Bud made almost as much as the entire Devil Rays team
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Despite his 1980’s style glasses and always-rumpled suits, Bud Selig is apparently doing just fine in the money department.
18.5 million? Seriously? The 07 D-Rays had a total payroll of about $24 million. We can only assume that no portion of Bud’s salary was contributed to revenue sharing.
I actually think Bud has done a reasonable job as commissioner of baseball. Other than the steroid thing. And the tie All-Star Game thing. And the strike thing.
Uh …
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Chad Jennings
Don’t. Get. Me. Started.
(starting a world series game with inclement weather on the horizon!)
Sam you are making Pete look bad!!
In 2007, only four players (Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Roger Clemens, Jason Giambi) — all members of the New York Yankees — made more than Selig.
All Yankees.
Seriously though, does Bud need to make that much money? Geez, that is insane!
I don’t think Bud has done that great of a job. I hate hate hate interleague. If I happen to go to a game against an NL team, that is fine but I certainly don’t seek it out. Although I am probably in the minority.
Interleague cost us a playoff spot last year when Wang went down.
Baseball has become a 6 billion dollar industry. I have no problem with Bud getting a large cut. He does some bad things, no doubt, but the game is flourishing under him right now.
Let me state that I’m not saying he’s responsible for it all, but when you carry the title of commissioner you can take all the credit you want when things go well. But you also have to take the blame when it goes bad, and baseball could be headed down a difficult path the next few years.
I read that this morning at thought maybe the MLB offices need a salary cap.
Standing O’neill,
I’d just like to see Bud take responsiblity sometimes. He never, ever does. David Stern is the best commissioner in sports, mostly because he does accept responsibility when things go wrong.
In the matter of 24 hours, Bud blamed the grounds crew, the weatherman, the team captains, and mother nature for the fiasco in Philadelphia. Bud Selig would have a lot more credibility if he acknowledged that baseball (that means him) responsible for the steroids era. I mean, how can you be commisioner and not know this was going on? Either you had your head in the sand or had no clue at all. Neither one’s acceptable.
Sam!!! They no longer go by the “Devil Rays,” it’s just the “Tampa Bay Rays”
m….I agree Bud has his faults, many faults actually. Also as a former owner, he’s obviously too closely aligned with the other owners, which only makes the already strong players union fight him harder on every conflicting issue.
Bud is also a PR nightmare, ranging from the strike of ‘94, to him basically crying in front of congress about being poor, to contraction to the Houston-Milwaukee situation this past year. And then there is that whole steroid headache.
But despite all of this, the game is as strong as ever. That may be a testament more so to players, but as I said he does carry the tag of commissioner. So if he gets a big piece of the pie the I’m fine with that. But when things start to head south, and they will, I want to see him relinquish a piece of that pie and do whatever is necessary to keep baseball strong.
Will he? I think so, but I’m sure there will also be a long list of excuses.
Besides a few small things Bud deserves that kind of money, just like Pettitte deserves to make over 10 million (he might). (added by Mobile using Mippin)
18.5 million? That’s a lot of for dough for a used car salesman.
Welcome Sam. What a fine sub you turned out to be.
Here I thought we would just sit in class and watch movies all day until Professor Pete returned.
Standing O’neill,
I’ve always used baseball’s strength as a knock on Selig. It has survived and thrived because of the product, not what he’s doing. Unless he’s personally responsible for marketing and the wonderful genes that Jeter’s been blessed with.
This is an despite, not because, argument IMO. Even I could be commisioner and not screw it up! That’s how strong baseball is. Ironically, it really started gaining its current strength because of the homerun chase. Sad, but true.
For the same salary, I’d say that baseball got it’s money’s worth more than the Dodgers did because Selig had a much better year than Andruw Jones had.
There is one statement I would love to hear Selig make:
“I and everyone involved in Major League Baseball share responsibility for the steroid area and on behalf of all I want to apologize. Some were guilty of using performance enhancing substances, others provided them and everyone else, myself included looked the other way.
I would like to urge fans, media members and most importantly Hall of Fame voters to forgive and move forward. We need to stop pointing the finger of blame and we need to stop speculating on who did what and when. We need to evaluate candidates for enshrinement in Cooperstown on the basis of their accomplishments on the field and not through the prism of inuendo and allegation.
