Don't Cry For Them Argenti--er, Pittsburgh

Sorry Pirates fans, back to the Wild Card Game your team goes.

And yes, they own the second best record in the National League. Yes they are probably a better team than the Los Angeles Dodgers right now----the Mets being the better squad thanks to free agency. Yes, they are 11-1 against the two teams entering the playoffs above them in seeding. It all seems unfair, no?

Guess what, its baseball, and it’s a sport that thrives on being cruel and unfair. No two strike zones are the same, the rules aren’t always enforced every game, sometimes the ball does absolutely evil things and destroys your game, sometimes you’ll be on an endless losing streak, sometimes an opposing player comes out of nowhere and hits the game-winner, sometimes you’ll do everything right and STILL lose, and sometimes you are in a nasty, nasty division with the most organized franchise in the entire league. The biggest appeal of baseball is that it resembles life: it’s crazy, unpredictable, and it’s not the strongest that survive, it’s the most tolerant and mentally strong that survive. The Pittsburgh Pirates must get over the Wild Card hump and become more tolerant. Especially when always looking up at the St. Louis Cardinals.

Baseball used to be even meaner. The Blue Jays are in the postseason for the first time since 1993. In 1993, the second-best team in ALL of baseball did not even make the playoffs for being underneath the powerful Atlanta Braves. The San Francisco Giants won 103 games, had a lineup that included peak Barry Bonds and Robby Thompson---yet because of the pennant chase rules they had no shot at the postseason because of the way the division was split.

The Pirates at least have an extra second to breathe under the Wild Card format that the Baseball Gods have blessed us. Should it be a best-of-three? That argument is for another day, as I’m sure the equally awesome Chicago Cubs also wouldn’t want their magical season to end on just one game. The point is: in order to reach the top, you have to defeat the king of the mountain. And sorry, but you need to win those division games. The Pirates had a three-game set against the Cardinals and could have been within a single game if they showed up and made some noise. And they were IN Pittsburgh. Losing two of three when the Division Title was on the line is unacceptable. The ball was in your court.

The most underrated aspect of this Wild Card format are those division games which don’t get enough weight in terms of importance. The Pirates are 8-9 against the Cardinals, and 8-11 against the Cubbies. If they had won 75% of those games, they would have been celebrating the division crown. Just winning 2/3rds of their games against the Chicago/St. Louis combo would have wielded them the division. You have tons of opportunities to bring down your rivals on our way to the top, and not just that but also knock them out from playoffs. The last thing you want in the crapshoot of a postseason is a team that recognizes you and has tons of experience against you.

The thing about baseball is that every team in the postseason earned their spot. 162 game season weeds out the lucky teams, and the fake-good teams. The truly best are the ones that always enters the promised land of the playoffs. We would be disrupting a great playoff system and an already-taxing regular season if we start seeding the playoff teams because one division wielded three excellent teams on one particular season. 2015 was an awkward season because one division produced three World Series-caliber teams.

That being said, the Mets are awesome, the Dodgers are great, the Cardinals are elite---and have all earned their crown and playoff berths---and considerable fanfare to potentially represent the National League come World Series time. If the Pirates want to earn the crown and join the elite, they need to beat the king of the NL Central Mountain, there is no other way.





Besides, one way or another, in the postseason you will encounter them….

Back to Square One: The 2015 Tampa Bay Rays Recap

The 2015 Tampa Bay Rays can be summed up in a simple phrase: subtle recovery.



The Rays struggled to make much of an impact in the baseball season after enduring the most disastrous off-season the franchise has ever seen. They lost their gifted GM, and lost someone who can be simply called the best manager in baseball. Joe Maddon’s departure was such a darn shock that the Rays even went after the Cubs to try to coerce a tampering charge. It was a pointless action but was clearly spurned by a scorned and shattered heart. The soul of the Rays, which had become one of the 5 winningest franchises since the new colors, attitude, and name, was stripped away.

But the off-season didn’t end there. It became a fire sale as we moved several of the players that we had locked up for several years. The infield had been signed together for at least four years, only to see them go elsewhere. Longoria remains the last major player from the fateful 2008 season that saw Tampa Bay witness its first trip to the World Series. We lost Myers, who was our Diet Longoria. We lost Yunel Escobar, who was a darn good defensive player with slight batting issues (…who would then enter the Top 5 in batting average in the entire league...).



