Addressing the Yankees' Unfair Advantage: Which is more likely?

[MikeAD]

I can't vote here, none of these will solve the problems.

(1)A Cap won't make the low market teams spend more, maybe a floor and a cap would work but I still doubt that. (2)Re-alignment based on a teams Salary seems to be something unprecedented in the world of Sports. It would be like allowing the best AAA team to play in the MLB playoffs or something. Theres plenty of divisions in sports where several of the best teams are in the same division and only one or two can make the playoffs. And (3) New York can support another team, no harm done.

Have we ever thought to put the claw on the other hand? The reason why the Yankees have been so good since 1996 (and the Sox for most of that time) is the rest of the AL East has stunk the big one? Yeah the Yankees have had good teams and spent a lot of money, but the Orioles/Jays/Rays (save the last two years) have been pretty craptastic. Take away all the stupid mistakes of the past 13 years and the Yankees and Sox aren't as successful.

Its much harder to beat up your little brother if hes named Mike Tyson, no matter how much older you are.

This is more accurate:

Other.

Teams suck it up and try to do more with less funds.

[Mad Mark]

Non-NY teams make the playoffs even more often than they win the WS.

Other than the Red $ox, not from AL East, they don't.

Right now, MLB has set up a system that buggers the Jays, Orioles and Rays. The Yankee$ and Red $ox are ecstatic, and the rest of the league doesn't care.

My proposal--stop reading if you've heard this before--is to simply level the playing field.

1) Share at least 85% of all local revenues (from the real books, not the cooked ones) with the rest of the league. This money goes into a common pot and is split into 30 equal parts.

2) End the unbalanced schedule. You play the other teams in your league as close to an equal number of times as an 81-game schedule permits.

3) Eliminate interleague play.

4) Eliminate the divisions. Best four teams from the National and American Leagues advance to their respective playoffs. Home field advantage to the team with the best record.

If--while playing on a leveled field--the Orioles still can't find their way back to contention, we'll know exactly where the blame should be laid.

[Jagwar]

Non-NY teams make the playoffs even more often than they win the WS.

That's because they outnumber non-NY teams 28-2

[Jagwar]

I can't vote here, none of these will solve the problems.

...

I didn't ask which would solve the problems, just which was more likely.

Why do so many posters feel like they have to re-interpret poll questions?

(not just you MikeAD, many have done it in this thread.)

[JTrea81]

Personally I'd like to see the last option.

Put a team back in Brooklyn. Move either the Marlins or Rays there and rename them the Knights.

I'd also like to see a team in NH or Southern Maine to break up Boston's NE monopoly.

[Jagwar]

Personally I'd like to see the last option.

Put a team back in Brooklyn. Move either the Marlins or Rays there and rename them the Knights.

I'd also like to see a team in NH or Southern Maine to break up Boston's NE monopoly.

We'll take them in Hartford!

You won't get the players association to agree to anything that reduces the salary available to the players. Moving a team to NY instantly pressures the amount of revenue that the Yankees can earn.

[byrdz]

We'll take them in Hartford!

You won't get the players association to agree to anything that reduces the salary available to the players. Moving a team to NY instantly pressures the amount of revenue that the Yankees can earn.

That's the whole point. The Yankees have a enormous advantage with their market. Time to spread the wealth. You do that and you have more players making more rather than just a handfull of players making bill gates money.

If they can move a team close to the orioles they damnd well should consider another three teams in NY.

[wildcard]

Other than the Red $ox, not from AL East, they don't.

Right now, MLB has set up a system that buggers the Jays, Orioles and Rays. The Yankee$ and Red $ox are ecstatic, and the rest of the league doesn't care.My proposal--stop reading if you've heard this before--is to simply level the playing field.

1) Share at least 85% of all local revenues (from the real books, not the cooked ones) with the rest of the league. This money goes into a common pot and is split into 30 equal parts.

2) End the unbalanced schedule. You play the other teams in your league as close to an equal number of times as an 81-game schedule permits.

3) Eliminate interleague play.

