Comments on: Rosenthal: to fix the Rays, contract the Pirates and Royals

By: Ken Rosenthal is beating the contraction drum again | HardballTalk

Ken Rosenthal is beating the contraction drum again | HardballTalk — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 01:29:11 +0000

[...] be noted that Rosenthal himself has a bit of a hair trigger when it comes to this sort of thing. Just last May he was floating a crazy contraction scheme involving the Royals and Pirates that was designed to save the Rays and [...]

By: E=MCsq

E=MCsq — Sat, 15 May 2010 18:10:05 +0000

Anyone that sucks now is going to keep on sucking. What will cure those low attendance problems, a change of ownership, a new stadium, a better team; I wouldn’t bet my money on it. When was the last time any of these teams drew 4 million fans; how about 3 million fans.

By: Giraffe Monsoon

Giraffe Monsoon — Sat, 15 May 2010 01:54:56 +0000

What? They havent lost anybody to free agency.
The don’t needs big crowds to make money. With the lowest payroll in baseball, they they are putting out way less than they are bringing in. They get tons of money from other sources of revenue as well.
They have hit upon the perfect business model.
And the locals are too absorbed in the other pittsburgh sports teams to ever notice and do anything about it. and the current generation of baseball fans have never ever seen a winning team, so they are content to have 75 victories a season, since they dont even know what a good team is. Bob Nutting is a genius. Pittsburgh fans are the perfect mark.

By: Joey B

Joey B — Fri, 14 May 2010 21:00:19 +0000

When was the last time Pitt drew a crowd? Even when they were good, they didn’t draw, which is why they lost good players to free agency.

By: funi

funi — Fri, 14 May 2010 18:23:55 +0000

Pirates beat Cubs for 4th straight time this year! Contract the Cubs!!!!

By: Giraffe Monsoon

Giraffe Monsoon — Fri, 14 May 2010 18:17:59 +0000

Problem with that is that Pirates owner Bob Nutting is a notorious cheapskate. He has the lowest payroll in baseball, and will not sink any money into the team because he is making plenty of money.The apathetic Pittsburgh fans come to the games to see the fireworks after the game, and for the giveaways. There is no reason for Nutting to ever spend a dime on talent when all he needs to do is pay a fireworks company to do their thing after the games.
Mario Lemieux and a very rich partner already tried to buy the team, and they were flatly turned down. Why should Mr. Cheapo Nutting sell if he’s making money with the dregs of the league playing for him?
See, its not a management or personnel or scouting problem, its a cheap owner problem, and nothing more.

By: ecp

ecp — Fri, 14 May 2010 17:54:20 +0000

Why would Kansas City “suck for them (the A’s) or any other team?” A good team would draw like crazy in KC, just like the Royals did in the eighties.

By: funi

funi — Fri, 14 May 2010 16:59:18 +0000

Why not contract teh Markins and D’backs! They are 2 out of the 4 of the newest teams, Phoenix has over 4 million people and are lucky to get 20,000 a game and 10% root for the other team! What about Oakland, they draw no one! The Cubs have not won a championship in over 100 years! Get rid of them! Chicago has teh White Sox. Lokk at Seattle, if not for Griffey and Ichiro, tehy might have 10,000 a night! Finally Contact Rosenthal, he knows nothing!

By: What/WhoCares

What/WhoCares — Fri, 14 May 2010 16:50:55 +0000

Why not let the A’s move to San Jose, KC would suck for them or any other team, Pirates can’t draw fans, contract any team with a stadium over 25 years old that doesn’t draw at least 2.5 million fans per year. Let any team move, no strings attached, to any place they can draw enough fans. Divide the players up from the contracted teams in a draft pool. New York used to have 3 teams. Put the teams where the fans will support them.

By: nate

nate — Fri, 14 May 2010 16:48:33 +0000

How is that suggestion bad for baseball fans in Pittsburgh and Kansas City? I understand fans in Tampa and Oakland not liking it, but that’s the point of the suggestion. (Not that this would ever happen obviously, but it’s a better suggestion that that floating realignment bit.)

By: Levi Stahl

Levi Stahl — Fri, 14 May 2010 16:03:34 +0000

When I saw the headline, I thought he was suggesting contraction as a “kill a hostage” strategy, a way to scare Rays fans and ownership into supporting the team. That would be nuts, but his actual suggestion is even more nuts.

By: KCA

KCA — Fri, 14 May 2010 16:02:49 +0000

Not that i would like to lose the Royals, but anything to get a David Glass out as owner is a HUGE start. That man is killing baseball in the midwest….actually it is pretty much dead right now. Only thing that is going to to save it is kids named Crow, Montgomery, Hosmer, Moustakos, etc