The fact is, I am sick of writing this year in and year out---totally sick of watching players slip through our fingers and become key players in other teams. I've complained about this for years upon years.



David Price became a bonafide star with the Tigers, and became an even bigger star in Toronto as they finally broke their playoff drought. James Shields may have screwed up by not taking less money and remaining with the Royals, but was a heck of a star in Kansas City during their improbable 2014 run. Scott Kazmir overcame the injuries and is now a reliable starting pitcher out in the American League. And honestly, I can see greatness in Wil Myers if he can squash the injury bug. Sam Fuld is a defensive powerhouse that really could have helped us in 2015. Then there’s Wade Davis, one of the best bullpen arms in the entire league. Similar to the Orlando Magic (another Florida franchise that receives and loses tons of underrated talent), the Tampa Bay Rays has become a revolving door of talent, as we never fight to keep any of these assets, resulting in a nucleus that can never be consistent. Joe Maddon was that consistency, and after he left, dark days became inevitable.

And if anyone questions the quality of Joe Maddon, look at what has happened to the Cubs. The Rays and the Cubs have strong similarities in terms of the average age and experience of their ballplayers in the lineup. Our disappointment isn’t strictly in our young lineup not managing to get past the more experienced squadrons, but instead in witnessing the incredible run of the Chicago Cubs under our ex-manager through very similar circumstances. The Cubs have no place denting the World Series chances of the rising power Pittsburgh Pirates and the powerhouse machine known at the St. Louis Cardinals—yet here they are in the postseason ready to make some noise. Most incredible fact: nearly half their lineup are rookies. 90 wins was not predicted by anybody, not even Maddon.

We lost the consistency, we lost fans, we lost our manager, we lost our general manager, and we lost most of our identity. What on earth is left? To make matters worse, the stadium situation had a lot to do with Maddon’s departure. He loved Tampa Bay, the people, the organization, and the community. There was absolutely no tension in the same-level vicinity. Go higher up the ladder though, and you’ll see a shrinking payroll (which is rather ridiculous considering the depth of talent and surge of money that baseball has happily been receiving), consistent cutting of corners (The David Price Trade comes to mind), and less and less chance of a true future that doesn’t involve the eyesore known as Tropicana Field. And this is a situation that will not be going away.

Across the way we see Montreal practically screaming for their team back. Montreal got baseball-hungry again, Canadians are enjoying baseball more, and the downtown market has become ripe for one. Both 2016 spring training games in Montreal are pretty much sold out already. In the meantime, Tampa Bay has split fandom between the Rays and the Yankees (throw in Phillies, Braves, and Red Sox for good measure), a local government that couldn’t give two craps about the awful stadium situation, and a fanbase growing sick and tired of trying to make the tough drive to the unattractive corner of St. Petersburg---knowing that we have tons of superior options to building a ballpark.

Yes, I have discussed this before as well. But now with the available options shrinking, Pinellas County actually being a target for a Braves Spring Training facility, and even the Commissioner of Major League Baseball quietly announcing his disappointment about the Tropicana Field ridiculousness, time is running out. It’s hard to support a team that changes its lineup every single year. It’s hard to support a team when the stadium is so shoddy and such a hassle to arrive to. It’s hard to support a team when the future remains in constant doubt. This is the ugly circle: few fans means less money which means less star players and less stability to keep a good team intact. But, no good stadium means fewer fans. Something in this vicious cycle has to change. Otherwise, no matter how deep the talent pool is, the Rays will remain one of the least popular teams in baseball (although some can argue that the television ratings say otherwise).

Despite all the grim news and grim outlook, the Rays looked decent and competitive most of the year. We had a strong starting lineup, superb defense, and remained close most of the time. Chris Archer and Matt Moore sometimes looked like the best pitcher in the league, with scattered dominating performances. Longoria is not his 2008-2010 form, but has improved numbers when compared to his disappointing 2014 season (Let’s not forget his consistent superb defense at third base). Kevin Kiermaier doesn’t have much of the offense, but has become arguably the best defensive outfielder in baseball. In July 1st the Rays were just a game back in the division. If the offense and pitching had clicked together as opposed to opposite times, then we’d be looking at a different 2015 season.

