Baseball is so unfair for small markets... Royals still win!

[TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96']

I hate baseball because it is so unfair to small markets.  Other sports have market sharing, salary caps, etc... but baseball is a joke. The Royals have been stuck with a payroll of around 50 million the past fe years compared to the Yankees who spend more than triple that amount its totally unfair.  That's why the Royals have become a farm team for bigger markets.  We always lose our big time players once their contracts are up, guys like Damon and Beltran end up on big market teams like New York when we are the ones that nurtured them as they came up through the Royals system.


So anyway, we are forced to win with all these young guys and this is exactly what we did in the opening game!

Our star player Alex Gordan (look for him to be with the Yankees once his contracts up) is only in his second year, yet he's  forced to be our team leader.  He hit a two run homer and made the game winning defensive play and we beat the Tigers.

The Royals only have two big name free veterans that we barely had enough money to aquire.  That's Mesh and Guillen. 

After that, second year guys make up the core of our team.....

-Gordan- hits for average and power and plays a solid third base

Brian Bannister- one of those pitchers like Greg Maddox who doesn't have great talent but thinks his way to victory

Joakim Soria- Royals got lucky with him... he was let go, a rule 5 player we picked up last year who ended up being a complete stud on the mound, became the closer suprising everybody.

Billy Butler- hits for average and power

and so on.....

so we are forced to have a team led by second year guys making less than a million a year.   And we still beat the Tigers on opening day!

In this city we are excited if we make it thru a season without 100 losses.

[Sparegeez]

This is one of the main reasons i don't watch baseball..

[smegma]

This is one of the main reasons i don't watch baseball..

The main reason for me is that I don't understand the rules.

[TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96']

This is one of the main reasons i don't watch baseball..

I've hated MLB ever since the strike.  Before the strike in the 90's the Royals used to be able to compete somewhat on the free agent market.  I remember we used to pick up stars like David Cone and Wally Joyner in the 90's but now we were lucky to get Mesh (who was just a .500 pitcher we had to pay like 40 mill for to convince to come be our ace) and Guillen who's gonna be suspended for steriod use.

I only follow the Royals because they are in my city so I hear about them all the time but other than that I stopped following the league after the stike.

There needs to be a fans stike to fix baseball.

[Javier]

It doesn't take money to be competitive.  I'll have the teams in bold that can be or have been competitive and this is by being in the bottom half of payrolls.  Don't blame baseball, blame your team's management.  Rob Neyer is a huge Royals fan and even he acknowledges the Royals problem.  If the Royals management is smart, they can buy some extra FA years and have that player be with the team under his market value. 

15.   Atlanta Braves    $ 87,290,833
16.   Toronto Blue Jays    $ 81,942,800
17.   Oakland Athletics    $ 79,366,940
18.   Minnesota Twins    $ 71,439,500
19.   Milwaukee Brewers    $ 70,986,500
20.   Cincinnati Reds    $ 68,904,980
21.   Texas Rangers    $ 68,318,675
22.   Kansas City Royals    $ 67,116,500
23.   Cleveland Indians    $ 61,673,267
24.   San Diego Padres    $ 58,110,567
25.   Colorado Rockies    $ 54,424,000
26.   Arizona Diamondbacks    $ 52,067,546
27.   Pittsburgh Pirates    $ 38,537,833
28.   Washington Nationals    $ 37,347,500
29.   Florida Marlins*    $ 30,507,000
30.   Tampa Bay Devil Rays    $ 24,123,500

* The Marlins have 2 World Series championships in 11 years. 

[Javier]

This is one of the main reasons i don't watch baseball..

I've hated MLB ever since the strike.  Before the strike in the 90's the Royals used to be able to compete somewhat on the free agent market.  I remember we used to pick up stars like David Cone and Wally Joyner in the 90's but now we were lucky to get Mesh (who was just a .500 pitcher we had to pay like 40 mill for to convince to come be our ace) and Guillen who's gonna be suspended for steriod use.

I only follow the Royals because they are in my city so I hear about them all the time but other than that I stopped following the league after the stike.

There needs to be a fans stike to fix baseball.

That's what the Royals need to avoid, they shouldn't force themselves to acquire expensive players for the hell of it.  Why the fuck would the Royals waste $55 million on Meche?  Guillen for $36 million?  The Royals should say fuck these guys and spend money in the draft.  They can pretty much sign amazing players in the Amateur Draft, but they choose to waste money on insignificant FA's.

[herpes]

It's a well known fact in baseball that the Royals avoid drafting the best players in the draft.  Thats there fault.  That being said I dont know how they ended up with Alex Gordon.  The Marlins were able to put a good, cheap, and young team together in 04.  The D-Backs did it last season.  Billy Beane has been doing it for years.  Is it fair that some teams are able to spend big bucks, no its not but at the same time teams like the Royals, Twins, and Pirates also aren't spending the money they are capable of spending.  And when they do they spend. they spend it on garbage like Gil Meche just so they can say well look we are spending money to the fan base.  Instead of building a good young team and spending that money on keeping home grown talent or that good free agent to get the young team over the hump they spend on a couple of guys that are trash.

