Baseball 2018

Well, I think the Dodgers would love to be the Red Sox of the west, but that's not really how this stuff works.

Anyhow, bad news on the bullshit-test front: https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/how-the-teams-were-built/

The Boston Red Sox are 4th out of 30 when it comes to number of players on the 40 man roster acquired through the draft. Not that I think actual facts interest people who repeat tired false talking points, but there you go, it's a click away. The Red Sox have the highest payroll this year because they are still paying Pablo Sandoval.

Either way, the whole "we're a poor team" is an impossible argument these days. Pro teams are gaining equity value at rates that make their payrolls an afterthought, and if they're not, it's because they've had owners (see: Baltimore, Miami in MLB) who have foolishly run the franchise into the ground. Most teams would love to 'spend their way' to a title. It's just not that easy.
 
Astros are in danger of choking.
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Help!I'maRock! said:
LOL. Giants spent $205 million this year to win 73 games.

Buying championships. LOL.
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Except that they didn't go on a spending spree to get a ring. They may have overspent on a couple of older players they wanted to retain and didn't perform. Malancon is the worst offender on the payroll as far as performance/$.

And I said consistently...

Look at the Giants & Dodgers 2014 salaries.
 
335clone said:
Except that they didn't go on a spending spree to get a ring. They may have overspent on a couple of older players they wanted to retain and didn't perform. Malancon is the worst offender on the payroll as far as performance/$.

And I said consistently...

Look at the Giants & Dodgers 2014 salaries.
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Any decent owner wants to 'spend their way' to a championship. The reality is that one way or another, you can't just do that. It's not the 80's with Steinbrenner.

So many variables go into managing payroll, and the valuation of pro franchises are inflating rapidly. To be an owner means spending within competitive context.

Jeffrey Loria destroyed the Marlins, even though he had a franchise in a big market. He played ultra-hardball over a stadium deal that involved MANY multiples of what his payroll meant to the team EBITDA, and when he didn't get his way he tanked the team and flipped the bird to south Florida by never paying for good players.

That's not about other teams outspending the Marlins - because look, the Marlins ... wait for it ... spent their way to not one but two titles.
 
There is a difference in my mind between building a contending team over the course of a few years and throwing around hand-fulls of cash at the trade deadline to stock up your 'team' for a short run. But that is just me I guess. Look at the link you posted. Only the Giants and Cardinals have acquired the vast majority of their players through the draft. That's how you build v buy.
 
The Giants and Cardinals have also "thrown money around."

I appreciate what you're saying, but I don't agree with you about team building at all. Look at the Astros - are they not 'built from the draft?' The Red Sox sure are.
 
Danhedonia said:
The Giants and Cardinals have also "thrown money around."

I appreciate what you're saying, but I don't agree with you about team building at all. Look at the Astros - are they not 'built from the draft?' The Red Sox sure are.
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Not so much, and kinda yeah.

Houston 9/40 22.5% from draft
Boston 17/40 42.5% from draft
SF 24/40 60% from draft
StL 23/40 57.5% from draft

From your fangraph chart

Houston just did very well with the few players they did draft.
 
335clone said:
Except that they didn't go on a spending spree to get a ring. They may have overspent on a couple of older players they wanted to retain and didn't perform. Malancon is the worst offender on the payroll as far as performance/$.

And I said consistently...

Look at the Giants & Dodgers 2014 salaries.
Click to expand...

So they spent $205 million specifically not to win a championship. Got it.
 
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Help!I'maRock! said:
So they spent $205 million with a bereft farm system to buy another championship, and it didn’t work, and now the farm system sucks even more than it did last year.
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With the exception of Melancon, that payroll was tied up in players who have been with the Giants for years and have large contracts. Who did they go and spend money on before the trade deadline to buy a championship this year? Nobody. Of course they spend money to field a (hopefully) competitive team, but it was nothing like the Dodgers 2013 shopping spree for example.

If you look at their WS teams, and even now, the Giants have the most homegrown roster of any MLB team. You slam their farm system, but the majority of their star players came up though the organization. They succeeded, and were handsomely rewarded. Now they are aging and injured, and the Giants are suffering. I will take the homegrown approach, and the 3 trophies over the Dodgers or Yankees 'best that money can buy' strategy. How many WS trophies did that get LA in this century?
 
335clone said:
With the exception of Melancon, that payroll was tied up in players who have been with the Giants for years and have large contracts. Who did they go and spend money on before the trade deadline to buy a championship this year? Nobody. Of course they spend money to field a (hopefully) competitive team, but it was nothing like the Dodgers 2013 shopping spree for example.

If you look at their WS teams, and even now, the Giants have the most homegrown roster of any MLB team. You slam their farm system, but the majority of their star players came up though the organization. They succeeded, and were handsomely rewarded. Now they are aging and injured, and the Giants are suffering. I will take the homegrown approach, and the 3 trophies over the Dodgers or Yankees 'best that money can buy' strategy. How many WS trophies did that get LA in this century?
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The River Cats won 30 games this year. If the Giants want to compete in the coming years, that team will have to add about 25 wins. That’s a hard row to hoe. The fact remains that ownership knew the MLB team was going to suck last winter. Instead of tearing it down and rebuilding, they decided to crater the system for a few more butts in seats at AT&T Park. I expect the system to be ranked 29th or 30th to start next season unless they decide to tear down this offseason.
 
Yeah, well they were ranked in the 20's for both the 2012 and 2014 seasons, and the reason they were ranked 4th in 2010 were Posey and Bumgarner.

I'm not disputing that the Giants need to bring in more youth. Selling off the stars that packed the seats for a decade might not be a great marketing plan though. Who wants to be Miami west?
 
smorgdonkey said:
Dudes... I thought that we were talking sports here. Hockey is very entertaining this time of the year!
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I came in here to see if anyone saw any of the stickball on for example television, but apparently "baseball" is now a mix of leveraged investment strategies and region-disparaging cheapshots. I think I'll leave them to it.
 
vonbladet said:
I came in here to see if anyone saw any of the stickball on for example television, but apparently "baseball" is now a mix of leveraged investment strategies and region-disparaging cheapshots. I think I'll leave them to it.
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There is still hope for the Brewers!
 
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