Category: MLB (Page 374 of 448)

A little over a week ago, Gary Shelton of the St. Petersburg Times wrote what a bad idea it would if the Rays signed the currently unemployed Barry Lamar Bonds. Tim Marchman of the New York Sun shares the same sediment about the Mets inking Bonds to a deal.

The most obvious answer, of course, is that Bonds is 43, under federal indictment for lying about steroids, and the most notorious baseball villain since Pete Rose, if not Ty Cobb. Skeptics claim, in addition, that the Mets would forfeit their moral credibility and create a distracting circus if they hauled him in to take Alou’s spot in Shea Stadium. Neither of these arguments are very convincing…

The far better answer is that the Mets don’t really need him, which is a simple thing to show. According to most projections, the Mets’ best lineup, including Alou, should score about 5.1 runs a game. Pencil in someone like Marlon Anderson or Detroit reserve Marcus Thames, in whom Omar Minaya is rumored to be interested, and that number drops all the way to 5.0. Pencil in Bonds for a line of .250 BA/.450 OBA/.550 SLG, and it might rise to 5.3, depending on where he bats in the lineup.That sounds like a lot, but it really isn’t.

If Bonds winds up anywhere, it should be the AL. He can barely run anymore and his defense has disintegrated. For a team unfazed by the whole chemistry thing, Bonds can still hit like a mother though.

According to the USA Today, at least 13 MLB teams are offering all-you-can-eat seats for part of the 2008 season.

Ticket prices for these seats range from $30 at the low end with the Atlanta Braves to $200 at the high end with the St. Louis Cardinals. The majority fall within the $30-$55 range. Most teams include pre-cooked, easy-to-prepare ballpark fare such as hot dogs, nachos, peanuts and soft drinks but don’t include beer, burgers, pizzas and desserts.

The Padres, meanwhile, will offer an All-You-Can-Eat buffet, including burgers, hot dogs and soft drinks, with 180-250 seats on top of the Western Metal Supply Co. building in PETCO Park’s left field corner. The section will feature bleacher seats with an adjoining buffet/eating area.

Leave it to America to figure out a way to shove more food in your face at sporting events. And let me say for the record, that I personally love the idea.

The East Coast Bias ranked the most overpaid MLB teams of 2007.

Here are a couple teams that made the list:

SF Giants ($90 Million , 71-91) – Behind huge contracts to Zito and Bonds (neither of whom performed at a high level consistently), the Giants floundered to a last place finish and the 2nd worst record in the NL (Pirates, tied with Marlins). Good thing they let Schmidt go so they could sign Zito.

Baltimore Orioles ($93 Million, 69-93) – An increase of $20 Million over 2006 netted the Orioles absolutely no benefit, leaving them still the second-best team in the Baltimore-Washington area. As a point of pride, the O’s finished ahead of the Rays. On the other hand, the Rays only paid $24 Million to finish 3 games worse.

Chicago White Sox ($108 Million, 72-90) – The White Sox appear to have overpaid to keep an aging team together following their World Series victory, and it really cost them last year. 4th place behind medium market teams is not worth the 5th highest paid team in the league.

Somebody cap that league so these teams can stop embarrassing themselves.

Much like the NFL did a year ago, Major League Baseball has decided to set its own restrictions for online usage of baseball video and photograph content.

— News sites can’t post more than 120 seconds a day of audio or video from league facilities, with game highlights restricted only to rights holders that have a separate rights deal with MLB Advanced Media.

— This 120 seconds can’t be a live feed, and the rule does not apply to the news outlet’s own analysis or reporting, commonly known as “talking head” material. Formal press conferences are exempted from the 120-second rule.

— Sites can’t post more than seven photos from any game online.

— Audio/video content created at MLB ballparks cannot stay up on a news site for more than 72 hours.

— All applicants for a press credential must provide advance written notice of intent to transmit any non-text material.

This might not seem like a big deal to fans, but it is. MLB only wants you to go to MLB sites to view video. Why? Because they want to be the only ones to profit off it. They want to funnel fans into MLB-licensed sites only, and essentially eliminate blogs and even local online newspapers from having decent video/picture content.

Sure, we can still get video from sites like MLB.com, but would it be entertaining? Do you think MLB.com is going to show a manager blow up in a post-game interview? Hell no, it’s going to be all pre-manufactured propaganda that will make the league look good. They want to control what we view online.