4) Eliminate the divisions. Best four teams from the National and American Leagues advance to their respective playoffs. Home field advantage to the team with the best record.

If--while playing on a leveled field--the Orioles still can't find their way back to contention, we'll know exactly where the blame should be laid.

I think any playoff team cares.

[Jagwar]

That's the whole point. The Yankees have a enormous advantage with their market. Time to spread the wealth. You do that and you have more players making more rather than just a handfull of players making bill gates money.

If they can move a team close to the orioles they damnd well should consider another three teams in NY.

100% Agreed

However, you would likely see the Evil Empire put up a huge fight. Do you think they would demand a guarantee from MLB for a potential selling price for the team, similar to the deal Angelos received (but more massive)?

[Lucky Jim]

100% Agreed

However, you would likely see the Evil Empire put up a huge fight. Do you think they would demand a guarantee from MLB for a potential selling price for the team, similar to the deal Angelos received (but more massive)?

I couldn't vote because I don't see any of them as particularly likely. I agree w/ others, though, that the only solution is a heavy tax and strategic redistribution ear-marked for the roster.

Overlimit spending gets proportionally redistributed to those teams who play the big spending teams, it must be utilized on payroll or its forfeited.

Not to digress, Jagwar. Sorry. But that's the only real method I've seen of combating what's going on.

The problem w/ sending teams into NY is that no one's going to switch allegiances. Why would they?

[Mackus]

Salary cap is far more likely than the other two options.

However, a salary cap would make the Yankees far more dominant than they currently are. The only thing that would truly level the playing field would be either revenue sharing or a cap on total expenditures. If the Yankees can't spend more than $150M on their 25-man roster, they'll just spend the extra $100M on the draft and international FA signings, basically buying the entire market.

[murrayfan420]

There's no poll option for "nothing." That's the most likely thing to occur.

This would be my reponse as well.

[DrungoHazewood]

Salary cap is far more likely than the other two options.

However, a salary cap would make the Yankees far more dominant than they currently are. The only thing that would truly level the playing field would be either revenue sharing or a cap on total expenditures. If the Yankees can't spend more than $150M on their 25-man roster, they'll just spend the extra $100M on the draft and international FA signings, basically buying the entire market.

Right on both counts. But the "far more likely than the other two" is on the order of 5% or 10%. A cap is highly unlikely unless MLB suffers some serious setbacks at the gate, or the union has some serious, unexpected issues. Realignment seems highly unlikely, and under current rules the Mets and Yanks could veto any movement into "their" territory.

I think there's about a 90% chance the only "fixes" you see to competitive imbalance will be small, and incremental. Tweaks to the revenue sharing and tax schemes, but nothing substantial, absolutely nothing that gets at the root problem of territorial rights locking in vast local revenue disparities.

The one thing that has a real chance of fixing this is the gradual shift in broadcasting away from regional networks and to internet (or even newer) distribution methods where the revenue is equally shared.

[csgordos]

I still don't understand the argument that moving another team will really affect the Yankees. I use the analogy of Coke (Yankees) and Pepsi (Mets). The two of those dominate the cola (NYC) market. You introduce RC (Brooklyn)cola, or any other brand name cola into the market and you will take some market share, but really how much? There is brand loyalty. I don't like Pepsi and I have no reason to ever try anything but a Coke as it is available everywhere. The Yankees have fans that have followed them for generations all over the country and they will get their children to be Yankees fans. That is why my son is an Orioles fan. I guess the argument holds that the Nationals have cut into our fan base and that hopefully the same would happen to the Yankees, but I just cannot believe that is what would actually happen. How many Yankee fans became Mets fans in the late 60's? I would guess that the Met fans were old Giants and Brooklyn fans who finally had another option finally, but were those people really supporting the Yankees? Are we esentially arguing over the bandwagon people who follow whoever is good at the moment? I agree with most who say I doubt any of the three actually happen, but it never hurts to dream!

[geschinger]

Nothing at all will be done. The system works well for just about everyone outside of the AL East.

Things will get better though as more and more revenue shifts from local broadcast media (no real revenue sharing) to IP based media (real revenue sharing).