The future of the game (from my eyes) . . .

[FutureRedsGM]

In an effort to boost posts and gain some rep to be able to post on the other board, here are my ideas to change the game and make it better for the present and the future. If you like what I say, shoot me some rep, if you don’t let me know!!!

1) League maximum and minimum payrolls are put in place and enforced. It’s great that the Yanks have to pay a “Luxury Tax”, but that should go to address team needs, not owner greed.

2) The MLB TV contract with ESPN has to have some clause that will ensure every MLB team gets at least one game of coverage. When I tune into an ESPN baseball broadcast, my first thought is “I wonder who the Yankees are playing tonight?”. I personally don’t care to watch Royals vs. Devil Rays, but there are people out there that will. If ESPN has to show the “big boys”, try to get some games against the bottom rung. It would be nice if our kids knew that there were teams playing major league ball other than the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, ChiSox, and Cardinals.

3) Give further incentive to players to stay with their current teams. My favorite player of all time is Barry Larkin and I probably couldn’t say that had he switched teams 4-5 times during his career. The 10-5 rule is nice, but include some sort of salary bonus for players who have X amount of service time with the same team.

4) Induct Pete Rose into the Hall of Fame. Enough said.

5) Revamp the All-Star game and voting process. There was a good thread on this around all-star time. You can look there for my opinions and others that are probably smarter than mine!!

Ok, I am tired of typing already but that is a start. I will probably think of other stuff to add once I have gotten feedback on the above. Thanks for reading!!

[Red Leader]

You're more likely to get rep from me by saying that Carl Lindner's head looks like a pistachio than by begging for it. :nono:

[Red Leader]

As for what you have posted, I agree that those are all things that should be addressed to improve MLB.

[markymark69]

In an effort to boost posts and gain some rep to be able to post on the other board, here are my ideas to change the game and make it better for the present and the future. If you like what I say, shoot me some rep, if you don’t let me know!!!

1) League maximum and minimum payrolls are put in place and enforced. It’s great that the Yanks have to pay a “Luxury Tax”, but that should go to address team needs, not owner greed.

2) The MLB TV contract with ESPN has to have some clause that will ensure every MLB team gets at least one game of coverage. When I tune into an ESPN baseball broadcast, my first thought is “I wonder who the Yankees are playing tonight?”. I personally don’t care to watch Royals vs. Devil Rays, but there are people out there that will. If ESPN has to show the “big boys”, try to get some games against the bottom rung. It would be nice if our kids knew that there were teams playing major league ball other than the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, ChiSox, and Cardinals.

3) Give further incentive to players to stay with their current teams. My favorite player of all time is Barry Larkin and I probably couldn’t say that had he switched teams 4-5 times during his career. The 10-5 rule is nice, but include some sort of salary bonus for players who have X amount of service time with the same team.

4) Induct Pete Rose into the Hall of Fame. Enough said.

5) Revamp the All-Star game and voting process. There was a good thread on this around all-star time. You can look there for my opinions and others that are probably smarter than mine!!

Ok, I am tired of typing already but that is a start. I will probably think of other stuff to add once I have gotten feedback on the above. Thanks for reading!!

I am with you on all five points, especially on 1 and 2, I could leave No. 3, but I'm not all that opposed to it. No. 1 would certainly add to the competitve balance, which I think is what it was designed for. Although I'm not always convinced that the baseball higher-ups really want competitive balance.

Add to No. 2 the same with FOX, now that they will begin broadcasting all 26 weeks of the season, although I realize the FOX broadcasts are regional, but I think it could still be made available.

No. 4 would finally make it go away and that would in the best interest of baseball.

No. 5, although I like to vote for the All-Stars, I could definitely give that up if it meant deserving players would go to the game (i.e. Brandon Phillips). I don't so much have a problem with every team being represented, but expand the rosters.

[cincy09]

Carl Lindner's head looks like a pistachio

[M2]

Taking them in order:

1. Free market

2. Free market

3. Free market

4. I used to think yes and now I think no

5. Free market

The things that really interest me when it comes to the "future of the game" aren't tweaks on what's already in place, it's the potential brand new things that could make sweeping changes in the game.

For instance, in 20-30 years is a 100 MPH heater going to be commonplace? If so, will the game swing back to pitching?

Where will the next big influxes of talent come from? China? Eastern Europe? Africa? South America?

How will MLB expand? Will other nations like Japan and Mexico develop leagues to rival MLB (following the national league setup of soccer) or will MLB successfully move beyond its U.S.-Canada footprint?

How will the game attract better young athletes in the U.S.? If it doesn't, what will the state of the game be in 30 years?

[westofyou]

How will MLB expand?

Castro dies and Cuba gets a team, everything falls into place then, PDX gets a team in 10 years minimum.

[Red Leader]

Where will the next big influxes of talent come from? China? Eastern Europe? Africa? South America?



I think the answer to this one will be Europe. Baseball is exploding there like Lacrosse is exploding across the US. Going to take a little time for them to ramp up and get coaches there that will be able to develop these athletes, but I believe in 10-15 years Europe will be a big influence on MLB.

[M2]

I think the answer to this one will be Europe. Baseball is exploding there like Lacrosse is exploding across the US. Going to take a little time for them to ramp up and get coaches there that will be able to develop these athletes, but I believe in 10-15 years Europe will be a big influence on MLB.

I tend to agree. Plus, eastern Europe breeds a lot of big, broad-shouldered young men. It could be a power pitching and power hitting treasure trove.

[RedsManRick]

In an effort to boost posts and gain some rep to be able to post on the other board, here are my ideas to change the game and make it better for the present and the future. If you like what I say, shoot me some rep, if you don’t let me know!!!

