“We play Minnesota a hundred times. Why do I have to read a Minnesota scouting report every day? Why do I have to be at the ballpark at 10 o’clock in the morning when the game starts at seven? What would I do there, get fat? If I’m going to get there at 10 o’clock in the morning and stay until 12:30 at night, and lose a game, why not show up at three and leave at 10? You lose anyway.”
–Ozzie Guillen, on his own schedule (Miami Herald).
The World Series is over, and it was not how I thought it would be. I assumed there would be 3 good pitching match-ups (Clemens/Contreras, Pettitte/Buehrle, Oswalt/Garland) and 1 offensive showcase (Backe/Garcia). It was the opposite. Clemens left the game early due to injury (and gave up 3 earned runs), Contreras was decent (3 earned runs in 7 innings), Pettitte looked good but the bullpen failed him, Buehrle struggled (he did get a save), Oswalt and Garland looked flat. On the other end, Backe and Garcia each pitched gems and Bobby Jenks has shown the Angels they made a mistake (see below). The offense for the Astros was absent most of the time, while the White Sox got timely hits.
Bobby Jenks has been pretty interesting to watch the last few years. He was drafted by the Angels in the 5th round of the 2000 draft out of high school. He was always considered a power pitcher and showed hints in the minors. Most of his time in the Angels system was lost to injuries and off the field personal issues. Last winter, the Angels dropped him from the 40-man roster (to make room for another player). The White Sox claimed him off waivers and waited half a season for him to come into his own. With the White Sox, he had 6 saves in 32 appearances with a 2.75 ERA. He also had an 11.44 K/9 ratio. He should be the closer in Chicago next year.
This week we have our “State of Baseball Address.” This is stuff that works and stuff that needs fixing. I’ve been taking notes on things most of the season on what I have seen and here it is.
What Works
– Interleague play gives fans and players the opportunity to play teams they don’t normally see. I know a lot of people complain about it, but from a fan standpoint it works. In the last 2 years, I have seen Oakland, Boston and New York, which I don’t usually get to see. Also, cities that have multiple teams get to see them play each other. Just think next year in Chicago, the White Sox fans can go across town and rub in the World Series win.
– The Wild Card has made the playoffs interesting again. The last few years the playoff races have gone down to the wire. Think about what the playoff race in the National League would have been like if there were still 2 division and no wild card. The Cardinals and Braves would have had no competition. This also generates more money for more markets; not only do the playoff teams get money, but also the smaller teams do with the small bit of revenue sharing there is.
– Another strong draft has teams restocking. The draft in June added 2 players to teams by the end of the season, with a few more ready. Don’t be surprised if Craig Hansen in Boston could be next year’s Huston Street. Look for more of the drafted players from college to be in line-ups next year.
– Steroid testing lowed home run total for the season. While homers are an important part of the game, pitching should be a bigger focus. I, as a baseball fan, would rather see a no hitter than a team go deep 6 times. I like pitching duels more that high scoring games. If I want homers, I’ll watch the home run derby.
What Needs Fixing
– The All Star Game needs to go back to having no meaning. It didn’t matter this year, since the best team had home field, but why let a player for the Royals help decide where the World Series is played. It should be like every other series, with the best team having home field.
– The Wild Card needs to be changed so they will be at more of a disadvantage. As everyone has heard repeatedly for the last few years, a wild card team has been to the series 6 out of the 11 years there’s been one (4 have won it). My suggestion is to have the Wild Card team play the best team (even if they are in the same division). The Wild Card team will have 1 home game in the best of 5 series. If they make it to the Division Series, they would get 2 home games. In the World Series, they will get 3 games. This way, they have to win more than 1 game on the road before they go home.
– A harsher steroid policy needs to be invoked. Right now a player can be caught using a steroid and he will get 2 appeals before his suspension is announced. He misses 10 games and goes back to normal. I think the plan that would be the best for the game: 50 game suspension for the first offense, a season suspension for the second offense, and a lifetime ban for a third violation. Players should also not be able to appeal the suspension since the tests don’t lie; the players association won’t allow that, so I would say your only appeal would be to take another test, there and then, to prove it.
– Realign the divisions for geographical match ups and rivalries. Each division would have 5 teams, which would be somewhat closer in geography. I would try to keep some of the closer rivalries within division while trying to build new ones (also, no city will have 2 teams in the same division). The new divisions would look like this:
AL East
Baltimore
Boston
New York Yankees
Philadelphia
Toronto
AL Central
Chicago White Sox
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Detroit
Minnesota
AL West
Colorado
Houston
Los Angeles Angels
Seattle
Texas
NL East
Atlanta
Florida
New York Mets
Tampa Bay
Washington
NL Central
Chicago Cubs
Kansas City
Milwaukee
Pittsburgh
St. Louis
NL West
Arizona
Los Angeles
Oakland
San Diego
San Francisco
The better geographical match ups would help revenue and make national TV view better. Also, some of the better teams are spread out (hopefully so the NL West fiasco doesn’t happen again).
– Institute an international draft so all teams will have a chance to get international players. Most teams don’t have scouts in Central and South Americas, so a few teams sign the foreign players. Most of the teams that can sign them sponsor teams in South America for the players to develop. I think either combining the drafts (US and International) or having a separate draft for worldwide players would spread them out more and prevent teams from over-paying for players who haven’t played a professional game. The teams then would be responsible for getting scouting reports on these players.
– Adding a stiffer luxury tax or soft salary cap to prohibit overspending. It really sucks that some teams can buy a small nation of players, while others have to trade away promising players because they are going into arbitration. It also sucks when the 2 World Series teams combined salary is less than the New York Yankees (150,000,000 vs. 202,000,000). The league needs to add stricter restrictions on the luxury tax or convince the players to go to a salary cap. No one deserves to make $15 million a year to play a game most would play for less (even if they are some of the best athletes in the world).
– Change the playoff roster rules so teams can’t sneak players on their rosters. The current rule is a player can be on a playoff roster if they were on the 25-man roster as of August 31. This includes injured players; so when an injured player gets hurt mid-season and won’t be able to play in the post-season, a team can’t add a player to their roster to replace him. This year with the Cardinals, Scott Rolen had season ending surgery in August and was out for the rest of the season. The Cardinals were able to add John Gall, who was called up September 2nd, to the post-season roster to replace Rolen. That was how the world was able to first see Francisco Rodriguez.
– Instill instant replay for the playoffs. The one constant during these playoffs was the botched calls. Dye didn’t get hit, and he gets the base. Next series, he did get hit, and wasn’t given the base. Jason Lane had a home run that wasn’t a home run. There was a phantom tag on Yadier Molina. These errors by umpires could have been reviewed and changed things (although, the teams that were in the World Series were the ones that deserved to be there).
Links
RotoChamps can take care of all your fantasy needs if they ever start to update it.
Slayer bring you up to date on College Football.
Patrick looks at stereotypes.
IP Radio covers the end of Game 4.
Todd gives some insight to the Rams.
Nick cover the past weekend in the NFL.
The Forums
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