The stewards of baseball let the game down for a period of years and I am convinced many players experimented with things they never would have if we had been doing our jobs. This is a great game and I vow to do everything I can to ensure nothing like that ever happens again.”
Now THAT would be worth $ 18.5 million.
Also as a former owner, he’s obviously too closely aligned with the other owners,”
Too closely aligned? He’s employed by the other owners. He’s supposed to be on their side.
m….I would definitely be a good debate, and you’re not the first person to bring it up.
Honestly I do not know what Bud does behind the scenes. All I am going on is the current economic state of baseball.
But give him some credit, at least he’s better than Gary Bettman. Obviously a bad GM can destory a sport, so I don’t think Bud is as terrible as some people make him out to be. An goofy idiot at times yes, but he’s not killing the game. For that I say give him whatever he wants.
Nearly 20 mil a year. Nice if you can get it. Don’t believe he is doing even a good job. Cold weather baseball needs to be addressed somehow. Hard on players and often leads to nagging injuries.
Not so good on the steroids issue eithrer.
If for money reasons we are stuck with interleague play as I suppose we are. Then no pitchers should hit unless of course he is good enough with the stick to hold a dh role during the games. American league teams are totally at a disadvantage in the other league parks. Seems it can be a bit dangerous to for aml pitchers.
The game nees speeding up to, I don’t really like all that fidling with gloves and crap. Keep em in the box or do away with the gloves. I would bet there is 15-30 minutes of every game lost due to batting gloves, stupid i think. Does a batter need to walk to the dugout for a new bat when one breaks. Should be a bat on deck for the bat boy, he can run to the plate.
I dunno I love the game but some parts are really aggravating. jmho.
ugh not GM, meant commissioner.
Standing O’neill,
I’m sure Bud’s a good guy (how can he not be with that name?).
He’s just too old for the job IMO. He just looks so addled at times.
But you’re right. Who’s going to replace him? Three more years. I can’t believe that.
I used to think Bud was doing a horrible job…but when you look at his resume closely compared to the commissioners in other sports, he has actually done an above average job in my estimation. The sport has grown tremendously under him. There’s been labor peace for an unprecedented 15 years now. He expanded the playoffs to include 4 more teams. And there’s more parity than ever. He may have his faults but it could be worse (Gary Bettman cough cough).
Yeah, I’m no fan of Bud Selig.
Interleague really doesn’t work, it just creates stupid rivalries.
The WBC is bad for MLB, and of little interest to anyone outside the Netherlands.
Steroids, The Mitchell Report, tie games, home advantage from the All Star Game, revenue sharing, the whole Expos / Twins contraction farce.
Probably lots more…
Requirements to run a sports league-
1) Bad hair- check.
2) Be a used car salesman- check.
3) When the commissioner accuses you of colluding with other owners, join those owners in getting rid of the previous commissioner- check.
4) Ignore cheating and illegal drug use to the benefit of your league- check.
5) When popular opinion wants you to do something about illegal drug use and cheating, pretend you knew nothing about it and condone it- check.
6) Employee all our relatives at the league- check.
Six out of six- he is a success.
I also didn’t like Selig’s grand plan to have multiple teams switch leagues. In the end, only his Brewers changed, which of course resulted in the NL now having two more teams than the AL.
*your relatives
We outspent the Rays eight-fold?!? I didn’t realize it was that bad. We really need to finish ahead of them.
If he got $18.5 mil every time he actually answered a question without riding the fence, he’d have $0.
Didn’t think of that, I dont like the idea of wbc thing either, these clubs spend to much money on players to have them go playing outside of their paid responsibilities just for kicks. We should only allow retired or career minor leaguers, players to play. Nobody is gonna be happy if Arod comes back here with a back injury, due to sliding into a base or etc.
m
That’s 07 #’s for Rays. We did finish ahead of them that year if it makes you feel better.
Rays ‘09 payroll projects to be about $60M so they are investing a litle something to celebrate their successes.
