Archive for the ‘Commissioner’s Blog’ Category

Is it possible that the 6 MLB teams leading their divisions right now on June 14 are the same teams that will be leading their divisions at seasons end? I say, yes. It is extremely possible!

At the time of this writing the 6 division leaders are the Red Sox, Tigers, Rangers, Phillies, Brewers, and Giants. Let’s look at each of these divisions one by one:

AL EAST: The Bosox are currently on a 9-game winning streak and are the hottest team in baseball. They have survived a horrendous start and are now rolling. Yes, the Yankees and Rays can be formidable, but I just don’t see either of them ending up in front of the Red Sox.

AL CENTRAL: I will concede that none of the 5 teams in this league are out of it yet–not even the last place Twins. But I think the Tigers will prevail. Maybe it’s the “homer” in me. I’ve been rooting for the Tigers since Willie Horton and Norm Cash. But their offense is on fire, Verlander and Scherzer offer a good one-two punch at the top of the rotation, and their pen has been solid.

AL WEST: The Rangers has withstood injuries to Hamilton and Cruz and still sit atop their division. Now healthy, this team will only get better. I don’t see any of the team in the AL West catching them or even making it close.

NL EAST: The Phillies are the cream of the crop in the NL. The defending champs have unparalleled starting pitching. The Braves and Marlins have nice teams, but with Utley back now no one is catching the Phillies.

NL CENTRAL: The Brewers are the class of this division. A starting rotation of Gallardo, Greinke and Marcum; Braun and Fielder raking in the middle of their batting order; they just look too tough this year for the Cardinals or Reds to overtake them.

NL WEST: This division is the most wide open of them all. I will concede I am not confident that the Giants can hang on with their miserable batting order. But the teams chasing them each have so many holes of their own that the defending World Champions have as good of a chance as any of them.

So enjoy the pennant races. I know I surely will. But when it’s all over later in early October, don’t be surprised if we are still right back where we started on June 14.

As the 2011 BoxScore Baseball drafts have commenced, I have been struck more than ever by how many of the mighty have fallen. This year the lower rounds of the draft are being littered with former first-round fantasy selections and MVP candidates. Many star hitters from the not-so-distant past are slipping way down into the later rounds. Sluggers such as Manny Ramirez, Grady Sizemore, Magglio Ordonez, Chipper Jones, Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Beltran, Justin Morneau, Derek Lee, Brian Roberts, Lance Berkman, and Carlos Lee in some cases are not even getting drafted at all. Will any of these hitters return to their past glory? Well, judging by recent history, there is certainly a decent chance that one or more of these hitters will rebound to become this season’s Vladimir Guerrero. It will be interesting to watch.

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At a minimum, at least we knew they were running a reputable game, and that’s important. Speaking personally, I always enjoyed the Fanball/CDM contests–especially back in 1993 when I was fortunate enough to win their Mid Season Baseball Challenge.

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Much has been said about the supposed unfairness of the seedings for the NFL Playoffs. The fact that the Seattle Seahawks became the first sub .500 team to make the Playoffs has everyone rethinking the entire Playoff struction. Should the 7-win Seahawks even be allowed into the Playoffs ahead of a team like the 10-win Giants? Should the Seahawks have been hosting a Playoff game against a team like the 11-win Saints? To me, there is a far greater issue of unfairness that trumps both of these and is a reason that a change must be made.

While I recognize it may not be the ideal to have the Playoffs not include the best 12 teams (record-wise), I do not have a huge problem with Seattle getting in ahead of other NFC teams with better records. In the NFL we have divisions. We don’t just have all 16 teams lumped together. In the NFL we have unbalanced schedules. We don’t have everyone facing identical opponents. The rules are spelled out. If you want to make the Playoffs, win your division. Do I have huge sympathy for the Giants and the Buccaneers or any other teams with better records than the Seahawks? Not really. If those teams had won their divisions, they would have made the Playoffs. They did not, so they are out.

As far as the Saints being forced to play on the road against the Seahawks despite having a far superior record, do I have huge sympathy for them? Not really. Once again, the rules are spelled out for you. If you want to host a home Playoff game, you need to win your division. If the Saints had kicked a stinking chip-shot field goal against the Falcons earlier in the year, perhaps they would have won their division, but they didn’t. You don’t win the division, you don’t host a home Playoff game. Again, I see the Saints having no one to blame but themselves.

Then there is Green Bay. Is it fair to the Packers that they must face the top-seeded Falcons in the second round of the Playoffs while the Seahawks get to face the second seeded Bears, despite the fact that the Packers had a much better record than the Seahawks? Worst still, if both teams win, it is the Seahawks who would be hosting the Packers in the NFC Championship game. Is that fair? Again, by the same logic I have used throughout, I don’t have a major issue with this. The Packers did not win their division. To me, the blame rests at their own doorstep.

