What Would You Like to See in the New CBA?

[Warning Track Power]

With the CBA set to expire and negotiations already under way for changes in the MLB Playoff structure, what changes would you most like to see implemented? There are a number of things I would like to see but am not sure how MLB, the players and fans would receive them, but I for one would like to see the following changes made:

1. Add 1 Wild Card Team: Obvious. It's going to happen. The format remains to be seen but I would like to see a best of 3 series at the home of the Wild Card team with the best record. Start the Divisional series the next day after the 3 game series (i.e. if the Wild Card Round is September 28-30, begin the Divisional Series October 1) and really give the incentive to win the division.

2. Go back to 154 game schedule to accomodate extra Playoff Round: I don't know how well this would be received by anyone, and as much as I love baseball, I hate seeing early November games played in 30 degree weather. Since the extra playoff round is coming, cut off a few schedule to accomodate the added series and finish the season in mid -September. I don't know if the owners would approve of the lost revenue of 4 games, but I believe its in the game's best interest.

3. Eliminate the DH: This is an argument for another thread I know, but it is what I would like to see. I think it is so bizarre that MLB has two separate rules. It's like if the NFL had the NFC having 12 men on the field, while the AFC uses 11. Bizarre to me. Add a roster spot or two to the 25-man roster, so MLBPA doesn't take issue with the loss of positions and phase it out over a 5-year period.

4. Move the Houston Astros to AL West: With no real rival in the NL Central and a natural one in Arlington, I think this is a move that needs to happen to create divisional parity. Interleague play isn't going anywhere anytime soon, so why not play one interleague series every day of the season? I for one, am in favor of a radical realignment along the lines of geographical boundaries (i.e. Brewers, Cubs, Twins, White Sox in one division) but I doubt that is realistic or likely and neither is contraction, so this is the simplest solution. Not sure if the dynamics of this would work but it is worth investigating.

[paul253]

1) Fix the draft! All players are eligible, not just North American pkayers. Hard slotting to prevent mega bonuses. Major overhaul of the way compensation picks are handed out.

 

2) I like the idea of going back to a 154 game schedule but that would involve owners losing 8 games worth of revenue

 

3) As much as I'd love to see the DH go away I don't think the union will ever accept that.

 

4) I'd also love to see them even up the divisions so all of them have 5 teams.

[Baldkin]

4) I'd also love to see them even up the divisions so all of them have 5 teams.

Sadly that would require inter-league play every day of the season (or two teams having a day off every day).

[paul253]

Sadly that would require inter-league play every day of the season (or two teams having a day off every day).

 

Yeah I know...or expansion. I'm not advocating that but I wouldn't mind seeing the western half of the country get a few more teams (San Antonio and Portland would be my choices).

 

Couldn't they also rework off days though so that one team from each league has three days off in a row a few times a year and then fewer one day breaks?

[brewmann04]

I would like to see a hard cap with a Maximum and Minimum you can spend on salaries.

 

Also trade Draft choices like they do in the other major sports.

[Ennder]

All I want for Christmas is the DH in the National League, lets stop pretending pitchers can hit and save the dozen or so pitchers hurt while hitting each year from their DL stints.

 

I'd love to dump interleague as well.

 

Obviously I won't get what I want~.

[burnzy24]

1) Split TV revenues evenly amongst all the clubs.

2) Draft should include foreign born players

3) Ditch the DH

4) Contract the Cubs, I'm kidding....kind of

[zzzmanwitz]

I would definitely prefer to get rid of the DH, but as long as both leagues have the same rules I am fine with going either way.

[Eck17]

As much as I would love to see the DH be eliminated, that just isn't realistic. It is either going to stay the same way it is now, or the DH will be added in the NL. As others have said, the players union just won't accept losing the DH position.

[DHonks]

drop broadcasting rights so that I can get 162 games on satellite.

[Funketown]

1) No DH

2) Players must give 20% of signing bonuses to funketown.