The tie game was the fault of Torre and the NL manager. They wanted to get every player in, so they wound up with no pitchers left. It would be irresponsible to have two teams suffer the loss of one of their good relievers because he had pitched 4-5 or more innings. That’s the down side of a feel good, everyone plays, exhibition game. Selig was right to halt the game there.
Each league can have 15 teams. I am sure they can make it work. The scheduling is stupid to begin with anyway, so why not. At least one team will always be on an off day.
Also, feel free to realign the league, so ALL of the good teams arent in the AL/NL East.
Each league can have 15 teams. I am sure they can make it work. The scheduling is stupid to begin with anyway, so why not. At least one team will always be on an off day.
Also, feel free to realign the league, so ALL of the good teams arent in the AL/NL East.
How does the 4th place team in the AL East end 2 games better than the team that won the NL West?
Under Selig Baseball has grown as an industry. However there are some things he should address.
- Deciding the World Series home-field team with the Allstar game is absurd.
- Come up with some way to avoid cold weather games in early April. At the very least he should get competent people to come up with the schedule.
- He has handled the steroid thing really really badly. Not much he can do now.
pat,
Yes, that makes feel a little better, they really sucked in ‘07. So this year we’ll be spending about 3.5 as much as them? Yes, much more acceptable.
“The WBC is bad for MLB, and of little interest to anyone outside the Netherlands.”
Proof that its bad for baseball?
now that i’m caught up on posts from the weekend, it’s time i go get some lunch…
“Sam!!! They no longer go by the “Devil Rays,” it’s just the “Tampa Bay Rays””
Technically they were still the D Rays in 07.
Doug (NY): If the Yanks deal Nady and/or Swisher, any way they jump into the Manny hunt?
Buster Olney: (2:22 PM ET ) Doug: Nope, they say they are done with any major free agent signings — so no matter what they do with Nady or Swisher, they will not bid on Dunn or Abreu, or anybody. Personally, if I were running the Yankees, I’d move Nady and Swisher for pitching (because they cannot trade Matsui in the current climate) and sign Dunn.
** I really don’t know what Buster is thinking here. How is it the Yankees need to trade for more pitching – they have good depth in the minor leagues? Trading both Nady and Swisher seems very foolhardy to me. We’d be giving up a huge amount of depth ….I don’t particularly want Dunn, but even if I did, I wouldn’t do it. How does this make any sense?
Watching the 1990 WS highlites. A “Spuds McKenzie” sighting.
I’d trade Nady / Melky / Kennedy for DeJesus in a second.
Betsy
February 2nd, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Doug (NY): If the Yanks deal Nady and/or Swisher, any way they jump into the Manny hunt?
Buster Olney: (2:22 PM ET ) Doug: Nope, they say they are done with any major free agent signings—so no matter what they do with Nady or Swisher, they will not bid on Dunn or Abreu, or anybody. Personally, if I were running the Yankees, I’d move Nady and Swisher for pitching (because they cannot trade Matsui in the current climate) and sign Dunn.
I really don’t know what Buster is thinking here. How is it the Yankees need to trade for more pitching – they have good depth in the minor leagues? Trading both Nady and Swisher seems very foolhardy to me. We’d be giving up a huge amount of depth ….I don’t particularly want Dunn, but even if I did, I wouldn’t do it. How does this make any sense?
————————————————————
One or the other of Nady/Swisher will most likely be gone, along with one or even two of Veras/Ramirez/Geise will likely be gone by ST for a center fielder and a real utility infielder with a glove and bat. You’re correct that in pitching, NYY has “deep depth”.
3 for 1 for David DeJesus?
Thank God you aren’t the GM.
I just read Sam Borden’s blog entry now – he’s pretty negative on the Yankees and he really doesn’t like the pen.The pen was a strength last year – I’m sorry if I missed this conversation, but does anyone think there is reason to be concerned? I like the arms – Marte, Bruney (I think he’s turned a corner – I’m really impressed with how hard he worked to return to the pen after what appeared to be a season-ending injury), Alabadejo (think he could be a valuable arm – he’s capable of 2 or 3 inning stints here and there), Ramirez, etc..I think Dave Robertson has promise as well, and there is always Humberto Sanchez should he do well in AAA.
