Baseball Thread Number 8: Cal Ripken says the playoff hunt is fun

Exactly. How often do you ever hear about small markets in the NFL? The NFL not only has a salary cap, it has far more meaningful revenue sharing than baseball. It helps that the NFL's television contracts are national while much of the TV money in baseball is regional. Also, more of baseball's revenue is tied up in attendance.

Hockey has a salary cap and much smaller arenas to fill.

I wouldn't say market size is not a factor at all in those sports, but it is very minor. Nothing like it is in baseball.

Let me be clear. The small market is a part of the problem in Pittsburgh, but it is far from the only reason that franchise is a disaster. The owners do not care about winning. They care about turning a profit. They have hired a series of baseball people who have made one horrible decision after another.

It isn't just about being poor. It is the combination of being cheap, stupid and poor that has made the Pirates one of the worst franchises in pro sports over the last 17 years.

 

OOP...you could have saved a lot of time by just telling me I was talking out my ass.

 

I thought everybody just assumed that when they saw you had posted.

 

Can't argue with that.

 

Pittsburgh is a relatively small market in baseball and has typically been one of the lowest earning clubs, partly because it's a smaller market and partly because it puts consistently uncompetitive teams on the field. But the Pirates also receive more than $30 million a year in revenue sharing (a conservative estimate) which is nothing to sneeze at, either. In my opinion, in addition to some puzzling personnel decisions, they take too much profit and don't put enough back into the club payroll. They'll figure it out someday. Hopefully sooner rather than later. I love the ballpark and Pittsburgh remains a great sports town.

 

The Pirates have whiffed on numerous personnel decisions over the last two decades and done an absolutely abhorrent job in the amateur draft.

They've begun to change things a tad, but it is going to take a while. You have to get a little bit lucky with some player development and hit a home run when you didn't think you had one (the Rockies' Matt Holliday comes to mind. He was never a major prospect and most folks just assumed he'd never have the plate discipline to make it as a starter and.... well, you know).

It'll happen. They're better than .500 at home this year, and that's a big start. If they can continue to develop like this, they'll be back in the next five years.

 

Hey oop, FUCK YOU!!!!

Sorry but the words "salary cap" were typed and I could not help myself.

 

Eh, I knew it was coming at some point today, either here or on the NFL thread with the Steelers playing tonight.

 

Market size is pretty close to as big as a factor in hockey as it is in baseball.

 

not anymore, not even close. Not with the salary cap, salary floor and revenue sharing. If you can't compete with those three things it's time to get out of that market.

 

So the Leafs are closing up shop then?

 

I meant compete financially. Market size can't be used as an excuse in the NHL.