Selig: where do you stand?

[Thurston Fluff]

Many people across the country hate Selig because of the contraction fiasco,

 

While I agree many people hate him for the contraction idea I think it was anything but a fiasco. It was IMO one of his first great moves to stop the union from just running right over the owners like they always have in the past. That was the first time the union had something to lose that they couldn't control. It finally gave the owners something they could use to force the union to make some concessions. I think if it wasn't for the contraction threat the union would never have allowed the original luxury tax to get implemented. Without that initial tax there would be no inroads made toward leveling the competitive balance. I really believe it was the first time players and the union realized how serious the owners were and that they could actually lose something permanently. I'm not so sure they ever felt it would get to the point of actually contracting the teams but it sure did change the mood of the union and Fehr.

 

Once the union and Bud got to the point where they were working as equals. Unlike the previous way where the owners were being treated like a red headed step child. They actually started to work without the animus that had previously plagued them. He took the worst owner/union relationship in sports and made them one of the best. That is quite the accomplishment. In essence they are going in the exact opposite direction as the NFL with regard to player management relations.

[TheCrew07]

I'd still like to see the leagues and divisions evened out. Steriods and performance enchancers aside, he's done a decent job. Every commish had turned a blind eye drug use, so I'm not going to get overly excited about it in his case. I do think though that steriods cheapened some of the most hallowed records in the game, and that's not something we'll ever get back.

[kramnoj]

I'd still like to see the leagues and divisions evened out.

 

There's three ways to make this happen.

 

Do it, but then you need to have an interleague game everyday. Interleague is a fun distraction during the middle of the season, but there would be some adamant opposition to having interleague games in the final deciding games of September.

 

Expansion: This is possible, but probably won't happen for years.

 

Contraction: Not going to happen.

[logan82]

I am not sure why people think steroids should be such a big black mark on Selig. He had to get the strongest union in the US to agree to testing. I wouldn't say that he was innocent in the thing, but steroids have been around for a long time in baseball. It isn't like they just started in the 90's.

[yount19.u]

I'd still like to see the leagues and divisions evened out.

 

There's three ways to make this happen.

 

Do it, but then you need to have an interleague game everyday. Interleague is a fun distraction during the middle of the season, but there would be some adamant opposition to having interleague games in the final deciding games of September.

 

Expansion: This is possible, but probably won't happen for years.

 

Contraction: Not going to happen.

 

I would love contraction, but I agree it will never happen. I hope they do not expand anymore as the pitching is thin enough as it is. I'm curious, why would they need an interleague game every day if they evened the leagues out?

[chuckiehacks]

I'm curious, why would they need an interleague game every day if they evened the leagues out?

 

If you even out the leagues, you get 15 teams in each league. 14 of those teams play each other, the odd team from each league has to play interleague.

[T B0NE 10]

I think he has done a great job but some of the negatives,

 

1. Ignoring the huge steriod problems

2. His idea of contracting the Twins and Expos

[Mike Felder]

Contraction in and of itself was not a bad idea, but the execution of it was just awful. He announced it just a few days after an exciting 7 game World Series, in a season where baseball had built up a little goodwill by narrowly avoiding a strike in August. Not exactly the greatest timing in the world. And then there was the nagging problem that one of the teams he wanted to contract had just finished playing in the ALCS. Yeah, get rid of the Twins because they're losing money and clearly can't compete.....oops. If he wanted to contract someone at that time, it should have been the Expos and Devil Rays (who shouldn't have been around anyway...the 1998 expansion was unnecessary and kind of silly...but that's a different topic).

[Invader3K]

I could see going to 32 teams eventually, but they would have to implement a true international draft at the point, and hopefully some sort of salary cap (won't happen). I am personally annoyed that the Brewers are in the only 6 team division in baseball. Usually the excuse is that "Well, the Pirates and/or Reds are terrible anyway", but how long can you bank on that for?

 

Selig has been a great commissioner. I'm not a traditionalist fan...I like interleague play and the wild card. He's had the black spot of a strike, but I think that would have happened no matter who was commissioner are the time. Personally, I think the Expos should have just been contracted instead of moved to Washington, but that's just my opinion.