3) International players included in draft.

[Point Beer Is Best]

A "goat" clause. If the home team loses a game, they can vote on who the "goat" was that cost them the game. Their game check is then either a) withheld by the team and the fans are given vouchers for an equivalent seat at a future game or b) donated to a charity.

[Nottso]

I think they could get rid of the DH, but the union will want something in return. The union's take has always been that the DH position extends the careers of some players. I'd offer the union the following:

 

a) all playing fields will be natural grass

 

b) all stadiums built beginning (date) will have retractable roofs

 

These moves would quite possibly extend the careers of many more players than does the DH, would eliminate rain-delays/rain-outs, make ALL players healthier and happier, and quite likely increase revenues for the owners. Win/win/win

[Invader3K]

All I want for Christmas is the DH in the National League, lets stop pretending pitchers can hit and save the dozen or so pitchers hurt while hitting each year from their DL stints.

This is probably more likely to happen than getting rid of the DH in the AL. With the crazy money starting pitchers are getting these days, at some point teams will decide they don't want them risking injury by hitting.

Personally I love interleague play...if they have to have it all year to balance out the divisions, so be it. I would like to see Houston move to the AL West, and have an even five teams in each division.

I would also like to see teams lose a first round draft pick if they sign a high profile international free agent.

The draft needs to be fixed quite a bit. They should have hard slots for signing, and do something where players can't just not sign and then re-enter a year or two later.

 

[HiAndTight]

1) Split TV revenues evenly amongst all the clubs.

2) Draft should include foreign born players

3) Ditch the DH

4) Contract the Cubs, I'm kidding....kind of

THIS. If MLB wants to regain it's place among the hierarchy of American sports, they need to fix the financial inequality.

 

It's simply not a level playing field. The Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies and the LA and Chicago teams are simply on another level. It extends to every facet of their baseball operation. They can outspend teams such as the Brewers in the draft, foreign scouting and signing foreign players, and then the obvious ones, big league payroll.

 

 

Anyway;

1-A progressive salary cap and salary floor. Heck, it doesn't have to kick in for 10-15 years fully. You could set the cap at 175 million for 2020 so as to allow teams like the Yankees to overhaul how they operate. Have the floor at 75 million. These are just random approximations obviously, but it would need to be a progressive scale to allow the rest of baseball to catch up.

 

2-World Wide draft.

Every player who wants to play in the big leagues has to enter the draft. Simple as that. It's ridiculous we don't operate this way. It'd be interesting to see where players like Ichiro, Fukudome, and Matsui would have gotten drafted. It'd also be interesting to see how a player like Yu Darvish would be valued in a world draft.

 

3-Expand the Wild Card.

Add 3 teams. Run it like the NFL. Top 2 teams get byes. 3-6;4-5. 3 game series in the wild card round, 5 game series in the "divisional" round, and then 7 game series.

 

4-Make the 7 day standard for all injuries.

[Invader3K]

HiAndTight wrote:

THIS. If MLB wants to regain it's place among the hierarchy of American sports, they need to fix the financial inequality.

 

It's simply not a level playing field. The Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies and the LA and Chicago teams are simply on another level. It extends to every facet of their baseball operation. They can outspend teams such as the Brewers in the draft, foreign scouting and signing foreign players, and then the obvious ones, big league payroll.

The thing is, what incentive is there really for teams like the Yankees and Red Sox, who have built up their own highly lucrative networks, to do this?

[joepepsi]

If the problem with the DH is that it creates separate rules between the leagues, then it's the NL who should adopt the DH, since most levels of organized baseball now use it.

 

I like the idea of moving Houston to the AL West.

 

It's all just tinkering though, until they get broadcast revenues worked out. They don't need a salary cap or floor if they can get shared broadcast revenue and better compensation of gate receipts for away teams.

