Official 2008 MLB thread

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They have good farm systems because all the MLB teams usually have spring training down there. The Yankees have a large contigent there... that's how you attract athletes. Plus farm sytems have to do with scouting and you need to be really good there as a small market team. Has nothing to do with the fans. I mean it's great for fans to be that close to the players in spring training... but why doesn't that interest carry over into the season? Because once the stars leave and spring training is over... the local teams down there don't have much they can sell because they never have these big time bankable players.

Look, if you live in Florida you can be a wanna be fan who jumped on the band wagon earlier this year if you'd like. Once the team is bad again, people down there will just mark their calenders for when camps opens for both the college and professional football teams in the spring/summer. The attendance speaks for itself... both teams barely average over 15,000 a game. Rays attendance went up only 3% from last year... It's not a crime not to be a baseball fan... it's a slow game... and I'll admit myself I have a hard time getting into the game when the big market teams are not involved. It is what it is.
 
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FaT_tONle said:
They have good farm systems because all the MLB teams usually have spring training down there.
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What does MLb spring training have to do with the Rays having a good farm system? :confused:

The Yankees have a large contigent there... that's how you attract athletes. Plus farm sytems have to do with scouting and you need to be really good there as a small market team.
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Actually farm systems specialize in player development. Scouting is usually an idependent function where you find players outside your organization that you want to put into it be it in the amateur ranks or on other teams rosters.

Has nothing to do with the fans. I mean it's great for fans to be that close to the players in spring training... but why doesn't that interest carry over into the season? Because once the stars leave and spring training is over... the local teams down there don't have much they can sell because they never have these big time bankable players.
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It takes time. The Rays have only been existence for 10 years, and for the first 6 or 7 were awfully mismanaged and didnt draft or scout particularly well. I'd argue that you have a few budding superstars down there in Longoria and Upton, along with perhaps David Price who is looking like the real deal. See what happens once that takes hold. Baseball is a popular game in FL, as its played all over the state for 12 months of the year. So the fanbase is there, you just have to get them to care about the particular team.

Look, if you live in Florida you can be a wanna be fan who jumped on the band wagon earlier this year if you'd like. Once the team is bad again, people down there will just mark their calenders for when camps opens for both the college and professional football teams in the spring/summer. The attendance speaks for itself... both teams barely average over 15,000 a game. Rays attendance went up only 3% from last year... It's not a crime not to be a baseball fan... it's a slow game... and I'll admit myself I have a hard time getting into the game when the big market teams are not involved. It is what it is.
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I think we should all get used to the Rays being in the post-season for the next few years. Seems the only people troubled by it are Boston and Yankee fans, who act as if it's their birthright to be in the playoffs every year. I remember the 80's when both of those teams were pretty bad and you couldnt draw flies to some of their games.
 
Fantastic performance by The Rays. The Red Sox certainly made it interesting but the Rays are the better team and even if they weren't they outplayed the Red Sox in ever facet of the game for the entire series. I will be routing them on against the Phillies because I honestly love the way those kids play the game.

The Incredible Hulk said:
I think we should all get used to the Rays being in the post-season for the next few years. Seems the only people troubled by it are Boston and Yankee fans, who act as if it's their birthright to be in the playoffs every year. I remember the 80's when both of those teams were pretty bad and you couldnt draw flies to some of their games.
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You mean SOME of the Red Sox and Yankees fans, not all I would imagine. Right?
 
As a Yanks fan, I hate the Red Sox but I have to give them props for coming back from a 3-1 series deficit to tie it at 3-3, and lost in Game 7 in a tight game. You have to give them credit for fighting back instead of mailing it in like many teams would've done (Dodgers, for instance). As for WS, I don't really care who wins but if I have to pick one, then I'd like to Rays win it all because I just don't like the Phillies.
 
Jesus Christ, I think I got an ulcer from watching that game last night. :o

Hell of a job, Rays. And hell of a series for both teams. With the Rays having their core guys signed to long term deals, the Rays/Red Sox could become a damn good rivalry to watch over the next few years.

I've only been a fan for the past five years (since I saw my first game live), so I haven't been around for all the misery. But it's nice to be able to finally hold my head up with pride when I wear my gear out.

The Rays are going to the World Series. I'd never thought I'd be able to say that. :yay:

Showtime said:
You mean SOME of the Red Sox and Yankees fans, not all I would imagine. Right?
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I would imagine as well.
Granted, I think the Sox fans are the most annoying on the planet and that the Yankees fans are the most arrogant, but those are pretty much just the bandwagoners who are like that.
Which, unfortunately, is the majority of them.

The long time, die-hard fans are more respectable since they've been through the down times.
They don't act like total *****eholes 99% of the time. Like the Pink Sox do, and the "hardcore" Yankees fans who can't name five players on the team.
Even when you spot them Jeter, A-Rod, and Rivera. :o
 
No one outside of Philly is rooting for them.....correction...no self respecting baseball fan outside of Philly is rooting for them
 
I'll be glad whoever wins. My mom is from Tampa originally, but my late friend Ted was a mega Phillies fan.
 
I'm just happy the sox got beat.....that made me happy
 
The Incredible Hulk said:
What does MLb spring training have to do with the Rays having a good farm system? :confused:


Actually farm systems specialize in player development. Scouting is usually an idependent function where you find players outside your organization that you want to put into it be it in the amateur ranks or on other teams rosters.



