Mecca
Wade Wilson
Posts: 25,062
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Post by Mecca on Jul 7, 2020 11:14:43 GMT -5
So now we are up to..
David Price Ryan Zimmerman Ian Desmond Tyson Ross and now...Nick Markakis who are going to sit out.
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Perd
Patti Mayonnaise
Leslie needs to butt out for fear of receiving The Bunghole Buster
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Post by Perd on Jul 7, 2020 12:10:56 GMT -5
Way to go, MLB. You almost make WWE seem competent.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2020 20:57:43 GMT -5
The Devil Rays play in a box that looks like it should have Central Florida’s largest Sunday Flea Market rather than a baseball team Also has the Florida problem. It’s full of transplants from the northEast who have their teams they support Honestly, that's kind of why I don't think Florida should have so many teams; transplanted fans aren't going to ditch their original fans. The main obstacle to the Rays doing anything, however, is the mayor of St. Petersburg. He wants the team to honor their agreement to play at that shithole, like it or (especially) lump it, but if he loses his election in 2021, the new mayor more than likely would be wiling to do anything to give them a new ballpark.
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Post by Jedi-El of Tomorrow on Jul 7, 2020 21:19:26 GMT -5
Way to go, MLB. You almost make WWE seem competent. Let's give MLB some credit, the test results for Smallpox should be coming soon.
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fw91
Patti Mayonnaise
FAN Idol All-Star: FAN Idol Season X and *Gavel* 2x Judges' Throwdown winner
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Post by fw91 on Jul 7, 2020 21:40:07 GMT -5
I would like to see two expansion teams and move to a NFL type set up of 4 divisions per league. BUT one extra round of playoffs
NL East 1) Mets 2) Phillies 3) Pirates 4) Montreal Expansion
NL North 1) Cubs 2) Cardinals 3) Reds 4) Brewers
NL South 1) Braves 2) Rockies 3) Nationals 4) Marlins
NL West 1)Dodgers 2) Giants 3) Padres 4) Diamondbacks
Al East 1) Yankees 2) Red Sox 3) Orioles 4) Blue Jays
Al North 1) Indians 2) White Sox 3) Tigers 4) Twins
Al South 1) Rays 2) Nashville expansion 3) Royals 4) Astros
Al West 1) A’s 2) Angels 3) Mariners 4) Rangers
Geographically imperfect but Top two division winners get bye into the LDS. Two wild cards. Wild card series. 3 game series at the home site of the non bye division winners. Then re seed to typical 5 game lds and 7 game lcs and World Series. NFL blueprint while rewarding division winners and still expanding playoffs.
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MolotovMocktail
Grimlock
Home of the 5-time, 5-time, 5-time, 5-time 5-time Super Bowl Champion 49ers-and Wrestlemania 31
Posts: 13,967
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Post by MolotovMocktail on Jul 7, 2020 22:30:00 GMT -5
Oh Boy! I hope if Tampa (or Oakland) Doesn't get their stadium situation in order, they might be the franchise moving to Music City I really hope we don't lose the A's over local politics throwing up resistance to every effort to build a new stadium. Having two former A's looking into relocation of a team with stadium issues makes me nervous. Thinking about expansion, is Memphis a possibility? I kinda want to see them get it over Nashville. Or New Orleans, if they can build a stadium on the river, that could be a great visual. Or even Vancouver in the West. Why does Eastern Canada have to have all the teams?
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RKTaker
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Posts: 16,306
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Post by RKTaker on Jul 7, 2020 23:39:57 GMT -5
There’s no one really outside of the Rays that would move and we’ve seen how that story has gone. MLB should keep expansions in mind...Nashville, Montreal... Rays are actually a great org, just ownership who doesn't spend. They'd do well in a new market, especially given they have the top prospect in baseball by a decent margin. Plus, maybe they could spin it to get out of the AL East. the Orioles have Rutschman though
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Post by Jedi-El of Tomorrow on Jul 8, 2020 0:40:31 GMT -5
Rays are actually a great org, just ownership who doesn't spend. They'd do well in a new market, especially given they have the top prospect in baseball by a decent margin. Plus, maybe they could spin it to get out of the AL East. the Orioles have Rutschman though Rutschman is top 5, but Wander Franco is the top prospect in baseball. It's Wander, Luis Robert, Jo Adell, Gavin Lux, and Rutschman.
