(ThyBlackMan.com) With the MLB season over – yes over, let’s be honest no one other than the players’ families of the three teams remaining have any interest in this year’s World Series – and a possible players’ walkout looming, now is a good time to think about making baseball relevant again.
All season long the talking heads whined about how the Dodgers were destroying baseball because they were able and willing to pay more for players than other teams. That because they played in a larger population and media market the team’s owners had an advantage over smaller market team owners.
The talking heads and others however could not explain why the Angels who play in the same Los Angeles market as the Dodgers and teams like the Mets who have a payroll similar to the Dodgers are at the bottom of their divisions. Why a team like the White Sox despite playing in big market Chicago for two consecutive years lost over 100 games.
However, facts are not something those pushing the supposed inequality and lack of parity argument have on their side. This year’s World Series will feature the Brewers against the winner of the Rays and Guardians American League championship.
For the average baseball fans, they would be hard pressed to name four of the players on all three remaining teams. Maybe the owners and their organization need to be more creative and innovative in marketing their players and teams instead of crying about the Dodgers.
But since we cannot expect the owners and talking heads to be creative and innovative in helping baseball to one again have some relevancy, how about we let a real baseball fan do that?
1. Return MLB back to eight teams in the National League and eight teams in the American League like it had been for many years until the 1960s. Let’s return back to 16 teams and only those teams that have a successful history of being able to host a team get a team.
That does not mean that an expansion team that came into MLB would be eliminated. The Mets for example would be allowed to remain in MLB because they clearly have been able to financially host a team. There are other teams who have been around since the early days of the 1900s who can’t and should no longer have a team.
Instead of having 30 teams, many of which are carrying mediocre players to fill playing rosters, having 16 teams should allow for greater parity between teams. Parity between teams is a common refrain heard over and over again by the owners and talking heads as to why there is a need for a player’s salary cap.
If MLB wants to add additional teams, then it should look to have teams in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Japan, Dominican Republic, Venezuela and South Korea. All places where baseball is huge and which currently are sending significant numbers of players to MLB. Not just numbers but quality players.
Granted with just 16 teams in MLB most teams probably would have very few American born players on these teams. However, the countries which are filling the ranks of MLB should not be faulted.
The reality is that baseball is no longer the national pastime of the US. Or to put it another way, American born youth are not playing baseball and have little to any interest in baseball. MLB needs to find some creative and innovative ways to market baseball to American youth. It has done a piss poor job so far.
MLB needs to eliminate its playoff format and return back to the team in the American League with the best record playing the team in the National league for the World Series. I know this idea will not be popular with media outlets and bettors, but the playoff format has made a mockery of the World Series.
The World Series used to mean something. It no longer does when you have a team with a regular season record at .500 or lower playing against another team with a similar season record in the World Series.
It is no longer the best versus the best, but a crap shoot between two teams that had a few lucky bounces during the playoffs. Similar to the NCAA March Madness tournament. Yes, the media outlets and the bettors like it, but how often does the unquestionably best team end up with the crown?
2. MLB has made certain changes which have not been helpful. One of them was interleague play. Interleague play takes away from the specialness of the World Series. Get rid of it.
Get rid of the pitch count. It was adopted by MLB to speed up the game as if shortening the length of the game would make it more attractive to a youthful market to follow the game. Not only has it not lent itself to bringing younger fans to the game, but it has also alienated older fans who remember the time when there was nothing better than a doubleheader that took all day.
A doubleheader to that fan was the equivalent of a follower of Judaism going to Jerusalem, a follower of Islam going to Mecca and a follower of Christianity going to Bethlehem all rounded up in one.
If a person is not interested or does not have the time to watch a game that is on them. Don’t have time, don’t watch, don’t attend.
The two throw over to a base with a runner. A terrible rule. Baseball is a game within a game within a game. That is its beauty. The stolen base. The steal of home. The hit and run. The sacrifice bunt and the suicide bunt. Signs and counter signs. The moves and counter moves. That is true baseball.
3. One-year contracts for all players with a base salary and cap of $1 million. Once a current player’s contract ends the player would be subject to a one-year contract worth a $1 million with incentives that could result in the players making upwards of $50 million for one year if the player met those incentives.
All teams would be limited to providing the same incentives in terms of objectives and money. For example, if a player won the MVP award for that year, the player would receive an additional $10 million. A player who came in second would receive $5 million, third $3 million. It would be the same for the CY Young award.
A person would be entitled to automate bonus money for playing 150 games each season. A player who played every game that season would receive a bonus.
A pitcher who pitched 25 or 30 games and/or a certain number of innings would receive bonus money for that. The league would develop an extensive list of incentives based on position and performance which would be the standard contract throughout the league.
Attractive incentive money for hits, runs scored, winning the triple crown, winning the batting crown, lowest earned run average and so on and so on.
There would be no more free agency. Send the agents packing. Teams could trade players, but no money would be included in such trades. Strictly player for player or player for players trades.
Return back to allowing players to play for one team their entire career. Fans want to be able to identify with players as if the player were family in good years and bad. The team might not have a great record, but there will be players on that team who fans of the team feel a special connection with year in and year. Nowadays it is hard keeping track as to who is on a team and who is not.
Return baseball back to the fans, not the agents, not the owners and the player’s union but back to the fans and the ball players.
Staff Writer;Â Al Alatunji
Question or comment regarding this article? Feel free to send a message to:Â Alatunji@ThyBlackMan.com.
