Baseball Salary Cap is a BAILOUT for bad choices.
by edwzipper on Sunday, January 4th, 2009 at 05:44pm
I remember living in Tampa when the NFL instituted a salary cap. Fans around the league bemoaned the fact that their franchises may not be able to stay in one piece. Of course in Tampa the salary cap actually increased the team payroll as with a cap, their was also a salary floor.
Even with that increase it still took the Bucs a few more years to right the ship. Mainly they threw Hugh Culverhouse overboard.
Now many small market baseball teams have been grumbling about a salary cap. The latest is the Pittsburgh Pirates. This is a team that hasn’t been much good since Dave Parker was doing lines. And yet team president Frank Coonelly, who worked a decade in commissioner Bud Selig’s office before taking his current post two years ago, made clear that he would back Selig should the sport pursue a cap in its next labor negotiations in 2011.
How about the Pirates just suck even if we handed them millions. (which of course MLB already does through revenue sharing and the luxury tax.) They drafted 1st round pitchers like Millen drafted WRs and Millen actually made better choices.
1999 Draft Round 1 Pick #8 Bobby Bradley No longer in baseball.
2000 Draft Round 1 Pick #19 Sean Burnett - Pitched in relief last year at a lower rate than VORP.
2001 Draft Round 1 Pick #8 John VanBenschoten - Major League totals 2 wins 13 losses and a WHIP of 2.14. That would be a stellar ERA.
2002 Draft Round 1 Pick #1 Bryan Bullington Well he is Cleveland’s problem now. He has contributed 0 wins and 5 losses in the majors.
2003 Draft Round 1 Pick #8 Paul Maholm This one hasn’t turned out so bad for the Pirates except they are still debating between arbitration and signing him long term this year.
Just as an example in the first round in 2002 when they could have picked anybody, there was Kazmir, B.J. Upton. Cole Hamels or Matt Cain among others.
I say fuck you Pirates. Even with the Yankees payroll you couldn’t win. You need to start making good decisions. Free agents don’t want to play for you, fans don’t want to come to your new park and I hate to see what your TV revenues will be this year.
This team, like others, is just looking for a BAILOUT. And yes it is the year of the bailout, but perhaps it is time that teams that continually made poor choices reap what they have sown.