[1992casey]

4. Move the Houston Astros to AL West: … Not sure if the dynamics of this would work but it is worth investigating.

Besides the fact that the Astros would have to be on board with this, you'd have to get a team from the National League Central to agree to move to the NL West.

 

As far as a CBA goes, I'd like to see:

• Increased sharing of local TV revenues, preferably equal sharing.
• Revised compensation to teams who lose players to free agency. As an example, when the Brewers lost Sabathia, they should have been able to receive the second available pick rather than being bumped down to receiving a second round pick.

[RightFieldCoder]

Invader3K wrote:

The draft needs to be fixed quite a bit. They should have hard slots for signing, and do something where players can't just not sign and then re-enter a year or two later.

 

I don't know what you can do. Some players would rather go to college (or finish college) before singing. If you have them locked up for one team, most players will start being drafted before entering college. Then a player will be property of a team during their college years. How soon before teams start giving orders to colleges about playing time, positions, etc.?

[JohnBriggs12]

I can live with the DH in one league and not in another. It makes things interesting. I wouldn't want it in the NL because it means having to pay a premium for that extra bat.

 

I'd replace the luxury tax with greater sharing of local television money but that's never going to happen.

 

I'd eliminate arbitration all together, allow FA after 4 full seasons but allow teams to designate up to 6 franchise players who are committed to that team for a maximum of 4 additional seasons as long as their salary met a minimum figure likely some average of top half players at that position.

[Warning Track Power]

4. Move the Houston Astros to AL West: … Not sure if the dynamics of this would work but it is worth investigating.

Besides the fact that the Astros would have to be on board with this, you'd have to get a team from the National League Central to agree to move to the NL West.

 

What I meant was, do the number of interleague games teams play per season allow for one interleague series to be played all season?

 

Here's a question I would love to see answered by MLB in general and that is if the DH were added to the NL or the DH was eliminated from the AL, what would stop radical realignment from occurring? As I see it now, the history of certain rivalries and the different rules regarding the DH are the only thing preventing a geographical realignment ala the NBA. Would baseball purists defeat the idea of geographical realignment?

 

EDIT: Would basbeall get behind something a little different in the NL and the AL in terms of the number of divisions? In essence, with 14 teams in the AL and 16 team in NL, what I would propose (not sure if I like it) keeping the current divisional format in the AL and create 4 divisions in the NL of 4 teams with the worst division winner playing in the newly created Wild Card round? Something like this:

 

Cincinnati Reds	Milwaukee Brewers	San Diego Padres	Philadelphia Phillies
Miami Marlins	Chicago Cubs	Los Angeles Dodgers	New York Mets
Atlanta Braves	St. Louis Cardinals	San Francisco Giants	Washington Nationals
Houston Astros	Colorado Rockies	Arizona Diamondbacks	Pittsburgh Pirates
	Kansas City Royals	New York Yankees	Seattle Mariners
	Minnesota Twins	Boston Red Sox	Oakland Athletics
	Chicago White Sox	Baltimore Orioles	Los Angeles Angels
	Cleveland Indians	TB Rays	Texas Rangers
	Detroit Tigers	Toronto Blue Jays

[areacodes]

Besides the fact that the Astros would have to be on board with this, you'd have to get a team from the National League Central to agree to move to the NL West.

Why would a team need to move from the NL Central to the NL West? If the Astros would move to the AL West, you then have 5 teams in the NL Central and already have 5 teams in the NL West.

[letsgored]

Add two teams. Engage in some geographical reallignment. Get rid of the DH and have the same set of rules in each league. Go to four, four team divisions per league. 162 games. Schedule several day/night Saturday doubleheaders to cut a week of the season. 66 games within your division (11 home, 11 away each opponent). 24 games (72 total) against each other division in your league (3 home, 3 away). 24 games (3 home, 3 away) of interleage play, rotating through the four divisions in the opposite league. Two wild cards. The top two division champions get a bye in the first round. The other two division champions host a 3 game series against the wild card teams to get to the division round. Division rounds and LCS are 7 game series, along with the WS.

