TruffleShuffle

is there an idea you like, besides salary cap (which isn't happening) or status quo?

6 teams from each league make the playoffs, 3 division winners, 3 wild cards. top 2 teams in each league get a first round bye. purists would complain about ruining the divisional races, but you'd still have good races to win bad divisions, races for the final wild card spot(s), and races to get the byes. it would add an extra week or so to the season, but either shorten the regular season to 154 games (unlikely, since this would decrease revenues for at least 60% of the teams) or shorten spring training a little bit.

There has to be a question about whether or not a handful of games against the Yankees will offset the cost of telling your fans you aren't trying. At least in the AL Central, even a weak team has a chance of winning in any given year. They would be much better off making more opportunities for teams to contend than forcing teams to admit if they are trying. Add a wild card team and more teams will have hope. with the strength of the mlbpa, a salary cap is never going to happen, so this is the most reasonable idea. it's pretty much a given that teams like florida, baltimore, toronto and tampa are going to have a very tough time making the playoffs against multiple huge-market teams in their divisions, so allow another 1-2 wild card teams and give the best or best two teams in each league a first round bye. that way if baltimore/tampa/toronto build a team that's good enough to win 90 games, they have a great chance to make the playoffs even if the yankees and red sox are better.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/tom_verducci/03/09/floating-realignment/#ixzz0hnZ5Q4C5 vomit.

If anything, I would think this would force MLB to go with a DH for every game. And if a team can opt out of their division, will the AL East be made up entirely of the Red Sox & Yankees? Can Baltimore say they want to move the NL Central? Would an NL Central team then have to move somewhere else? This proposal brings up so many questions. It sounds ridiculous at the moment. I want to hear more. it seems to me that it would be the red sox, yankees and then a dumping ground for teams that are either perpetually terrible (pirates, royals) or have some talent but are rebuilding mode (indians, orioles). granted, it's unfair to the other teams in that division that they're stuck trying to beat two teams with mega payrolls, but wouldn't it be ridiculous to have the yankees and red sox contending with a bunch of turds every year? basically this would give the other three teams in that division a better chance when they're good enough to compete, but would probably ensure that the yankees and red sox would go to the playoffs every year since they would have 54 games a year against awful teams.

their plans to contend??? good luck selling that one to the fans. "you know, we're going to join the AL east this year because we know we're going to stink, so we may as well stink it up in a division where we'll get crushed but earn a little more money."

this was the average line of the top 30 1B last season: 85 R, 30 HR, 99 RBI, 4 SB, .285 AVG. the bottom line is, it shouldn't be particularly hard to find a 1B who is good at hitting, and you shouldn't pay big dollars for derrek lee.

i read this in the 2010 bp - the cubs haven't had a home-grown outfielder post 15 home runs and a .270 EqA since billy williams. that's mind-bogglingly terrible.

i also saw that the blue jackets had 11 shots, including only 5 in the first 2 periods, which is pretty [expletive] bad.

this is incredibly dumb and wrong, even for you.

richards' hit was more to the body of booth. savard was leaning forward and his head was exposed, and cooke almost made no contact except to the head of savard. the other difference was that richards got thrown out of the game for interference and florida was given a 5 minute power play, while there was no punishment for the dirtier hit. but no surprise there. anyway, the nhl people should get together after this season and outlaw blind-side shoulders to the head.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_F7LEZ78_o not sure if the nhl will make any sort of suspension here, but these types of hits have to be illegal. it's an obvious blow directly to the head of a defenseless player.

Not really, maybe higher than expected, but KG loves tools. In the chat he is doing right now, he just said he thinks Castro is more polished, but that he thinks Lee has better tools. from what i've read about each guy from BA and a few other sources, this is a very defensible position. lee is unquestionably faster and has a higher ceiling as a fielder because he has a better arm and more range (but he makes a lot of errors). the only area that castro would seem to have the edge as far as tools is in his potential to develop power.

i will do it if someone else drops or doesn't want to do it because they can't make the draft.

michael leighton should have been the panthers' first star tonight. what a horrible performance.

not sure, but if it's happening i'm in.

I'm in a 10-team keeper league that I won last year. Scoring categories: R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, OPS for hitters (6 categories), K, W, SV, ERA, WHIP for pitchers (5 categories). We get 5 keepers; this is my roster: C Victor Martinez, Bos C,1B 1B Albert Pujols, StL 1B 2B Brian Roberts, Bal 2B 3B Pablo Sandoval, SF 3B,1B SS Jason Bartlett, TB SS K OF Shin-Soo Choo, Cle OF OF Jason Kubel, Min OF,DH OF Justin Upton, Ari OF UTIL Aaron Hill, Tor 2B Adam Dunn, Was 1B,OF DL Carlos Beltran, NYM OF P Brad Lidge, Phi RP P A.J. Burnett, NYY SP P Carlos Marmol, ChC RP SP Jered Weaver, LAA SP SP Tommy Hanson, Atl SP SP Tim Hudson, Atl SP RP Francisco Rodriguez, NYM RP Ryan Franklin, StL RP Bench Dan Haren, Ari SP Bench Matt Garza, TB SP Bench Edwin Jackson, Ari Bench Kevin Millwood, Bal pujols is the only no-brainer to me, though i can't really imagine throwing back justin upton after hitting .300 with a .900 OPS, 28 HR and 20 SB at age 22. after that it is pretty much a bunch of very good players and i'm having a hard time making decisions. victor martinez plays an important position and will probably put up big numbers in boston, but he's on the wrong side of 30. sandoval is one of the better 3B; doesn't give great power number and is too fat to steal, but should keep improving and has lost some weight. bartlett had a really nice year last year, but is already 30 and maybe last year was a fluke. aaron hill also had a monster year and plays 2B, but how likely is he to produce over 100 R, 100 RBI and 35 HR again? the only pitchers i'm considering keeping are dan haren, who is always great in the first half and then fades after the ASB, and tommy hanson, who was pretty damn good in his first crack at the big leagues and should only get better.

yeah, the u.s. did all the things that russia should have done but didn't - play physical, make the simple plays (get the puck deep, short passes, got traffic in front of the net). maybe russia doesn't have the type of players who will do those things, or maybe the coaches didn't try to get them to play the system that could give a super-talented team trouble.

we won 7-6 on aggregate. usa! usa!

incredibly lucky? the majority of people who drive drunk don't kill anyone. and he crashed into a porch at 3 in the morning; unless there are normally multiple people hanging out on a porch at 3 a.m. then i would say it's extremely unlikely that he would kill someone. that being said, drunk driving is bad.

i'm trying to wrap my head around a person being okay with a sober guy who nearly blinding an opposing player, but having no tolerance for a drunk guy who crashed into a house and harmed nobody.

he reminds me of vizzini from the princess bride

i'll take a 6-0 first period lead on the finns over hanging on for dear life and needing help from the crossbar against the slovaks.

scouts have a boner for this guy like you wouldn't believe. hopefully he stays healthy.

yes i'm sure he was thinking rationally when he was wasted enough to crash a car into a house, then run away from the car that had a license plate and registration showing that it belonged to him. maybe. or fans know that this young guy drove drunk and then crashed his car, which tons of people do. there are more than a few jobs where you can do something like this and not get fired. he didn't rape a pre-school. to me it's a little silly to say that a young guy should no longer be able to pursue a career in that which he's best at because he drove a car while drunk. okay, so if a guy drunkenly damaged your property, you would chase him down and break his arm? that's assault, for which you would be prosecuted and convicted. i would then hope that your employer would fire you for your irresponsible and reckless behavior.