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Post by sfvega on Jul 8, 2020 2:08:12 GMT -5
the Orioles have Rutschman though Rutschman is top 5, but Wander Franco is the top prospect in baseball. It's Wander, Luis Robert, Jo Adell, Gavin Lux, and Rutschman. I also have Julio Rodriguez above Rutschman, but that's a pretty good list. Lux I thought already got the call, but if he's still considered a prospect I have him slotted right there as well. The top 4 is very defined, no one is as good rn as them.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2020 12:12:59 GMT -5
Oh Boy! I hope if Tampa (or Oakland) Doesn't get their stadium situation in order, they might be the franchise moving to Music City I really hope we don't lose the A's over local politics throwing up resistance to every effort to build a new stadium. Having two former A's looking into relocation of a team with stadium issues makes me nervous. Thinking about expansion, is Memphis a possibility? I kinda want to see them get it over Nashville. Or New Orleans, if they can build a stadium on the river, that could be a great visual. Or even Vancouver in the West. Why does Eastern Canada have to have all the teams? Whenever the Blue Jays face the Mariners in Seattle, the place looks and sounds like a home game for the Jays. I think there's real potential in a big league club in Vancouver. It might hurt Toronto's fan base, but Canada can have more than one baseball team. I can understand the love for Montreal that baseball historians may have, but I'm not sure I'd take the risk of adding a team there through relocation. If an existing team like the Rays had to move somewhere, then I might consider that, but with a brand new franchise, I'd have to be near certain that there was a market there. I'd much rather gamble on Vancouver than Montreal. As far as the other places, I like the Nashville idea as currently constructed. I hope it succeeds. Vegas is another one. Either way, Manfred has mentioned how he wants to have 32 teams since it's better for divisional alignment and playoff formats, and now with the pandemic, the owners will take any money they can get. I see it happening in the next 5 years.
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Post by ThereIsNoAbsurdistOnlyZuul on Jul 8, 2020 12:15:25 GMT -5
The Devil Rays play in a box that looks like it should have Central Florida’s largest Sunday Flea Market rather than a baseball team Also has the Florida problem. It’s full of transplants from the northEast who have their teams they support Honestly, that's kind of why I don't think Florida should have so many teams; transplanted fans aren't going to ditch their original fans. The main obstacle to the Rays doing anything, however, is the mayor of St. Petersburg. He wants the team to honor their agreement to play at that shithole, like it or (especially) lump it, but if he loses his election in 2021, the new mayor more than likely would be wiling to do anything to give them a new ballpark. They could always build their own park with their money.
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Post by HMARK Center on Jul 8, 2020 12:33:29 GMT -5
MLB has been bumming me out like hell over the past year or so with how contemptuous the owners seem to have become about doing anything to actually build the future of the sport (or present interest in it, for that matter), but expansion talk is always fun so I'll jump in with that.
When Manfred </spit> was rising commissioner, Hardball Times did a fun series of articles with suggestions for changes he could make to the league that wouldn't suck, unlike just about everything he's done so far. One was aggressive expansion; given how much the population of the country has grown since the D'Backs and Rays entered the league, MLB is quite overdue for not just a couple of new times, but something closer to six, according to their numbers.
That interested me, because I'd love to see each division grow to six teams, just add an expansion city to each. If I was king of baseball, after permanently banning any discussion of ever implementing the DH in the National League, I would say...