Do you guys think the Yankees need to trade for another catcher now? I think it’s premature, but if you assume Jorge won’t be able to carry much of a load, we may need one. Molina is a great backup, but he’s just a backup.
Buster Olney doesn’t think the Yankees will trade for a CF -I think this is a huge mistake, but we’ve been through this before.
Overall, near the start of ST, are we generally very happy with our team as it stands now?
Nady is excess talent / extra salary. Melky has no future in pinstripes, nor does Kennedy.
What’s so bad about it?
“Personally, if I were running the Yankees, I’d move Nady and Swisher for pitching (because they cannot trade Matsui in the current climate) and sign Dunn.”
This is great. Even when we have good pitching, they say we need more pitching. Buster is off base here. They shouldn’t move both Nady and Swisher. One will do. If I had to choose, I’d move Nady. Yes, I know – he’s wicked hot, but he’s in a walk year, Boras is his agent and I’m worried that last year was a fluke. I’d move Nady and get Abreu back on the cheap.
KC moved DeJesus to left field for a reason…he’s not that good of a center fielder.
But for some reason, Gardner/Melky are better, right?
I hope Swisher stays, GB. Everything I’ve read about him, I love. He fits this team like a glove.
Buster didn’t think the Yanks were going to get a CF. He also said Oliver Perez (Mets apparently signed him for 3/$36 million) is often dominant, lol. To me, he’s one of those guys you could be waiting for forever to really blossom. It’s a good deal for the Mets, but it is a buyer’s market.
“Nady is excess talent / extra salary. Melky has no future in pinstripes, nor does Kennedy. What’s so bad about it?”
DeJesus isn’t worth all three of those guys. Also, he’s not a CF upgrade over Gardner or Melky in terms of defense. In fact, I’d say that they are better defensive CFs than he is.
If there’s a trade, Melky will probably go, no? He’s out of options.
Teams probably like our guys we would consider moving in the following descending order:
-Swisher
-Nady
-Veras
-Gardner
-Melky
-Edwar
-Matsui
It’s the fact that he’s an enormous offensive upgrade and Gardner has no real basis for evaluation so far in CF defense. Melky is above average. DeJesus, at worst, is average imo.
I’m willing to give up Nady / Kennedy / Melky for him. Maybe some others aren’t, but I don’t think that’s too radical at all.
Melky and Gardner are not defensive questions; the problem, or rather, uncertainty, lies in their offensive production (no pun intended; I didn’t know how else to phrase it).
Betsy
February 2nd, 2009 at 2:47 pm
I hope Swisher stays, GB. Everything I’ve read about him, I love. He fits this team like a glove.
Buster didn’t think the Yanks were going to get a CF. He also said Oliver Perez (Mets apparently signed him for 3/$36 million) is often dominant, lol. To me, he’s one of those guys you could be waiting for forever to really blossom. It’s a good deal for the Mets, but it is a buyer’s market.
————————————————————
I’m sure that NYY would prefer to move Nady and keep Swisher. Swisher is a better defensive player than Nady at any position and he walks a lot. His average may be lower but, he has more power and produces runs…plus NYY has him cheap for 3 years. I’d like to see NYY get Schumaker and Ryan from St. Louis, but, other than bullpenners, NYY doesn’t really match up well, unless they can involve another team that needs a corner outfielder (SF).
“I’m willing to give up Nady / Kennedy / Melky for him. Maybe some others aren’t, but I don’t think that’s too radical at all.”
Ok. To each his own.
I like having a good defensive CF to back up Jeter. I like how Gardner charges the ball. He and Melky have both made spectacular plays at the wall. Too bad neither one is very good offensively, having the 2 of them in the OF together would be great.
ALB -
Statistically, DeJesus was not very good defensively in center field. And I may be putting that mildly.
I don’t think they can move Nady now anyway. There are too many premium FAs on the market. After those guys get signed, there may be a deal to be had. I just don’t see any team trading with us to get Nady when they can sign someone on the cheap.
ALB3
February 2nd, 2009 at 2:47 pm
But for some reason, Gardner/Melky are better, right?
————————————————————
But, for some reason, I didn’t say that, right?