It takes time. The Rays have only been existence for 10 years, and for the first 6 or 7 were awfully mismanaged and didnt draft or scout particularly well. I'd argue that you have a few budding superstars down there in Longoria and Upton, along with perhaps David Price who is looking like the real deal. See what happens once that takes hold. Baseball is a popular game in FL, as its played all over the state for 12 months of the year. So the fanbase is there, you just have to get them to care about the particular team.
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Yeah I don't know what the hell I am talking about... THE POINT BEING... having a good farm system has nothing to do with atrracting/building a fanbase... I mean the Twins and Athletics have been doing this stuff for years and they still don't have huge fan bases... if there is a consistency there then you can be one of those small market teams that has a consistent fan base I agree with that. But having a good farm system doesn't bring fans into the game unless the players perform consistently... if you keep unloading the talent every three years then that fan base will lose interest after a while... and you can't win consistently like that if that's the pattern you follow. The Athletics have been awful since the end of 2006.


I think we should all get used to the Rays being in the post-season for the next few years. Seems the only people troubled by it are Boston and Yankee fans, who act as if it's their birthright to be in the playoffs every year. I remember the 80's when both of those teams were pretty bad and you couldnt draw flies to some of their games.
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Yeah I see them making the playoffs maybe once in the next four years if that and never again for about another 15-20 years... these teams never duplicate the success the following year or the year after... Yankees and Toronto will be back.
 
Toronto will probably be losing A.J Burnett. Unless they sign another decent pitcher, they'll just be a mediocre team. I've heard Derek Lowe's name come up. There's like 12 teams intrested in him.
 
FaT_tONle said:
Yeah I don't know what the hell I am talking about... THE POINT BEING... having a good farm system has nothing to do with atrracting/building a fanbase...
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you're correct, not directly it won. But having a good farm system can lead to being a successful franchise, and that will build a fanbase. Again its hard to gauge a fanbase after a team has only been around for a decade in an area that is currently very transient in nature. people said the same things about the Dodgers and Giants after they moved to California in the 50's.

I mean the Twins and Athletics have been doing this stuff for years and they still don't have huge fan bases...
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are we talking about huge fanbases? or huge attendance figures? because they arent one in the same, but when those teams have been in or near the playoffs their attendance has spiked. There are many fans of those two teams in their respective areas, thye just dont turn out at the ballpark for reasons. One of which would be that those are two of the worst stadiums left in baseball.

if there is a consistency there then you can be one of those small market teams that has a consistent fan base I agree with that. But having a good farm system doesn't bring fans into the game unless the players perform consistently...
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agreed. so far so good for the young Rays.

if you keep unloading the talent every three years then that fan base will lose interest after a while... and you can't win consistently like that if that's the pattern you follow.
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we'll have to see if that will be the case for the rays. Luckily for them they have pretty much all of those good young players locked up for quite a few years to come.

Yeah I see them making the playoffs maybe once in the next four years if that and never again for about another 15-20 years... these teams never duplicate the success the following year or the year after...
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thats quite a prediction, there. In terms of rosterable talent, they're setup much better off than either the Yankees or the Red Sox, and they've got abouot 1/5 of their payrolls. I'm sure those two clubs will buy their way back into the picture soon enough though.

Yankees and Toronto will be back.
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Toronto? LOL They havent been relevant in 15 years. It's funny though, all their crying about having to be in the Yanks/Sox division seems pretty weak now given what the Rays are doing.
 
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Spidey-Bat said:
Wow. New York isn't even that bad.

My cousin's friend and his dad are Dodger fans. They went to a Philly/Dodger game and were standing when the Dodgers were in the middle of a potential rally. The Philly fan behind them threatened to knife them if they didn't sit down. Obviously they sat down.
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having lived in both areas for a decade, I cant tell you that they're both equally as bad and obnoxious. Some of the cretins at Yankees, Rangers, and Jets games can give even the worst of Philly a run for their money. (How about the new Yankees Stadium having holding cells?)

Philly has a bum rap that is mostly well deserved but you can pull just as many horror stories out of Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Oakland, New York, etc. Philly just seems to have more of the "fun" ones with Santan Claus, snowballs, etc.
 
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NewYorkSpider said:
Toronto will probably be losing A.J Burnett. Unless they sign another decent pitcher, they'll just be a mediocre team. I've heard Derek Lowe's name come up. There's like 12 teams intrested in him.
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They'll be stacked when they add....GIAMBI!

I believe I just read D. Lowe's first choice is Boston...

I just saw the 2009 All Star game hat, red with the St. Louis arch.
 
The Incredible Hulk said:
having lived in both areas for a decade, I cant tell you that they're both equally as bad and obnoxious. Some of the cretins at Yankees, Rangers, and Jets games can give even the worst of Philly a run for their money. (How about the new Yankees Stadium having holding cells?)

Philly has a bum rap that is mostly well deserved but you can pull just as many horror stories out of Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Oakland, New York, etc. Philly just seems to have more of the "fun" ones with Santan Claus, snowballs, etc.
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Jet fans are terrible. What was it that they were doing last year? I think it was something like they all lined up on those spiral ramps and heckled women or spat on them.
 
The Yankees will probably get rid of Giambi and sign Teixera. He's looking for 10 years, $200MM. Giambi would probably end back up with the A's.

I'm really intrested in the three AL teams that Peavy is willing to play for. I'm gussing it could be Boston, Los Angeles and Detroit.
 
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