NL East: BRING BACK THE EXPOS, COWARDS. AL East: North Carolina, likely Charlotte. Backup option for either: Northern New Jersey
Seriously though, I think both of these work well geographically and in terms of balancing travel between the two divisions. Right now the NL East has an extra southeast team (Atlanta) over the AL East, while the AL East has the extra northern team (Toronto) over the NL East, so it'd even that all out. North Carolina's cities are also growing pretty quickly, while Montreal is a much surer place economically than it was 20 years ago...plus, having been there for a couple spring exhibition games in recent years, the fans there are rabid to have their team back...plus, I'm a Mets fan, and I just want an excuse to spend a few days in Montreal each summer, regardless.
Northern Jersey makes more sense than nearly any other area given the dense population, numerous location options, and already huge audience for baseball, but I just can't see a repeat of the Devils coming in surrounded by three other local teams in the NHL - back in '81 the Rangers, Islanders, and Flyers couldn't prevent it, but in 2020 I don't see the Mets, Yankees, and Phillies allowing a fourth competitor for eyeballs and ticket sales. I suppose it'd fit more in the AL since the Mets/Phillies already have the NL on lock for the region.
The other divisions are a little tougher, but I lean towards:
NL Central: Nashville AL Central: Iowa Backup option for either: New Orleans
Nashville is another great travel city, so it'd bring in a lot of fans, and this committee shows there's seriousness about making it happen. Iowa is my surprise pick, because no state in the country gets screwed over by MLB blackout rules worse than Iowa does; seriously, like at least half a dozen teams' blackout rights overlap the entire area. Throw 'em a bone for once and give them a damn team to watch! I'm also putting Nashville in the NL because the NL Central teams have historically been clustered a bit more towards the middle or just south of the Mason-Dixon line (St. Louis, Cincinnati, Houston when it was still in the NL), while Iowa fits the AL Central's more northern-clustered history (Cleveland, Chicago, Minnesota, Milwaukee back before the switch out of the AL).
New Orleans is my backup because it's a pretty great city, another huge travel destination for visiting fans, and it already supports multiple major sports teams and a AAA club in the Zephyrs. Feels like it'd fit in either league.
Either West division: Las Vegas and Vancouver Backup option for either: Portland
Two growing cities, again great travel destinations, hard to say no to either...ok, I'm not entirely sure which of these teams I'd rather put in the NL or AL. I feel like Vegas works in the NL because it'd make a pretty great rivalry network with LA, San Diego, and Arizona, but does that make for imbalanced travel relative to what the AL West usually has to do? And Vancouver would have a built-in rivalry with Seattle, but would it be more fun for them to be in the same division, or to have a sort of interleague relationship the way the Cubs/Sox, Mets/Yankees, Nats/O's, Dodgers/Angels do? I'm torn on this one, but I really like the idea of adding both cities.
Portland is also a potentially fun pick, sitting nicely between Seattle and northern California and offering a ton of local flavor and style of its own.
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fw91
Patti Mayonnaise
FAN Idol All-Star: FAN Idol Season X and *Gavel* 2x Judges' Throwdown winner
Tribe has spoken for 2024 Mets
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Post by fw91 on Jul 8, 2020 21:25:59 GMT -5
MLB has been bumming me out like hell over the past year or so with how contemptuous the owners seem to have become about doing anything to actually build the future of the sport (or present interest in it, for that matter), but expansion talk is always fun so I'll jump in with that. When Manfred </spit> was rising commissioner, Hardball Times did a fun series of articles with suggestions for changes he could make to the league that wouldn't suck, unlike just about everything he's done so far. One was aggressive expansion; given how much the population of the country has grown since the D'Backs and Rays entered the league, MLB is quite overdue for not just a couple of new times, but something closer to six, according to their numbers. That interested me, because I'd love to see each division grow to six teams, just add an expansion city to each. If I was king of baseball, after