[Tbadder]

Selig has been a very good commish. I'm not a fan of interleague play (I've always found AL ball very boring). But I think I'm probably niggling here and there's no doubt the average fan loves it. Revenue sharing has been a success, and the more MLB does to support small market teams the better the game will become. I hope to see all television contracts go into a giant pot one day and distributed equally (not gonna happen though). The contraction thing hasn't had any lasting affects, but I thought it was a great idea. I would've contracted more teams than just the Expos and Twins though. There was some talk of even going back to a 154 game schedule, which would be great as well. I think Selig has helped to market the sport expertly, and he deserves kudos all around here. The Wild Card was simply necessary, and this more than any thing, has given the average fan hope. Great idea. Steroids...I just think we'll never know the truth, but I believe, and it's nothing more than a belief, that the baseball owners, trainers, managers, general managers, doctors, and the people at the highest level of baseball administration (read Selig, etc.) suspected steroid use on a massive scale and turned a blind eye. I don't think this is any different than what happened in the NFL or NHL or NBA or whoever, so I can't hold that against Selig. One man cannot change the whole culture.

 

Selig's legacy will strengthen in time, and I think he'll be in the Hall of Fame some day. He is a true fan of the game, and whatever mistakes as a commish he may be responsible for will be overlooked and rightfully so.

 

Now as an owner...don't even get me started. Suffice it to say, that the greatest day in Brewer history was when the Selig Cadre was bought out.

[RightFieldCoder]

1. I think Contraction was a giant bluff. Both cities needed a new stadium, and the union was balking at the salary tax. Contraction talk didn't get the stadiums built (one team had to be moved and the Twins are building a new one now), but the union finally conceded something.

 

2. The Expo saga wasn't the best, but how was he supposed to handle it? It was clear they needed to leave Montreal, but moving them to a city without a stadium garantee would have just left the franchise in the same hole.

 

3. Brewers of the 90's. First, the team went downhill when he gave the team to Wendy. Second, I have a conspiracy theory. What if Bud realized in the early 90's that he wanted to sell the team. The last thing he would want is for a new owner to buy the team and promptly move it (re Braves). So he held ownership until a new stadium could be built and a hefty profit margin could be made. Since the team was horrid right after The Keg openned, he slashed payroll and built up a stock of young players. Then he could sell it to anyone knowing they'd be crazy to try to move the team at that point.

 

4. Steroids: enough blame to go to everyone. I didn't hear too many media member raising a big stink during that time either.

 

5. WS Home field advantage: Granting it to the league that wins the ASG isn't the best way to decide it, but it's no worse than the way it used to be decided.

 

6. Bluring the league lines: Before Selig MLB operated like two different entities, NL and AL. Except for the DH, he's pretty much erased any difference between the leagues. I think this benefits baseball since both leagues now work together to push the same direction.

[Baldkin]

Best commissioner ever? Every commissioner has had major flaws, so being the best of the worst is not something to write home about. The steriod era, although not his doing, was propelled by his blind eye. His aloofness surrounding performance enhancing drugs is as bad as anything good he's done. Grade - C+

Things like that get said all the time. I wish someone would explain to me, given the power that the players association had at that point, what exactly he could have done? Locked the players out when they constantly refused to put drug testing into the CBA?

 

It wasn't until the media started to become involved in this (spearheaded in large part, to Ken Caminiti coming clean that he took steroids in his MVP season), that the players association lost their stranglehold on their ability to keep drug testing out of the CBA.

[RightFieldCoder]

what exactly he could have done? Locked the players out when they constantly refused to put drug testing into the CBA?

In 94 the players went on strike, and people blame Bud for that. What would have happened if Bud had locked them out?

[BrewCrewForever]

I think the steroid issue will leave a pretty lasting stain. I'm a record books guy, and the last 15 years still leave too much in question.

 

I would agree with this. The steroid issue is the only real "black mark" I can put on Bub's record. But it was not just him, everyone was at fault for that.