I think we should sign Juan Cruz just for some depth behind Mo.
Mariano (followed by), Bruney, Cruz, Melancon, Marte, Veras and Coke sounds absurdly dominant everyone in the pen throwing 95
m
February 2nd, 2009 at 2:50 pm
If there’s a trade, Melky will probably go, no? He’s out of options.
Teams probably like our guys we would consider moving in the following descending order:
-Swisher
-Nady
-Veras
-Gardner
-Melky
-Edwar
-Matsui
————————————————————
You could add Geise and in absolutely the right deal, Kennedy.
“One or the other of Nady/Swisher will most likely be gone, along with one or even two of Veras/Ramirez/Geise will likely be gone by ST for a center fielder”
Not sure that I see a combo from this group getting much of a CF in return? Doesn’t seem to be a lot available out there.
The way I look at it, getting Dejesus improves the team. It creates more wins than a platoon that always has Gardner or Melky in center. We trade Nady and Swisher takes the at bats in right (he’s a better player, anyway imo). Our overall offensive production improves significantly.
We lose a little on defense.
I think it’s worth it. /shrug
Laura –
Very true, but a few things to consider:
1. Other than Manny, the market doesn’t have anything worthwhile in terms of a right-handed corner outfielder. So teams looking for a right-handed bat may place a bit of a premium on him;
2. The Yankees could sweeten the pot a little in a trade to make Nady more appealing.
I don’t think Nady or Swisher are going anywhere…you can find playing time for both of them, even if it does mean Swisher plays a little center field from time to time.
GB7,
I thought about Kennedy when someone mentioned him, but I guess I was thinking of the guys who are on or very near the 25-man roster.
It’ll be interesting to see Kennedy in AAA. I think he’ll absolutely dominate to start the season, but we all knew he was a good minor league pitcher. It could end up that a team out west might trade for him to bolster their starting rotation.
No one’s going to trade for any one of these guys. If we make a deal 1 or 2 of those guys go as throw-ins. They’re all capable of playing in the majors, the problem is that we’ve got too many players.
The Royals manager would disagree with your assessment of DeJesus’ defensive skills. He’s actually a bad defensive CF. That’s why he was moved to LF.
Both Melky and Gardner are better defensive CF’s than DeJesus.
Nady isn’t excess anything right now. He’s the starting RF unless Swisher can beat him out. He’s also a better offensive player than DeJesus.
Why limit your depth for a limited player in DeJesus?
Melky may not have much of a future in pinstripes. However, don’t you think you are giving up on Kennedy a little too soon?
I know I don’t want to give up on a first round draft pick, who hasn’t yet had 3 full pro years, just because he hasn’t lit it up yet.
Right now, the Yankees don’t have to do anything. Why not let competition take over in ST and see who rises to the occasion?
They have had 8 years where they have piled on name player after name player and haven’t been successful with that strategy. Why not try something different?
They have plenty of bullpen arms that can emerge and have significant roles on the team. They also have starting pitchers who can now go deeper in games. That will make the bullpen even more effective because they won’t log as many innings.
They finally have some OF depth. Let Gardner and Melky battle it out and see who wins.
We are talking about the #9 hitter in the order. If Cano can bounce back, they have more than enough offense to be a good offensive team.
The one spot on the team that could get dicey is catcher. That is, if Posada can’t bounce back from surgery.
We won’t know his situation until they are well into ST.
I’d keep the team as is right now and see how they progress through the spring. If a need arises, they have the parts to make a move.
Hopefully, the need won’t arise. That would mean the question marks would all be answered in the affirmative.
m
February 2nd, 2009 at 3:03 pm
GB7,
I thought about Kennedy when someone mentioned him, but I guess I was thinking of the guys who are on or very near the 25-man roster.
It’ll be interesting to see Kennedy in AAA. I think he’ll absolutely dominate to start the season, but we all knew he was a good minor league pitcher. It could end up that a team out west might trade for him to bolster their starting rotation.
————————————————————
I don’t think that Kennedy lacked “stuff”. He hs the pitches and control. What he seemed to lack more than anything was maturity. 2007 was a breeze, and, it seemed like he figured that it would stay a breeze. He was bsically still a hotshot college kid.