permanently banning any discussion of ever implementing the DH in the National League, I would say... NL East: BRING BACK THE EXPOS, COWARDS. AL East: North Carolina, likely Charlotte. Backup option for either: Northern New JerseySeriously though, I think both of these work well geographically and in terms of balancing travel between the two divisions. Right now the NL East has an extra southeast team (Atlanta) over the AL East, while the AL East has the extra northern team (Toronto) over the NL East, so it'd even that all out. North Carolina's cities are also growing pretty quickly, while Montreal is a much surer place economically than it was 20 years ago...plus, having been there for a couple spring exhibition games in recent years, the fans there are rabid to have their team back...plus, I'm a Mets fan, and I just want an excuse to spend a few days in Montreal each summer, regardless. Northern Jersey makes more sense than nearly any other area given the dense population, numerous location options, and already huge audience for baseball, but I just can't see a repeat of the Devils coming in surrounded by three other local teams in the NHL - back in '81 the Rangers, Islanders, and Flyers couldn't prevent it, but in 2020 I don't see the Mets, Yankees, and Phillies allowing a fourth competitor for eyeballs and ticket sales. I suppose it'd fit more in the AL since the Mets/Phillies already have the NL on lock for the region. The other divisions are a little tougher, but I lean towards: NL Central: Nashville AL Central: Iowa Backup option for either: New OrleansNashville is another great travel city, so it'd bring in a lot of fans, and this committee shows there's seriousness about making it happen. Iowa is my surprise pick, because no state in the country gets screwed over by MLB blackout rules worse than Iowa does; seriously, like at least half a dozen teams' blackout rights overlap the entire area. Throw 'em a bone for once and give them a damn team to watch! I'm also putting Nashville in the NL because the NL Central teams have historically been clustered a bit more towards the middle or just south of the Mason-Dixon line (St. Louis, Cincinnati, Houston when it was still in the NL), while Iowa fits the AL Central's more northern-clustered history (Cleveland, Chicago, Minnesota, Milwaukee back before the switch out of the AL). New Orleans is my backup because it's a pretty great city, another huge travel destination for visiting fans, and it already supports multiple major sports teams and a AAA club in the Zephyrs. Feels like it'd fit in either league. Either West division: Las Vegas and Vancouver Backup option for either: Portland Two growing cities, again great travel destinations, hard to say no to either...ok, I'm not entirely sure which of these teams I'd rather put in the NL or AL. I feel like Vegas works in the NL because it'd make a pretty great rivalry network with LA, San Diego, and Arizona, but does that make for imbalanced travel relative to what the AL West usually has to do? And Vancouver would have a built-in rivalry with Seattle, but would it be more fun for them to be in the same division, or to have a sort of interleague relationship the way the Cubs/Sox, Mets/Yankees, Nats/O's, Dodgers/Angels do? I'm torn on this one, but I really like the idea of adding both cities. Portland is also a potentially fun pick, sitting nicely between Seattle and northern California and offering a ton of local flavor and style of its own. With that rather large expansion, would you expand playoffs?
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2020 23:42:04 GMT -5
MLB has been bumming me out like hell over the past year or so with how contemptuous the owners seem to have become about doing anything to actually build the future of the sport (or present interest in it, for that matter), but expansion talk is always fun so I'll jump in with that. When Manfred </spit> was rising commissioner, Hardball Times did a fun series of articles with suggestions for changes he could make to the league that wouldn't suck, unlike just about everything he's done so far. One was aggressive expansion; given how much the population of the country has grown since the D'Backs and Rays entered the league, MLB is quite overdue for not just a couple of new times, but something closer to six, according to their numbers. That interested me, because I'd love to see each division grow to six teams, just add an expansion city to each. If I was king of baseball, after permanently banning any discussion of ever implementing