wouldn't be expected to win. Their odds are the highest, but not higher than the combined odds of every other team, or even close to it.

Which to me is why the argument (that is a favorite of Gammons) about how there is parity in baseball because of how many different WS winners there have been in the recent past is so bogus.

[NewMarketSean]

The Yankees have almost gone (and could still go) 10+ years between WS titles. They've tried to buy titles, and they just might this year, but don't crown them yet.

[TiredofLosing20]

It is deffinately in MLB's best interest if the Yankees are involved in the playoffs every year. Both the market, as well as their following, are huge and everyone stands to make more money if Boston, New York, LA, and Chicago are involved in some way.

If this wasn't true, MLB wouldn't have a conniption over the ratings for every World Series.

Yet their playoffs can't get better ratings than a regular season NFL game between Minnesota and Green Bay.

[crowmst3k!]

Problem is: this buying of playoff spots only entices the second most financially viable team in the division to do pretty much exactly the same thing.

After the Red Sox, there is a HUGE falloff for franchise value and revenue in the division.

As much as the next few years excite me, I'm not looking forward to 5 years from now when Matt Wieters leaves, our pitching staff turns over, Jones might be in pinstripes, etc...

Well, that's worst case scenario, but considering how deep the Red Sox and Yankees pockets are, none of that would surprise me.

The big X factor here will be how well MASN fares once the Orioles start contending. Once the regular public starts watching consistently, more ad revenue will start pouring in (the bread and butter of owning a TV network).

Will the ratings for the Orioles be enough to significantly increase revenue to the point that the Orioles can begin to perpetuate competing years by extending their pending free agents?

Time will tell.

[Moose Milligan]

I hate to say it, but baseball is interesting when the Yanks are in the playoffs. There's always a story there, there's a villain, theres someone that people love and there's someone that people love to hate.

It's similar to the NFL...IMO, the NFL is at its best when the teams with the history and heritage are doing well. No one gives a crap about someone like the Panthers.

So while I hate to see the Yankees having a chance at winning a WS, it definitely keeps me more interested.

[tvz1997]

I hate to say it, but baseball is interesting when the Yanks are in the playoffs. There's always a story there, there's a villain, theres someone that people love and there's someone that people love to hate.

It's similar to the NFL...IMO, the NFL is at its best when the teams with the history and heritage are doing well. No one gives a crap about someone like the Panthers.

So while I hate to see the Yankees having a chance at winning a WS, it definitely keeps me more interested.

the NFL is more interesting throughout the entire season because of the heightened drama of having 10% of the games obviously, but also because you can watch Jerry Jones and Daniel Snyder throw money at problems and still get nowhere. It is better to have a great front office than an owner will deeper pockets. If those two men and Mark Cuban had MLB teams, they would have a MUCH greater competitive advantage than they do in their own sports.

[scOtt]

This is sort of the same question as Yank and Red Sox fans invading OPACY. It sucks, but it does bring a LOT of revenue to the Orioles and the city.

[Boy Howdy]

Every time I hear sentiments like the one expressed in the post title, I can't help but remember that the Yankees represented the American League in the World Series 15 times in 18 seasons from 1947-64.

Of course, that's when only one team from each league made the playoffs, and it's often romanticized as the golden age of baseball.

That was the environment that greeted the Orioles when Baltimore welcomed an American League franchise in 1954, and it made victory all the more sweeter when the Birds managed to claw their way to the top.

I imagine we'll feel much the same way when the inevitible cycle of change finally turns our way.

Or, as Jimmy Cliff sings it, "the harder they come, the harder they fall". The 2009 Yankees ain't won no championship yet!