However, there is one team who is punished by this current system who did nothing wrong. There is one team that could have done nothing to avoid this unfairness even if they had gone undefeated. The one team that is being treated totally unfairly and is the reason there needs to be a change in the Playoff seedings is the Atlanta Falcons.

The Atlanta Falcons did win their division. Not only that, but they earned the number one seed in the NFC ahead of the Chicago Bears. And what is their reward for this? They get to host a Playoff game against the mighty Packers while the Bears host a Playoff game against the below .500 Seahawks. How is that fair? The Falcons have done everything they were supposed to do and have effectively been punished for finishing ahead of the Bears. Pure and simple, the Falcons are getting a raw deal.

I don’t know how the Playoff games are going to turn out this weekend. Maybe the Falcons will win by 4 touchdowns and maybe the Seahawks will also trounce the Bears. That doesn’t really matter when making a theoretical argument.

The fact is, the top-seeded team in the Playoffs should ALWAYS host the weakest remaining opponent.

Any other changes to the Playoff seedings we can continue debate, but this is one change I think we can all agree can and should be made.

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SURVIVAL GAME BASEBALL

Could you imagine in the NBA, if the Western Conference was using the three-point line, but the Eastern Conference was not?  Or could you imagine in the NFL, if the AFC was allowing the two-point conversion, but the NFC was not?  That would be unthinkable, right?  But that’s exactly what is going on right now in Major League Baseball with its designated hitter rule.  Even with the AL and the NL competing against one another during interleague play as well as during the World Series, we still play under one set of rules in the AL parks and under a different set of rules in the NL parks.  No matter which set of rules you may favor, everyone must agree the ideal situation would be to create consistency between the two leagues.

Baseball has been unsuccessfully attempting to resolve this issue since the days of Commissioner Peter Ueberroth.  In theory, the obvious solution would be to either have the AL give up the DH or to have the NL adopt the DH.  Unfortunately, neither one of those possibilities is likely to ever occur.  Among other reasons, the AL is never going to give up the DH is because the MLB Players’ Association would never go along with giving up those high-paying designated hitter jobs.  And on the NL side, too many baseball purists would never accept that newfangled DH rule.  Therefore, the only possible means of achieving uniformity is through some kind of a compromise. 

What is the best part of the designated hitter rule?  Most fans agree the increased offense that comes from the DH rule adds to the game’s excitement.  Does anyone honestly enjoy watching Chris Carpenter come up to the plate in the third inning, flail wildly at the ball three times, and then go back to his seat on the bench?  Wouldn’t nearly every fan prefer watching a confrontation between a pitcher and a real hitter like Travis Hafner?

The other big advantage to the DH rule is that it has allowed aging veteran hitters a chance to continue to play even after they have become unable to perform adequately on defensive.  Players like Frank Thomas have enjoyed many productive years as a DH.  Or if you want to look back even further, Hall of Famers such as Paul Molitor or even Al Kaline finished up their careers as designated hitters.  Any rule that extends the careers of some of baseball’s greatest hitting legends has to be viewed as a positive for the game.

On the other hand, what are the disadvantages to the DH rule?  Most fans would point to the lack of strategy in the AL game when contrasted with the NL game, especially the lack of late-game strategy.  With the designated hitter rule in place, sometimes the AL game almost seems completely devoid of strategy.  Meanwhile, in the NL game managers must scratch and claw for runs.  They are bunting.  They are stealing.  They are being confronted with difficult choices on whether to pinch-hit for an effective pitcher or to let him hit.  When was the last time you saw a double-switch in an AL game?  Probably never.  For the baseball purist, these strategies are all  major parts of the game that are missing from the American League.

I propose we make a compromise between the two sets of rules, attempting to maintain the best parts of each.  I suggest we borrow a page from the softball rulebook and utilize the re-entry rule. 

Under my plan each team would begin every game with a designated hitter batting in place of the pitcher.  For the first 6 innings of the game the pitcher would be allowed unlimited re-entry into the game for as long as he was never replaced defensively.  Then, beginning in the 7^th inning, the pitcher would either need to bat for himself or he would be forced to leave the game.  Also, for the first 6 innings of the game the DH would be granted unlimited re-entry into the game for as long as he was never replaced offensively.  Then, beginning in the 7^th inning, he would either have to play the field (forcing another player to leave the game for a new pitcher in a double-switch) or he would have to leave the game.