 

AL East

 

New York Yankees

Baltimore Orioles

Boston Red Sox

Toronto Blue Jays

 

AL North

 

Cincinnati Reds

Chicago White Sox

Cleveland Indians

Detroit Tigers

 

AL South

 

Florida Marlins

Tampa Bay Rays

Charlotte (expansion)

Atlanta Braves

 

AL West

 

Oakland A's

Los Angeles Angels

Seattle Mariners

Portland (expansion)

 

NL East

 

New York Mets

Philadelphia Phillies

Washington Nationals

Pittsburgh Pirates

 

NL North

 

Chicago Cubs

Milwaukee Brewers

Minnesota Twins

St. Louis Cardinals

 

NL Central

 

Colorado Rockies

Kansas City Royals

Houston Astros

Texas Rangers

 

NL West

 

Los Angeles Dodgers

San Diego Padres

San Francisco Giants

Arizona Diamondbacks

[MJLiverock]

Make interleague a match up of divisions and dump the "rivalry" team concept. It would even out the scheduling so that teams fighting for a divison crown would play the same teams from the other league. The few intercity matchups like Yankess/Mets, Cubs/White Sox, Dodgers/Angels, that ESPN tries to convince us that everyone is soooo interested in will still happen every third year and maybe energize the fans a bit more.

 

Keep the one wildcard team, four teams is enough for the playoffs. I wouldn't be opposed to going back to the 154 game season, just to get the playoffs done before snow flies. And for most teams those final 4 home games that would be lost probably aren't big draws once eliminated from contention, school is started, and football season has begun.

 

I'm OK with the split rule on the DH, but if they change it, I would guess the only direction they would go is to add it to the NL. The union won't give it up and as mentioned pitchers are brutal hitters and teams would probably rather not risk it.

 

World draft or at least if you sign an international player over X dollars you lose a first round pick, or Y dollars costs a 2nd rounder.

 

Fix the compensation picks for the free agent signings. As someone in another thread pointed out, it is ridiculous how many supplemental picks are awarded before the 2nd round begins, this only punishes teams like the Pirates, or others trying to rebuild since they have to wait for nearly an entire extra round of players drafted, mainly by the teams who play around in the big money free agent market.

 

Figure out a more equitable way of sharing TV revenues. Obviously the Yankees draw a huge audience - - they have a huge market to draw from-- but without another team on the field there is no game and the audience would be much smaller if they were stuck watching Yankees BP, or an intrasquad game. It doesn't have to be 50/50 split but the big market teams need to realize the popularity of the sport depends on more than just a couple big market teams existing.

 

Make some subtle changes to the blackout rules for TV. Technology is much better today than years ago, they have to be able to figure out a way to slice and dice the blackouts better by zip code or something. Just because a game is on WMLW in Milwaukee over the air doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to watch it on ESPN or MLB Network, I really can't get the OTA broadcast from Milwaukee in Madison or elsewhere in the state. Or subscribers to the MLB package being blocked out on the other team's broadcast at times when the game isnt' available locally. Or rules about the national game having exclusive rights to any baseball at a given time. I get you want to drive the baseball audience to the "National Game" but really, I don't want to watch another Cubs/Cardinals game or Yankees/Red Sox game so I just choose something else. Baseball needs to realize that making it impossible for fans to watch the games doesn't increase business or interest. Casual fans can still watch the National Game, even a few specific team die hards might check out a new team for a night but plenty of others like myself just find something else to watch.

[1992casey]

Besides the fact that the Astros would have to be on board with this, you'd have to get a team from the National League Central to agree to move to the NL West.

Why would a team need to move from the NL Central to the NL West? If the Astros would move to the AL West, you then have 5 teams in the NL Central and already have 5 teams in the NL West.

Slap me up. I don't know how I missed that. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

The only issue would be getting the Astros to agree to the move.