“I don’t think Nady or Swisher are going anywhere…you can find playing time for both of them, even if it does mean Swisher plays a little center field from time to time.”
The operative word being “little”. He is the first one to say that he’s no centerfielder. I’d rather have a Melky/Gardner/Damon combo than adding Swisher to the mix.
You are right though. Ideally, the Yankees should keep both Nady and Swisher. That is what I would do. However, if the rumors are true and the Yankees are hell bent on moving one of them, the very handsome Nady would have to go. My dreams would miss him, but I’ll find a way to carry on.
With the glut of corner OF’s on the market right now, as Laura correctly states, teams won’t trade for a corner OF. If they need one, they will just sign one of the available FA’s.
I don’t see what DeJesus does to make the team better. He’s a poor defensive CF. So, you automatically downgrade yourself defensively.
Offensively? He’s not a better player than Johnny Damon, whose talent he mirrors. He isn’t the run producer/power hitter of Swisher or Nady.
He’s just a name. That’s it. He’s also not a fit for the way the team is currently configured. Especially not worth trading 3 guys to get him.
In this market, if you are going to trade 3 players, you have to get an all star type of player in return. That’s not DeJesus.
“However, if the rumors are true and the Yankees are hell bent on moving one of them, the very handsome Nady would have to go. My dreams would miss him, but I’ll find a way to carry on.”
I think Nady sticks. The Yankees want something decent in return for him and there is little evideence to suggest anyone wants to part with it, especially to have him for a year. Still think the Braves may be a player for Swisher. They may wait til see just how cheaply Dunn and Abreu can be had for, but if they don’t land one of them, I can see them offering something pretty good ( but not Hanson, Heyward, Schafer, or Rohrbough) for Swisher.
GB7-
“I’m sure that NYY would prefer to move Nady and keep Swisher. Swisher is a better defensive player than Nady at any position and he walks a lot. His average may be lower but, he has more power and produces runs…plus NYY has him cheap for 3 years. I’d like to see NYY get Schumaker and Ryan from St. Louis, but, other than bullpenners, NYY doesn’t really match up well, unless they can involve another team that needs a corner outfielder (SF).”
Schumaker-Did he play mostly in CF last year or at a corner position with his 10 assists and 3 errors? Also remarkably he hit .302 in 540 ABs with only a .168 BA against lefties.St Louis could certainly use pitching.
Which Ryan are you referring to?
Would a straight deal of FA’s next year like Marlon Byrd for Nady improve the team with Swisher moving to RF?
Steve B-
Would Gorkys Hernandez[future CF]& Martin Prado[all purpose utility] be of interest for Swisher and/or Nady. I don’t think the Braves want to add anymore payroll, especially if they bring back Glavine.
The problem with that glut of corner outfielders on the FA market is that the majority like Garrett Anderson, Griffey and Moises Alou are DHs in waiting and other than Ramirez, Dunn and Abreu, the rest like Brown, Payton and Abercrombie are 4th-5th outfielders. There is one “center fielders in Edmonds.
YT:
Braves wouldn’t do it for Nady IMO. Not as a good a player as Swisher and will almost certainly opt for FA. Gorkys and Prado??? I’d wonder where the Braves are on Prado, given that they moved Lillibridge. Not sure they’d be content to move their top utility guy. Pure guess by me, but I’d think Gorkys and a B-list prospect should be good for Swisher. Yankees paid less than that to get him.
Yankee Trader
February 2nd, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Schumaker-Did he play mostly in CF last year or at a corner position with his 10 assists and 3 errors? Also remarkably he hit .302 in 540 ABs with only a .168 BA against lefties.St Louis could certainly use pitching.
Which Ryan are you referring to?
Would a straight deal of FA’s next year like Marlon Byrd for Nady improve the team with Swisher moving to RF?
————————————————————
Schumaker was mainly a center fielder, but, he played both corners, too. He’s steady and solid, if not spectacular. He’s got extra base power and some speed. Brendon Ryan plays both middle infield and third base as well as both corner outfield spots. He’d make the perfect sub for NYY..good glove and good bat.
I think Bud is a maroon!