Here is how it would work with actual players.  The Boston Red Sox for example, could start the game with Jon Lester pitching and David Ortiz as the DH.  The first 6 innings of the game would proceed like a normal AL game.  After each time David Ortiz would bat for Jon Lester, Lester would be allowed to re-enter the game as the pitcher.  And each time Lester took the field for Ortiz, Ortiz would be allowed to re-enter the game as the DH.  

Then, beginning in the 7^th inning, we would shift over to NL rules.  David Ortiz’s spot in the batting order would now become Jon Lester’s spot in the batting order.  If the pitcher bats, Ortiz (or any hitter who may have replaced Ortiz) would be out of the game.  If the pitcher does not bat, Lester (or any pitcher who may have replaced Lester) would be out of the game.

Hypothetically, Jon Lester could be throwing a two-hitter when it is his turn to bat in the 7^th inning, but his team could be trailing 1-0.  Does the manager allow Lester to hit and stay in the game or does he allow David Ortiz to hit and remove Lester from the game?  All of those intriguing late-game strategies that arise in an NL game would still remain a part of the game under this compromise rule.  Yet, many of the benefits of the AL rule would also remain in place as David Ortiz would act as the designated hitter during the first 6 innings of the game.  We would get all of the offensive punch of the AL game during the first 6 innings, yet still maintain all of the late game strategy of the NL game during the last 3 innings.

At first glance, many fans may say my plan sounds too confusing.  Many AL fans may say, “I prefer the rules in the AL the way they are right now.  And many NL fans may say, “I prefer the rules in the NL the way they are right now.”  And those are all reasonable positions to take.  However, if you are willing to accept my premise that the AL is never going to give up the designated hitter and that the NL is never going to add the designated hitter, then a compromise solution such as the re-entry rule I am proposing is the only way the two leagues will ever play under the same set of rules.  And isn’t a universal set of rules for two leagues that regularly compete against one another a common sense idea that is long overdue?

Your comments are welcome.

Spring Training is underway.  Hope springs eternal.  That is unless you are a fan of the Cleveland Indians, Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres, or any of the other half dozen hapless MLB teams.  How long has it been since the Kansas City Royals or the Pittsburgh Pirates have had a Spring they could be optimistic about?  Decades.  Unfortunately, that’s the sad reality you’re confronted with when one team has a $200 million payroll and another team has a payroll of less than a $40 million.  So what is the solution?

According to Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci, Bud Selig’s special baseball committee is considering radical realignment plans in an attempt to address baseball’s lack of parity.  Under the plan that is being mentioned,  from year-to-year a team such as Tampa Bay could float from one division to another in order to try to gain a competitive advantage.  While I am opposed to this specific plan, I do agree that something needs to be done in order to combat the lack of parity in Major League Baseball.

Obviously, there will NOT be a salary cap coming to MLB any time soon.    The players’ union would never accept it and the big market teams have already given up as much as they are willing to give up.  So any suggestion to even up the talent pool is nothing more than a pipe dream.  Therefore, the only way to create at least the illusion of parity is to steal a page from the NFL.  Major League Baseball needs to use an unbalanced schedule in order to create a sense of parity.

What I propose is that the top two teams from each division from the previous season should play additional games against the top two teams from the other divisions, the third and fourth place teams should play additional games against the other third and fourth place teams, and the fifth place teams (and the one sixth place team) should also play additional games against one another. 

Let me specifically use the New York Yankees as an example to demonstrate how this would work.  Under this plan, the Yankees would play 12 games each against the other 4 teams in the AL East (as opposed to the 18 games currently), 12 games each against the top two teams from the AL Central and the AL West, 6 games each against the remaining 5 AL teams, and for their interleague schedule they would play 6 games apiece against each of the top two teams from NL East, Central, and West.   

Based upon the results of last season season, what you would end up with as  the 2010 schedule would be the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, Rangers, Twins, Tigers, Dodgers, Rockies, Cardinals, Cubs, Phillies, and Marlins each playing 84 of their 162 games against one another.  Additionally, the Rays, Jays, White Sox, Indians, Mariners, A’s, Braves, Mets, Brewers, Reds, Giants, and Padres would each play 84 of their 162 games against one another.  And finally, with their fifth place schedules, the Pirates, Royals, Orioles, Nationals, Astros, and Diamondbacks would play 66 of their 162 games against one another.

Would this system be totally fair to the top teams?  Probably not.  But it would be no less fair than the Orioles being forced to compete equally against the Yankees despite having a payroll that is one third the size.  Sports have a history of rewarding mediocracy in order to attempt to create parity.   That’s why the worst team is awarded the top draft choice each year.  Without hope for the bottom teams, the whole league suffers. 

This plan may not be completely fair to the top teams, but it would create parity.  And parity would generate league-wide excitement.  And league-wide excitement is something that would be of benefit to all.

Please feel free to share your thoughts.