Everytime someone mentions something about banging trash cans

The Astros do not "have" to follow a business plan. Any and every team can spend like the Dodgers or Mets. There is nothing stopping them.

We need to stop carrying water for 28 billionaires who constantly cry poverty, villainize the players, bully municipalities into paying for stadiums - all while pocketing tens of millions of dollars on an investment that has risen in value. The Dodgers and Mets are not the issue.

Personally, I don't have any issue with how Crane runs the team - generally, he spends and I appreciate that, at least when he has a competent GM, he understands the market and how to balance past/present/future costs.

 

Wet and ready, ain't talkin bout that water.

 

I can never side with billionaires when it comes to lack of spending. More power to players getting paid. But I can't hate on owners wanting to run a sports team without good gains like any company, for without them, cities like Houston will never have a sports team. It's too bad Astros don't draw in as much revenue as the Dodgers to incentivize Crane & Co. to spend without a care in the world. Of course some owners are just mtherfcking stingy and don't spend at all, no matter how much profit the team brings them...fck those guys.

It's all business.

 

The players and owners specifically agreed to the system in place - no one tried to outlaw it.

 

It does feel a little loop-hole-y; I suspect MLB feels the same way and will address it - because doesn't it impact the CBT and allow owners to pay less?

Having said that, that we direct our ire at the owners who spend, rather than the owner who don't - that's messed up. I think Crane is a good owner. I'd love for him to be financially irresponsible but I completely understand why he isn't, and most of his "cheap" decisions are firmly rooted in both an economic reality as well as baseball-smart decision-making.

But there are WAY too many owners who do *nothing* and get away with it. That's who fans from every city should be mad at.

 

This is true to a point, but the system needs to be changed.

The problem is that NY, LA, and a few others to a lesser extent have access to bigger revenue streams and the CBT penalties are too little to really hurt them but big enough to hurt and deter mid and lower level markets.

The system is perfect to help the big markets while holding the mid to lower level ones down.

They need a hard ceiling and floor.

Since the MLBPA is very very against that, they need to raise the minimum teams must spend to qualify for revenue sharing which will bring more competition for FA, raise the CBT so mid market teams are not penalized and significantly increase the penalties for going over it so big market teams actually hurt if they do it.

 

The new CBA negotiation is gonna be a doozy. Get ready for a lockout.

 

Unfortunately, this is very true

 

You're leaving out what I think is an important part of this equation: depending on service time, owners can grossly underpay superstar players for 6, sometimes 7 seasons.

So, yes - we often see those players eventually flee for big-market deals. But every team can cost-control them through the bulk of their prime. So why is no effort made to spend around an underpaid superstar (the Pirates are going to pay Paul Skenes less than a $1MM this season)? Why do we allow those same owners to cry poverty?

An imbalance does not grant owners the right to do nothing. Sorry! It just frustrates me that the owners have been so successful at getting fans to gobble up their bullshit (not you, per se - but, generally, it's far more likely for fans to call players out for being greedy than owners out for being cheap.)

 

I agree with this point.

And just FTR ( I know you acknowledged not including me) look over my past posts, I have been very vocal about this inequality based on service time as well as fans being pro-owner on that issue.

 

Greedy ****s.

 

Like hell they aren't the issue. I swear I'm dumber for having read any of your posts.

 

I don't think you can get dumber

 

Silence b**** boy.

 

I don't listen to you. Dance. You're my puppet

 

I agree with most of this. However, Drayton and especially the guy before him, McMullen, were called out fairly often for being cheap.

 

No, not every team can spend like the Dodgers and Mets. Can’t believe how many people actually liked this comment.