the DH in the National League, I would say... NL East: BRING BACK THE EXPOS, COWARDS. AL East: North Carolina, likely Charlotte. Backup option for either: Northern New JerseySeriously though, I think both of these work well geographically and in terms of balancing travel between the two divisions. Right now the NL East has an extra southeast team (Atlanta) over the AL East, while the AL East has the extra northern team (Toronto) over the NL East, so it'd even that all out. North Carolina's cities are also growing pretty quickly, while Montreal is a much surer place economically than it was 20 years ago...plus, having been there for a couple spring exhibition games in recent years, the fans there are rabid to have their team back...plus, I'm a Mets fan, and I just want an excuse to spend a few days in Montreal each summer, regardless. Northern Jersey makes more sense than nearly any other area given the dense population, numerous location options, and already huge audience for baseball, but I just can't see a repeat of the Devils coming in surrounded by three other local teams in the NHL - back in '81 the Rangers, Islanders, and Flyers couldn't prevent it, but in 2020 I don't see the Mets, Yankees, and Phillies allowing a fourth competitor for eyeballs and ticket sales. I suppose it'd fit more in the AL since the Mets/Phillies already have the NL on lock for the region. The other divisions are a little tougher, but I lean towards: NL Central: Nashville AL Central: Iowa Backup option for either: New OrleansNashville is another great travel city, so it'd bring in a lot of fans, and this committee shows there's seriousness about making it happen. Iowa is my surprise pick, because no state in the country gets screwed over by MLB blackout rules worse than Iowa does; seriously, like at least half a dozen teams' blackout rights overlap the entire area. Throw 'em a bone for once and give them a damn team to watch! I'm also putting Nashville in the NL because the NL Central teams have historically been clustered a bit more towards the middle or just south of the Mason-Dixon line (St. Louis, Cincinnati, Houston when it was still in the NL), while Iowa fits the AL Central's more northern-clustered history (Cleveland, Chicago, Minnesota, Milwaukee back before the switch out of the AL). New Orleans is my backup because it's a pretty great city, another huge travel destination for visiting fans, and it already supports multiple major sports teams and a AAA club in the Zephyrs. Feels like it'd fit in either league. Either West division: Las Vegas and Vancouver Backup option for either: Portland Two growing cities, again great travel destinations, hard to say no to either...ok, I'm not entirely sure which of these teams I'd rather put in the NL or AL. I feel like Vegas works in the NL because it'd make a pretty great rivalry network with LA, San Diego, and Arizona, but does that make for imbalanced travel relative to what the AL West usually has to do? And Vancouver would have a built-in rivalry with Seattle, but would it be more fun for them to be in the same division, or to have a sort of interleague relationship the way the Cubs/Sox, Mets/Yankees, Nats/O's, Dodgers/Angels do? I'm torn on this one, but I really like the idea of adding both cities. Portland is also a potentially fun pick, sitting nicely between Seattle and northern California and offering a ton of local flavor and style of its own. My one curious observation about Iowa would be how they would regularly draw interest. If we factor in the metro population, as opposed to the inner city itself of Des Moines, Iowa, it currently ranks 83rd. We all know Green Bay, Wisconsin is the smallest place to have a pro sports team, but they are an oddity themselves and also attract fans from a larger city in Milwaukee, but the next smallest city that currently houses a pro sports team out of the big four is Buffalo at 49th. I suppose they could market themselves to the Dakotas and Nebraska, but a team in Iowa would have to contend with the issues of a literal "small market" team in terms of budget, so after a few years, the novelty factor would go away and the team would have to be competitive. Hopefully by then, the league may have put in place not just a salary cap (unlikely) but a salary floor, forcing notoriously cheap teams like Pittsburgh to spend money, but also allowing everyone to understand where to work with.
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Push R Truth
Patti Mayonnaise
Unique and Special Snowflake, and a pants-less heathen.
