Anthony Rizzo: 'We Play Too Much Baseball'; Open to Pay Cut for Fewer Games

[torts]

I am all for shortening the season. I would LOVE if the playoffs started this weekend or next week. get it going.

[AKCheesehead]

If you like baseball why on earth would you want there to be less of it?

 

Furthermore, why would you intentionally agree with a cub?

 

I agree with bjkrautk. If rizzo wants to play less, be my guest. He can sit out and watch as much as he wants for all I care.

[dlk9s]

lol at the HOT TAKES about Rizzo not liking baseball enough.

[jjfanec]

If you like baseball why on earth would you want there to be less of it?

 

Furthermore, why would you intentionally agree with a cub?

 

I agree with bjkrautk. If rizzo wants to play less, be my guest. He can sit out and watch as much as he wants for all I care.

 

Because I love steak but I dont want to eat it every night. Honestly it could just be my stage of life but with two kids and one who just started school baseball is awesome in the summer but once school starts up it is hard to follow. My personality is I want to follow as closely as possible but it is hard for this long

[nate82]

I would prefer a 96 game season with 24 4 game series. The 4 game series would occur on Fri-Mon. A total of 24 weeks of baseball starting on the first Friday of April. This year baseball would end two weeks earlier if my math in my head adds up correctly.

 

For the All-star break it could be a week so add another week to the schedule and the season would end this week I believe. Perfect for TV only having to cover 4 games a week versus about 5-6 each week.

 

More rest time for the players also which is a plus as players will be fresher and should result in better baseball later in the year.

[NievesNoNO]

If I go back to the original post, I think Rizzo was/is likely frustrated at playing in cold rainy conditions. Even if you love baseball, playing or watching in the cold at the beginning and ends of the season in some of these outdoor parks isn't all that fun.

 

That said, it's always hard to side with a millionaire playing a sport for a job.

 

Personally I'd like to see somewhere around 150, and expand that first wildcard series. I get the 162 game numbers thing but the game has changed so much over the years the numbers often being compared aren't really that comparable... if that makes sense. Just consider the way relievers are used, defensive shifting, bat manufacturing, PEDs, ability to generate statistical scouting reports in an instant, etc, etc...

[Ennder]

This is kind of a two sided issue for me. As a fan I'd love to see a shorter season by time played. If they could chop off a week or two at the start of the season and a week or two at the end of the season I'd be very happy from a pure watching the game enjoyment standpoint. The season does end up dragging on too long.

 

Now I totally get the argument about compromising stats and as I'm a fantasy baseball player and general stats nerd I even totally agree with it, it would hurt the game to lose all of those games played. So my two opinions are at odds with each other here.

 

Now the other side of the issue is the player safety side of things. I don't think players are pushing for a shorter season as much as they want more days off. As a fan I absolutely hate that idea. Nothing is worse than the team having 2 or 3 days off over a 2 week period. I want to see them play every day, I don't need breaks. If the idea is to cut out 15 games while keeping the overall season the same length I absolutely hate that idea even though it makes total sense for the players.

[jerichoholicninja]

Play a doubleheader every weekend. Noon start and 7:00 start so the owners get two gates. Schedule for Saturday so one game can be rescheduled for Sunday if it rains. And then every team has every Monday off. All those Mondays will be available for reschedules too. Same amount of games over the same amount of days with more days off.

[pacopete4]

Play a doubleheader every weekend. Noon start and 7:00 start so the owners get two gates. Schedule for Saturday so one game can be rescheduled for Sunday if it rains. And then every team has every Monday off. All those Mondays will be available for reschedules too. Same amount of games over the same amount of days with more days off.

 

I would absolute love this.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

Could probably go to 140, but 154 would be an easy cut given historical precedence. Only two reasons against it: 1) Revenue - but would 4 home games in crappy weather really hurt most teams? If the salaries come down, they get most of it back. & 2) Records - So many of the records I cherished in my youth mean little to me now after the steroids era and the way the game is played/measured. It's now impossible to compare eras by raw numbers anyway.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

Play a doubleheader every weekend. Noon start and 7:00 start so the owners get two gates. Schedule for Saturday so one game can be rescheduled for Sunday if it rains. And then every team has every Monday off. All those Mondays will be available for reschedules too. Same amount of games over the same amount of days with more days off.

 

I would absolute love this.

Sounds like Broadway. Not a bad idea.