[herpes]

This is one of the main reasons i don't watch baseball..

I've hated MLB ever since the strike.  Before the strike in the 90's the Royals used to be able to compete somewhat on the free agent market.  I remember we used to pick up stars like David Cone and Wally Joyner in the 90's but now we were lucky to get Mesh (who was just a .500 pitcher we had to pay like 40 mill for to convince to come be our ace) and Guillen who's gonna be suspended for steriod use.

I only follow the Royals because they are in my city so I hear about them all the time but other than that I stopped following the league after the stike.

There needs to be a fans stike to fix baseball.

That's what the Royals need to avoid, they shouldn't force themselves to acquire expensive players for the hell of it.  Why the fuck would the Royals waste $55 million on Meche?  Guillen for $36 million?  The Royals should say fuck these guys and spend money in the draft.  They can pretty much sign amazing players in the Amateur Draft, but they choose to waste money on insignificant FA's.

Well back in the day when guys like Cone and Joyner were playing in there primes, contracts were no where near as ridiculous as they are now.  It has always been easier to spend if you play in a big market but up until the early 90's small market teams were able to afford to keep home grown talent to make the occasional free agent splash.

[TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96']

It doesn't take money to be competitive.  I'll have the teams in bold that can be or have been competitive and this is by being in the bottom half of payrolls.  Don't blame baseball, blame your team's management.  Rob Neyer is a huge Royals fan and even he acknowledges the Royals problem.  If the Royals management is smart, they can buy some extra FA years and have that player be with the team under his market value. 

15.   Atlanta Braves    $ 87,290,833
16.   Toronto Blue Jays    $ 81,942,800
17.   Oakland Athletics    $ 79,366,940
18.   Minnesota Twins    $ 71,439,500
19.   Milwaukee Brewers    $ 70,986,500
20.   Cincinnati Reds    $ 68,904,980
21.   Texas Rangers    $ 68,318,675
22.   Kansas City Royals    $ 67,116,500
23.   Cleveland Indians    $ 61,673,267
24.   San Diego Padres    $ 58,110,567
25.   Colorado Rockies    $ 54,424,000
26.   Arizona Diamondbacks    $ 52,067,546
27.   Pittsburgh Pirates    $ 38,537,833
28.   Washington Nationals    $ 37,347,500
29.   Florida Marlins*    $ 30,507,000
30.   Tampa Bay Devil Rays    $ 24,123,500

* The Marlins have 2 World Series championships in 11 years. 

The Marlins went out and spent big when they won their championship.  Most those cities you named are bigger markets than KC.  And KC does have good management now.  Our general manager is in his second year here, and the core of our team are second year guys that he has groomed.    His name is Dayton Moore, he used to be with Atlanta, everyone is happy about the work he's doing here.  He's doing the best he can, but in a small market you have one hand tied behind your back.

[TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96']

It's a well known fact in baseball that the Royals avoid drafting the best players in the draft.  Thats there fault.  That being said I dont know how they ended up with Alex Gordon.  The Marlins were able to put a good, cheap, and young team together in 04.  The D-Backs did it last season.  Billy Beane has been doing it for years.  Is it fair that some teams are able to spend big bucks, no its not but at the same time teams like the Royals, Twins, and Pirates also aren't spending the money they are capable of spending.  And when they do they spend. they spend it on garbage like Gil Meche just so they can say well look we are spending money to the fan base.  Instead of building a good young team and spending that money on keeping home grown talent or that good free agent to get the young team over the hump they spend on a couple of guys that are trash.

Mesh had a good year last year.  He was our All-Star, and look at his ERA not his W-L total.  Because he didn't get any run support.  Dayton Moore is doing a fine job as GM.  It's not his fault he lives in the worst market.  And he had to overpay for Mesh just to get him to come to a shitty market.

[Javier]

The biggest off-season move the Marlins made before the 2003 season was signing Ivan Rodriguez to a 1 year- 10 Million dollar contract. 1997 they did spend somewhat, but it was still their young cheap players that made the difference. 

[Javier]

It's a well known fact in baseball that the Royals avoid drafting the best players in the draft.  Thats there fault.  That being said I dont know how they ended up with Alex Gordon.  The Marlins were able to put a good, cheap, and young team together in 04.  The D-Backs did it last season.  Billy Beane has been doing it for years.  Is it fair that some teams are able to spend big bucks, no its not but at the same time teams like the Royals, Twins, and Pirates also aren't spending the money they are capable of spending.  And when they do they spend. they spend it on garbage like Gil Meche just so they can say well look we are spending money to the fan base.  Instead of building a good young team and spending that money on keeping home grown talent or that good free agent to get the young team over the hump they spend on a couple of guys that are trash.

Mesh had a good year last year.  He was our All-Star, and look at his ERA not his W-L total.  Because he didn't get any run support.  Dayton Moore is doing a fine job as GM.  It's not his fault he lives in the worst market.  And he had to overpay for Mesh just to get him to come to a shitty market.

Meche had a soild year, but it was still foolish to sign him. You can't judge a GM by a year, especially in a small market team.