Perpetually Constipated
Posts: 39,292
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Post by Push R Truth on Jul 9, 2020 7:49:05 GMT -5
MLB has been bumming me out like hell over the past year or so with how contemptuous the owners seem to have become about doing anything to actually build the future of the sport (or present interest in it, for that matter), but expansion talk is always fun so I'll jump in with that. When Manfred </spit> was rising commissioner, Hardball Times did a fun series of articles with suggestions for changes he could make to the league that wouldn't suck, unlike just about everything he's done so far. One was aggressive expansion; given how much the population of the country has grown since the D'Backs and Rays entered the league, MLB is quite overdue for not just a couple of new times, but something closer to six, according to their numbers. That interested me, because I'd love to see each division grow to six teams, just add an expansion city to each. If I was king of baseball, after permanently banning any discussion of ever implementing the DH in the National League, I would say... NL East: BRING BACK THE EXPOS, COWARDS. AL East: North Carolina, likely Charlotte. Backup option for either: Northern New JerseySeriously though, I think both of these work well geographically and in terms of balancing travel between the two divisions. Right now the NL East has an extra southeast team (Atlanta) over the AL East, while the AL East has the extra northern team (Toronto) over the NL East, so it'd even that all out. North Carolina's cities are also growing pretty quickly, while Montreal is a much surer place economically than it was 20 years ago...plus, having been there for a couple spring exhibition games in recent years, the fans there are rabid to have their team back...plus, I'm a Mets fan, and I just want an excuse to spend a few days in Montreal each summer, regardless. Northern Jersey makes more sense than nearly any other area given the dense population, numerous location options, and already huge audience for baseball, but I just can't see a repeat of the Devils coming in surrounded by three other local teams in the NHL - back in '81 the Rangers, Islanders, and Flyers couldn't prevent it, but in 2020 I don't see the Mets, Yankees, and Phillies allowing a fourth competitor for eyeballs and ticket sales. I suppose it'd fit more in the AL since the Mets/Phillies already have the NL on lock for the region. The other divisions are a little tougher, but I lean towards: NL Central: Nashville AL Central: Iowa Backup option for either: New OrleansNashville is another great travel city, so it'd bring in a lot of fans, and this committee shows there's seriousness about making it happen. Iowa is my surprise pick, because no state in the country gets screwed over by MLB blackout rules worse than Iowa does; seriously, like at least half a dozen teams' blackout rights overlap the entire area. Throw 'em a bone for once and give them a damn team to watch! I'm also putting Nashville in the NL because the NL Central teams have historically been clustered a bit more towards the middle or just south of the Mason-Dixon line (St. Louis, Cincinnati, Houston when it was still in the NL), while Iowa fits the AL Central's more northern-clustered history (Cleveland, Chicago, Minnesota, Milwaukee back before the switch out of the AL). New Orleans is my backup because it's a pretty great city, another huge travel destination for visiting fans, and it already supports multiple major sports teams and a AAA club in the Zephyrs. Feels like it'd fit in either league. Either West division: Las Vegas and Vancouver Backup option for either: Portland Two growing cities, again great travel destinations, hard to say no to either...ok, I'm not entirely sure which of these teams I'd rather put in the NL or AL. I feel like Vegas works in the NL because it'd make a pretty great rivalry network with LA, San Diego, and Arizona, but does that make for imbalanced travel relative to what the AL West usually has to do? And Vancouver would have a built-in rivalry with Seattle, but would it be more fun for them to be in the same division, or to have a sort of interleague relationship the way the Cubs/Sox, Mets/Yankees, Nats/O's, Dodgers/Angels do? I'm torn on this one, but I really like the idea of adding both cities. Portland is also a potentially fun pick, sitting nicely between Seattle and northern California and offering a ton of local flavor and style of its own. My one curious observation about Iowa would be how they would regularly draw interest. If we factor in the metro population, as opposed to the inner city itself of Des Moines, Iowa, it currently ranks 83rd. We all know Green Bay, Wisconsin is the smallest place to have a pro sports team, but they are an oddity themselves and also attract fans from a larger city in Milwaukee, but the next smallest city that currently houses a pro sports team out of the big four is Buffalo at 49th. I suppose they could market themselves to the Dakotas and Nebraska, but a team in Iowa would have to contend with the issues of a literal "small market" team in terms of budget, so after a few years, the novelty factor would go away and the team would have to be competitive. Hopefully by then, the league may have put in place not just a salary cap (unlikely) but a salary floor, forcing notoriously cheap teams like Pittsburgh to spend money, but also allowing everyone to understand where to work with. Big sports fans in Iowa... but they are already claimed. Minneapolis/Chicago/St Louis/Kansas City are all just a couple hours every direction for most of the state, and every franchise had solid representation. Hell I live in NE Iowa and there are a lot of Packer Fans with SEASON TICKETS, but the drive isn't so bad honestly. So there are lots of fairly die hard fans here, but they aren't going to give up their old team. The 2 big local college teams are supported strongly (Iowa/Iowa State) too. There's isn't much room for anything else.