[obobo55new]

The biggest problem I have with the schedules is the sporadic nature of the current off-days. Having 2 in the same 7 day period (Mon & Thr with a 2 game series between, Thr & Mon surrounding a weekend) or like the Brewers have with every Thr in September. Seems that you could easily play 13 games every 2 weeks.

 

13x13=169 minus 4 off days for all star break would yield 3 extra off days sprinkled here or there.

 

I do think all teams should be off on the final Thursday of the season. Give everyone a chance to reset the bullpen for the last 3 games. But having extra days off in September other than being better for the gate is not beneficial with expanded rosters.

 

DHs in general are truly gone. Fans aren't interested in 7-8hr time investment of the traditional and split doubleheaders are just a pain. Horrible for starters and bullpens.

 

The biggest thing is the poor weather. There are 7 roofed stadia. Those should be hosting in early April. Play a few more in sunny California, Atlanta, Texas and you are close to a full slate. Yeah it might suck to always start on the road for Mn, Chc, Det, NY, Bos, Cle, but they chose not to build a roof.

[owbc]

The biggest problem I have with the schedules is the sporadic nature of the current off-days. Having 2 in the same 7 day period (Mon & Thr with a 2 game series between, Thr & Mon surrounding a weekend) or like the Brewers have with every Thr in September. Seems that you could easily play 13 games every 2 weeks.

 

13x13=169 minus 4 off days for all star break would yield 3 extra off days sprinkled here or there.

 

I do think all teams should be off on the final Thursday of the season. Give everyone a chance to reset the bullpen for the last 3 games. But having extra days off in September other than being better for the gate is not beneficial with expanded rosters.

 

DHs in general are truly gone. Fans aren't interested in 7-8hr time investment of the traditional and split doubleheaders are just a pain. Horrible for starters and bullpens.

 

The biggest thing is the poor weather. There are 7 roofed stadia. Those should be hosting in early April. Play a few more in sunny California, Atlanta, Texas and you are close to a full slate. Yeah it might suck to always start on the road for Mn, Chc, Det, NY, Bos, Cle, but they chose not to build a roof.

 

This has been brought up before but nobody wants April home games because of poor attendance (more April home games = less July home games). Teams like the Brewers have been insistent on getting a fair split of home/road games in April. MLB could do other things like having more off days following April series in cold weather cities in case there is a weather cancellation.

[obobo55new]

I'm not arguing that the Crew should play more in April. Just that opening week. Then maybe a 6 game trip in division vs Cincy/Pitt followed by another homestand and finishing the month on the road when the weather should be better.

 

Just makes sense to utilize those roofed stadia when it is most likely to be poor weather. Never going to be perfect obviously. The NL is tough as 8 teams are outdoors and in snow-endangered cities (not Atl, Miami, Mil, AZ, 3 in Cal). Have Sea, LAA, Oak, Hou, Tex, Tampa, Tor host in AL. You are at 14 games. Not sure about Wash, KC, or StL but those are probably better than the other spots.

[tmwiese55]

They generally do have the good weather teams and domes have home the first week. They have to change it up occasionally, but for the most part t hey do go by this. What killed everything this year is the horrible weather came in the 2nd-3rd weeks of the year.

[Patrick425]

I grew up watching baseball in the 70's and 80's. They use to actually schedule double headers and sometimes they would be twi-night double headers that would start at 4 or 4:30 and end around midnight. Then as the players union got more power the days of scheduled double headers came to an end.

 

When my son was in youth baseball and HS baseball, I remember thinking how long the season was and how it seemed like they were playing every day. So, I can only imagine what it's like to grind it out from mid February to the end of September (and for some beyond that). I get that its a grind, that they worked very hard to get where they are, that they spend a lot of time away from their wife and children, that they are asked many times to do interviews or make public appearances on days that are supposed to be off days. I get all that, BUT, and this will sound like an old man "back in my day" rant, the average MLB salary is around $4M, the minimum is $500K to play baseball! You retire before you are 40. Suck it up! Stop whining about how tough it is. Everyone works and most people work for 40 or more years before they retire and if they are lucky they might make as much money in their entire career as some of these players make in 3 months.

[tmwiese55]

And it is a lot of work fro those 6 months. But besides working out and keeping in shape they have the other 6 months off and freedom to do whatever they want.

[JosephC]

The silver lining for Cub fans. Rizzo won't have to play any more baseball this year.