Was he even any good at selling used cars?
Aside from the obvious mistakes Bud had made, my favorite is:
The biggest, most obvious, most aggregious problem with the way MLB works, is the terrible, overly short Division Series. a Five game, win 3 and move on series. Teams battle for 6 months to make the PS, and then can be eliminated too quickly in the DS. This is one of the main reasons why the best team often is not in the WS.
When asked about this a few years ago, but stated the season was already too long, and the Spring and PS were already played in cold weather. Since eliminating regular season games (to accommodate that HUGE number… 2 extra games) would hurt income, Bud said his hands were tied.
So what does the Big Maroon do the next year?
HE ADDS 2 OFF DAYS TO THE PS… KILLING THE CONTINUITY OF THE SERIES, MAKING A LONGER WAIT BETWEEN THE DS AND CS, AND ALLOWS FOR A MORE UNBALANCED SP ALIGNMENT.
So Bud can’t add 2 extra days to play a VERY important 2 extra games, but he can add 2 totally unnecessary OFF-DAYS!
GB7 & Steve B
Thanks. New post BTW.
I’m not a Selig fan. When he does do something it only seems to hurt the game. Business is business so I can live with those decisions. What really gets under my skin is fining people and suspensions for hitting batters and retaliating. I know no one wants to see people get hurt, but its part of the game, it has a rule, in the game, to deal with it. I can see action for deliberately hitting some one in the head, but buzzing people and brush backs are part of the excitement.
Pitchers need to be able to intimidate hitters and I think they have been handcuffed during Selig’s tenure. There is not enough data yet to sort out the steroids effect on power numbers but I would not be surprised to learn that some (however small) part is due to over protecting batters.
Similarly I was pretty PO’d about the roughing the passer call in the SB last night.
O(g,r&m)YF -
You’re preaching to the choir here. Bud Selig makes no sense most of the time.
I think it’s devastating to draw out the playoffs with off-days. It’s bad enough that people have virtually zero attention span; it’s bad enough the season itself is sooooo long (good & bad to that); it’s bad enough the games are on so late at night on the east coast that most young fans can’t stay up for the ends of games. Put dead time in there, and there will be people who forget it’s even on!
Doreen – ABSOLUTELY. Remember when Colorado had like 6 off days between series? The PS just drags now. The very worst decision he had even made.
I also think it would be a mistake to move anyone in the Nady/Swisher/Gardner/Melky group unless it was for an established long term answer to an OF spot. Otherwise let the depth lead to competition for playing time and see what happens.
Some here have a really high opinion of DeJesus, but I see him as Johnny Damon lite.
I do think signing Juan Cruz makes a lot of sense… low risk potentially great reward. He just turned 30 and has great stuff. And it would increase the inventory of arms that could be packaged for an OF upgrade
I have mixed feelings about interleague (Mets/Yankees is fun for the fans) but (Royals/Nationals) ain’t gonna light the world on fire. But BS has avoided a work stoppage, made the baseball socialists happy with some revenue sharing, and has avoided a work stoppage after 1994. The 1994 strike (which probably cost us a World Series berth) has caused more harm to the game than the whole steroid thing. Fans have never returned to baseball because of the ‘95 strike. Baseball is a billion dollar business and Selig, who’s basically the game’s CEO is compensated correctly based on market conditions.
This year and next, there will be TONS of salary dumps. We already spent a fortune this year. We should save EVERY PENNY, as there are bargain basement deals coming.
While we got some primo players, we paid top dollar for all of them (CC, Tex, AJ). This will tie up payroll for years to come. Meanwhile, other teams are getting steals, which will save them payroll for years to come. Giambi for $5m? Dunn will go for $0.60 on the dollar. Players will be begging for jobs next year.
We should NOT spend any more money.
Selig has been tooting his horn for years about the healthy state of baseball economically.
This will be one year when he’ll swallow hard as he sees so many empty seats in so many ballparks.
No way… Main officer in baseball shouldn´t make more than the president of the whole United States.
¡Not so fast, Bud! You never, ever would a better job nor handle such true responsabilities.
The commissioner´s salary is a steal legalized.
By the way, ¿who aproves such raises?