OnlyBucs

7B79636573160 wrote: Cole got a lot more than I expected. $36MM per year for 9 years is an astronomical amount. It makes you wonder if the Pirates are playing the same game.


Their playing the same game. Just put a . between the 3 and 6. Cole is going to combust in NY IMO.

He has 36 million reasons to not care tbh.

4D41401B121B131E19061C2B0 wrote: Cole got a lot more than I expected. $36MM per year for 9 years is an astronomical amount. It makes you wonder if the Pirates are playing the same game.
It is not the same game for many teams like the Pirates. It would be great if the upcoming labor agreement would even the playing field for all teams. When it came down to it , only a handful of teams could compete for Cole. Even the Astros would have had to shed payroll if they  wanted to sign Cole. There is something wrong when all teams cannot compete for a player.
It is ridiculous! Even if the Pirates were willing to increase payroll, what does anyone think they could realistically raise it too? 125-130M? It's just stupid that some teams can outspend others by a 2-1 margin.

44455E4F59191E2A0 wrote: Cole got a lot more than I expected. $36MM per year for 9 years is an astronomical amount. It makes you wonder if the Pirates are playing the same game.
It is not the same game for many teams like the Pirates. It would be great if the upcoming labor agreement would even the playing field for all teams. When it came down to it , only a handful of teams could compete for Cole. Even the Astros would have had to shed payroll if they  wanted to sign Cole. There is something wrong when all teams cannot compete for a player.
It is ridiculous! Even if the Pirates were willing to increase payroll, what does anyone think they could realistically raise it too? 125-130M? It's just stupid that some teams can outspend others by a 2-1 margin.
And Marvin Miller was just put in the HOF for initiating that system. :'(

0D0C1706105057630 wrote: Cole got a lot more than I expected. $36MM per year for 9 years is an astronomical amount. It makes you wonder if the Pirates are playing the same game.
It is not the same game for many teams like the Pirates. It would be great if the upcoming labor agreement would even the playing field for all teams. When it came down to it , only a handful of teams could compete for Cole. Even the Astros would have had to shed payroll if they  wanted to sign Cole. There is something wrong when all teams cannot compete for a player.
It is ridiculous! Even if the Pirates were willing to increase payroll, what does anyone think they could realistically raise it too? 125-130M? It's just stupid that some teams can outspend others by a 2-1 margin.


It demonstrates that mlb is a business. Except for an exceptional owner (for a year or two) owners want teams to make money. that is the priority. If you can make money with a $100 million payroll or a $250 million payroll the owners don't care about competitive balance at all.



IMO, this system hurts the product, doesn't come close to producing maximum revenue and is bad over the long term.

The only thing that will fix things is if they go full-on NFL and share all television revenue.

02303C3C281A39303D383730510 wrote: The only thing that will fix things is if they go full-on NFL and share all television revenue. 
I agree.

4B616A5A6D7B7B77180 wrote: The only thing that will fix things is if they go full-on NFL and share all television revenue. 
I agree.


And the chances of that happening are no better than having The Great One and Pops back in the lineup everyday. And also not as great as our old friend from OBN days gone by, Jimbo learning how to hit a golf ball long and straight. ::)

6B5955554173505954515E59380 wrote: The only thing that will fix things is if they go full-on NFL and share all television revenue. 


bringing back the reserve clause could work too. What did Carly Simon sing? These are the good old days?