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Post by HMARK Center on Jul 9, 2020 13:45:10 GMT -5
MLB has been bumming me out like hell over the past year or so with how contemptuous the owners seem to have become about doing anything to actually build the future of the sport (or present interest in it, for that matter), but expansion talk is always fun so I'll jump in with that. When Manfred </spit> was rising commissioner, Hardball Times did a fun series of articles with suggestions for changes he could make to the league that wouldn't suck, unlike just about everything he's done so far. One was aggressive expansion; given how much the population of the country has grown since the D'Backs and Rays entered the league, MLB is quite overdue for not just a couple of new times, but something closer to six, according to their numbers. That interested me, because I'd love to see each division grow to six teams, just add an expansion city to each. If I was king of baseball, after permanently banning any discussion of ever implementing the DH in the National League, I would say... NL East: BRING BACK THE EXPOS, COWARDS. AL East: North Carolina, likely Charlotte. Backup option for either: Northern New JerseySeriously though, I think both of these work well geographically and in terms of balancing travel between the two divisions. Right now the NL East has an extra southeast team (Atlanta) over the AL East, while the AL East has the extra northern team (Toronto) over the NL East, so it'd even that all out. North Carolina's cities are also growing pretty quickly, while Montreal is a much surer place economically than it was 20 years ago...plus, having been there for a couple spring exhibition games in recent years, the fans there are rabid to have their team back...plus, I'm a Mets fan, and I just want an excuse to spend a few days in Montreal each summer, regardless. Northern Jersey makes more sense than nearly any other area given the dense population, numerous location options, and already huge audience for baseball, but I just can't see a repeat of the Devils coming in surrounded by three other local teams in the NHL - back in '81 the Rangers, Islanders, and Flyers couldn't prevent it, but in 2020 I don't see the Mets, Yankees, and Phillies allowing a fourth competitor for eyeballs and ticket sales. I suppose it'd fit more in the AL since the Mets/Phillies already have the NL on lock for the region. The other divisions are a little tougher, but I lean towards: NL Central: Nashville AL Central: Iowa Backup option for either: New OrleansNashville is another great travel city, so it'd bring in a lot of fans, and this committee shows there's seriousness about making it happen. Iowa is my surprise pick, because no state in the country gets screwed over by MLB blackout rules worse than Iowa does; seriously, like at least half a dozen teams' blackout rights overlap the entire area. Throw 'em a bone for once and give them a damn team to watch! I'm also putting Nashville in the NL because the NL Central teams have historically been clustered a bit more towards the middle or just south of the Mason-Dixon line (St. Louis, Cincinnati, Houston when it was still in the NL), while Iowa fits the AL Central's more northern-clustered history (Cleveland, Chicago, Minnesota, Milwaukee back before the switch out of the AL). New Orleans is my backup because it's a pretty great city, another huge travel destination for visiting fans, and it already supports multiple major sports teams and a AAA club in the Zephyrs. Feels like it'd fit in either league. Either West division: Las Vegas and Vancouver Backup option for either: Portland Two growing cities, again great travel destinations, hard to say no to either...ok, I'm not entirely sure which of these teams I'd rather put in the NL or AL. I feel like Vegas works in the NL because it'd make a pretty great rivalry network with LA, San Diego, and Arizona, but does that make for imbalanced travel relative to what the AL West usually has to do? And Vancouver would have a built-in rivalry with Seattle, but would it be more fun for them to be in the same division, or to have a sort of interleague relationship the way the Cubs/Sox, Mets/Yankees, Nats/O's, Dodgers/Angels do? I'm torn on this one, but I really like the idea of adding both cities. Portland is also a potentially fun pick, sitting nicely between Seattle and northern California and offering a ton of local flavor and style of its own. With that rather large expansion, would you expand playoffs? Tough call, since you just know the league would demand it, but historically I look back on, say, the 80s into the early 90s and I see only 2 of 12 NL teams and 2 of 14 AL teams making the dance, so 4 of 26, about 15% of teams (hell, it got down to 14% in '93 after the Rockies and Marlins debuted)...the current MLB format already has 33% of teams making the postseason, so keeping it mostly as-is would just bring the percentage down to 28% or so. Honestly, baseball is a sport that needs to emphasize the importance of its regular season; the NHL is a league that can place a ton of emphasis on the playoffs given the nature of the sport and the fact that, historically, lower seeds are more capable of upsets there, but MLB's lifeblood is the late summer/early fall pennant race, so I'd hate to devalue that with going too crazy on the playoffs, but I do recognize that expanding them would become unavoidable after awhile, I just don't have a good format in mind. I actually like the current system where winning a Wild Card doesn't guarantee you anything since you have the one game play-in, but again, ownership would demand an expanded field, for sure.