1) League maximum and minimum payrolls are put in place and enforced. It’s great that the Yanks have to pay a “Luxury Tax”, but that should go to address team needs, not owner greed.

2) The MLB TV contract with ESPN has to have some clause that will ensure every MLB team gets at least one game of coverage. When I tune into an ESPN baseball broadcast, my first thought is “I wonder who the Yankees are playing tonight?”. I personally don’t care to watch Royals vs. Devil Rays, but there are people out there that will. If ESPN has to show the “big boys”, try to get some games against the bottom rung. It would be nice if our kids knew that there were teams playing major league ball other than the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, ChiSox, and Cardinals.

3) Give further incentive to players to stay with their current teams. My favorite player of all time is Barry Larkin and I probably couldn’t say that had he switched teams 4-5 times during his career. The 10-5 rule is nice, but include some sort of salary bonus for players who have X amount of service time with the same team.

4) Induct Pete Rose into the Hall of Fame. Enough said.

5) Revamp the All-Star game and voting process. There was a good thread on this around all-star time. You can look there for my opinions and others that are probably smarter than mine!!

Ok, I am tired of typing already but that is a start. I will probably think of other stuff to add once I have gotten feedback on the above. Thanks for reading!!

Some great points M2. Regarding point 3, one thought I've had is something along the lines of a pool of money (from media revenues perhaps) gets spent such that MLB will pay 10% of any contract for a player signing a deal with his current (or most recent) team. That will allow teams to outbid competitors without having to actually spend more. It could also be set such that it functioned as a media revenue tax write off --- that is, if you resign a guy, 10% of his salary is deducted from the amount of media based revenue which the team would otherwise need to pay in to the shared media pool. Of course, this presumes that teams are forced to put most of their media revenue in to a league wide fund, and I don't think that is currently the case.

[flyer85]

End the blackouts, we are all being held hostage. :D

[Falls City Beer]

You're more likely to get rep from me by saying that Carl Lindner's head looks like a pistachio than by begging for it. :nono:

Begging usually doesn't do it, but grovelling has been know to work from time to time.

[FutureRedsGM]

You're more likely to get rep from me by saying that Carl Lindner's head looks like a pistachio than by begging for it. :nono:


Ok, Carl Linder's head looks like a gigantic pistachio!!!

And sorry for appearing to beg for rep. That was semi-joking.

[FutureRedsGM]

Taking them in order:

1. Free market

2. Free market

3. Free market

4. I used to think yes and now I think no

5. Free market

The things that really interest me when it comes to the "future of the game" aren't tweaks on what's already in place, it's the potential brand new things that could make sweeping changes in the game.

For instance, in 20-30 years is a 100 MPH heater going to be commonplace? If so, will the game swing back to pitching?

Where will the next big influxes of talent come from? China? Eastern Europe? Africa? South America?

How will MLB expand? Will other nations like Japan and Mexico develop leagues to rival MLB (following the national league setup of soccer) or will MLB successfully move beyond its U.S.-Canada footprint?

How will the game attract better young athletes in the U.S.? If it doesn't, what will the state of the game be in 30 years?


Absolutely wonderful post. Looking at the future in this light also makes me think about things like automated strike zones, aluminum bats (or some composite to resemble wood), and the "invention" of different pitches.

And I thoroughly understand your remarks about Free Market, but that doesn't mean that it couldn't be a better game and even business if it weren't so free.

[crazybob60]

Taking them in order:

1. Free market

2. Free market

3. Free market

4. I used to think yes and now I think no

5. Free market

The things that really interest me when it comes to the "future of the game" aren't tweaks on what's already in place, it's the potential brand new things that could make sweeping changes in the game.

For instance, in 20-30 years is a 100 MPH heater going to be commonplace? If so, will the game swing back to pitching?

Where will the next big influxes of talent come from? China? Eastern Europe? Africa? South America?

How will MLB expand? Will other nations like Japan and Mexico develop leagues to rival MLB (following the national league setup of soccer) or will MLB successfully move beyond its U.S.-Canada footprint?

How will the game attract better young athletes in the U.S.? If it doesn't, what will the state of the game be in 30 years?

M2, I loved some of these points that you have pointed out. Especially the one about the 100 MPH fastball. I was loving it when Brad Penny threw nothing but heat during the All Star Game and it appeared nobody could come close to hitting him, but in the back of my mind, I was hoping and praying he wouldn't throw his arm out doing so, was I the only person that thought this?

Ok, not to get too off topic, but also the topic of the MLB expanding. I personally don't think that there will be any rival leagues similar to that of the MLB, but I do think that Europe will grab hold of the MLB similar to when the Latin players started a grab onto it and somewhat when the Asians did so as well, but theirs was to a lesser extent. But again, this is just baseball, the best players should be playing this level of baseball. Period. No matter what country or nationality they are from!!!

[Blue]

As the baseball talent pool expands across more continents, I think it will be absolutely essential for there to be either an international player draft or that international players will be eligible to be drafted in the June regular draft.

I also agree with the sentiments of M2 regarding payrolls, however, I do think that MLB needs to move towards mandated signing bonuses for draft picks, to avoid top talent falling from bad teams in need of the talent to better or good teams who have the money to sign them.

[texasdave]

one item on the future agenda which i am sorta surprised isn't talked about more is instant replay. it wouldnt suprise me that in the near future if a manager is allowed to challenge one umpire decision a game. i would think the calls of balls and strikes would have to be off-limits.

[KoryMac5]

How to improve baseball two words: Salary Cap

[KronoRed]

How to improve baseball two words: Salary Cap
Won't help teams that don't make enough to even get near a cap.

Full revenue sharing will.