This was nothing more than the media/MLB coluding to run Luhnow out of MLB. The media hated him and his model was costing MLB money. It's really very simple. Sad really that Hinch/Cora have jobs and Luhnow doesn't. It speaks volumes. Wonder how the anti Luhnow crowd here feels about the guys that were actually doing the cheating getting jobs and guys like Luhnow/Goldstein not having jobs?
This keeps getting repeated... but nobody is actually explaining it. Please explain... specific examples/data would also be helpful.... especially if its that simple.
I think the idea is that mlb makes more money when the largest market teams (primarily the Yankees and Dodgers) win. (NY and LA TV audiences generate more revenue than other markets.) So any other team that gains an advantage over those teams theoretically costs the league money. I don’t really buy that to the degree that it was the primary reason Luhnow was ousted; Houston is a pretty big market in its own right. And there was really nothing Luhnow was doing that NY/LA wasn’t doing or couldn’t have started doing.
Yeah, that idea seems a little bullshitty... not to mention that LA continued to make World Series throughout the Luhnow era, and the Yankees were able to make multiple ALCS’/playoffs throughout the Luhnow era (with another big market team in the Red Sox winning it all). I highly doubt there is data that says MLB was losing money because of Jeff Luhnow’s model.
When the Yankees/Dodgers/Red Sox are in the playoffs/WS MLB makes more money due to greater viewership. It's good for a small market team like the Royals to go on a one or two year run. But it hurts MLB for a team like the Steps to go on a ten year run and that's what would have happened if Luhnow had remained in charge.
Which big market team did the Astros and Luhnow actively prevent from competing during his tenure? The Angels??? (lol). Did you also know that Dodgers-Houston had better ratings than Dodgers-Boston? Was MLB hindered by the small market Cardinals run of continued success prior to the Astros? Also, how do you explain that average team revenues, tv contracts (local and national), and MLB online media revenue all went up during Luhnow's tenure? (pre-pandemic). Again.. what you're stating is pure speculation... and really flimsy speculation at best. Yes, Luhnow made some major enemies not just in the media. His actions that didn't sit well with both owners/players association leadership had more to do with his ability to "normalize" draft slot manipulations and service-time manipulations... but in the end, there are more small market/mid market teams in baseball than big market teams, and they are all now doing the same things Luhnow was apparently criticized for (along with some big market teams doing these measures as well). His actions have already influenced how all teams operate... many were already doing similar decision even prior to the Astros having ultimate success. Their success merely reinforced some practices.
Wut? None of the metrics bear this out? All of those teams made the playoffs during the Astros run and why would MLB allow Click to become GM when they were the biggest rivals to those teams?
They want big market teams competing for championships I would like to see these metrics y'all are talking about over a 10 yr period not just a 4-5 yr. I get it y'all dont like what it takes to win as a small market team and are going to deserve what y'all get, a Rays at best type team instead of a powerhouse. Bottom line for me is the ends justified the means. IMHO Feel free to disagree with me. BTW, the Stros have lost their edge when Luhnow was blackballed and the Stros are going to get what they deserve soon.
We would like to see any metrics that support your theory. What hell are you talking about we don't like what it takes to win as a small market team? It's becoming increasingly clear you just like to make **** up that fits whatever theory that you dreamed up.
I didn't stutter. Tell me more about those metrics over a 10 yr period or you're just making stuff up. Are you telling me MLB doesn't want the big market teams in the playoffs/WS?
You might like to see the metrics that support his theory, but something tells me you will never see them. All he seems to have is opinion, and they are usually wrong
So you are just making **** up up. Just what I thought, thanks for removing all doubt. It's really hilarious that people get in their feelings when asked to supply evidence of a point they continually make. SMDH.
The Dodgers being in the NLCS and WS multiple times over the last 10 years? The Yankees and RedSox being in the World Series and ALCS pretty much every year over the last 10 years. The RedSox winning the WS very recently as well as the Dodgers. And Finally the Astros beating those teams in ratings during the playoffs. Now your turn?
The Astros weren't getting in the way of the Yankees/Dodgers/Etc making the playoffs. Why doesn't MLB try to destroy the Rays? Or the Oakland As? Or San Diego? Unlike those teams, the Astros were one of the biggest stories in baseball prior to the scandal - they got good ratings and were a popular rival to the Yankees (and Dodgers to a lesser extent) and produced some amazing series with great ratings. Their stars were very likable and very marketable. MLB would have much preferred a team like the Astros be facing the Yankees and Dodgers every year than the Tampa Bay Rays. These "big market" conspiracies and laughable and ridiculous - they never hold up to any kind of scrutiny. People do the same with the NBA after the Lakers win one title while ignoring that teams like San Antonio and Oakland were winning title after title.
^^ idk if what happened to us was fully “big market conspiracy”, but there was a difference in the way the Astros vs NYK , BOS , and La teams have been treated (with regard to cheating ) lunhow definitely rubbed a lot of people the wrong way it’s one thing to kill a small market team at a random time . The Astros were peaking at the same time the big market teams were peaking. As a houstonian , I am naturally jealous and conspiratorial when it comes to sports . still , the team is allowed to play . We were great in 2019 . And showed grit in 2020 . if we aren’t as good this year , it’s gonna be on the players or the front office . If the Astros have the most called strikes against them on pitches out of the zone , it will be noticed .
That’s more an indictment of the soft (non-existent) Houston media, and fair-weather sports collectively in a city full of transplants.... there is absolutely zero resistance when the national pundits decide to go all-in against Houston. But that still doesn’t mean Luhnow’s plan was going to cost MLB money. As Major said, the Astros are a far more favorable mid-market team to advertise than any of the other small-mid market teams that are consistently in contention.
Because those teams will have good yrs that they make the playoffs and bad yrs where they dont. The Stros were setup to be contenders for a decade or better with Luhnow in charge. I know this is an unpopular opinion.
MLB didn't want change or the way the Stros went about building what would've been a contender for the next 10 years. Follow the money. We aren't ever going to agree, so you can have the last word.