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RKTaker
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Posts: 16,306
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Post by RKTaker on Jul 10, 2020 11:20:39 GMT -5
Buster Posey opts out after twin girls that he’s adopting were born prematurely
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Post by häšhtå.gdālėÿ on Jul 10, 2020 11:47:01 GMT -5
Buster Posey opts out after twin girls that he’s adopting were born prematurely Family first. And he just jumpstarted the Joey Bart era. I love Buster Posey, but he was only an average player nowadays. Solid defense, a powerless unthreatening AB.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2020 13:02:05 GMT -5
Buster Posey opts out after twin girls that he’s adopting were born prematurely Family first. And he just jumpstarted the Joey Bart era. I love Buster Posey, but he was only an average player nowadays. Solid defense, a powerless unthreatening AB. In addition to family, Posey has made his money in baseball. He’s set for life. I think so far almost all of the players who have voluntarily opted out have gotten their big contracts already. But it will be interesting to see if opt outs lead to top prospects coming up earlier. Trout opting out could lead to Jo Adell playing CF almost all season. There will be some interesting fallout from some of these.
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MolotovMocktail
Grimlock
Home of the 5-time, 5-time, 5-time, 5-time 5-time Super Bowl Champion 49ers-and Wrestlemania 31
Posts: 13,967
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Post by MolotovMocktail on Jul 10, 2020 17:51:37 GMT -5
My one curious observation about Iowa would be how they would regularly draw interest. If we factor in the metro population, as opposed to the inner city itself of Des Moines, Iowa, it currently ranks 83rd. We all know Green Bay, Wisconsin is the smallest place to have a pro sports team, but they are an oddity themselves and also attract fans from a larger city in Milwaukee, but the next smallest city that currently houses a pro sports team out of the big four is Buffalo at 49th. I suppose they could market themselves to the Dakotas and Nebraska, but a team in Iowa would have to contend with the issues of a literal "small market" team in terms of budget, so after a few years, the novelty factor would go away and the team would have to be competitive. Hopefully by then, the league may have put in place not just a salary cap (unlikely) but a salary floor, forcing notoriously cheap teams like Pittsburgh to spend money, but also allowing everyone to understand where to work with. Big sports fans in Iowa... but they are already claimed. Minneapolis/Chicago/St Louis/Kansas City are all just a couple hours every direction for most of the state, and every franchise had solid representation. Hell I live in NE Iowa and there are a lot of Packer Fans with SEASON TICKETS, but the drive isn't so bad honestly. So there are lots of fairly die hard fans here, but they aren't going to give up their old team. The 2 big local college teams are supported strongly (Iowa/Iowa State) too. There's isn't much room for anything else. For the Midwest, the biggest unclaimed market seems to be Indianapolis. It’s obviously a sports town with the Colts and Pacers, I could definitely see this.
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