The true ugliness happens in the later innings: the Rays up to this point are 2-13 in extra innings, and 25-30 in one-run games. 27-43 in tight games. If the Rays had just won half of those close games then we would be looking at a fight for the Wild Card. If we had won 2/3rds of those games we would be next to the Blue Jays for the division. And the two biggest issues was the bullpen that imploded in the second half, and the lackluster offense. Kevin Cash had a bright idea of never allowing batters to see the starting pitcher a third time, which resulted in surprising success, but ultimately burning out the bullpen when the season went deeper. Boxburger blew several saves and lost 10 games for the Rays, and he personally blamed it on bullpen fatigue, quietly acknowledging and disagreeing with the Cash strategy. Cash also has awkward dependence on certain players; Jake McGee was never used in the 9th inning despite the struggles from the other bullpen players.



(Side Note: The best thing the Rays should do is a 7-starter lineup of pitchers: 6 of them in a rotation and a 7th one hanging out in the bullpen always prepared to go the distance in case the game goes out of control or there is a sudden injury. The Rays organization has a lot of good prospects, and the best way to maintain the young lineup and not overwhelm them is to give them less innings, more rest, and gradually increase the workload. I know, it won’t be easy to just successfully find seven starters, but the Rays have always been a pitch-heavy team, and I think the Mets’ 6-man rotation scheme should be something Tampa Bay should consider.)



Déjà vu: Rays’ offense has always been miserable. Chalk it up to Derek Shelton (every year), chalk it up to not spending on good offensive players, or just chalk it up on the focus being on pitching, the Rays offense has always been lackluster, and once again disappoints this season. With Longoria being the only true known threat, it was easy for AL and NL pitchers to pick apart the lineup with ease. The Cleveland Indians at one point came to Tampa and posted three straight perfect game threats. No MLB lineup should ever be this anemic. We’ve said this for years, it might be time for a new hitting coach.

Ultimately though, the Tampa Bay Rays are an organization with good players, good scouts, and good intentions. But, we can’t rebuild or have a good outlook towards the future until we can establish a firmer fanbase, open up the wallets a little more, actually keep our favorite players, and get that stadium we've been clamoring for since....forever.

We remodeled and retooled the Tampa Bay team back in 2008---it might be time to do it again. We don't have the Joe Maddon magic anymore, and we are still missing that identity that will shape the way the Rays do business, during baseball and outside of baseball. We need the fans to believe again. We need players to actually want to stick around, like Longoria did when he signed his ridiculously long contract extension. We just need a spark, something. 2015 was spent mostly picking up the pieces while simultaneously not simply throw away the pointless season.


Until then, we will be a franchise always barely remaining afloat, but never gunning for the Promised Land of success.



See you boys in 2016.

NBA Playoffs: Less is More

Adam Silver, I like you so far. But there’s still room for improvement of the league you are running.



The NBA has changed things in the playoff format, which is definitely an improvement. Now, even though you win the division it does not guarantee home field advantage. The breaking point may have been the recent Western Conference results, when the Clippers should have nabbed the #2 seed and the Spurs should not have had to drop all the way to #6 below the Blazers (ugh, the Eastern Conference needs to step its game up). The NBA can indeed do this division winner importance assassination without much protest because the scheduling in basketball is nearly identical across the board---resulting in fair play. The NFL could never really do this, because everyone’s schedules are very different, and depend more on the results of the season before.

But we really don’t care because it still doesn’t address the biggest issue: it’s far too long. The NBA Playoffs are far too lengthy. The sport and the league itself doesn’t have the unpredictability factor of the NHL and (especially) MLB, so most of these 7-game series we know who is going to win---and we hardly see upsets. The seeding part is an improvement, but more needs to be done. Even though the internet-popular Top 16 Teams Regardless of Conference idea will never take off (Too radical even in 21st century standards, even if it produces far better basketball), there are a variety of ways to improve the postseason of basketball and make it more bearable and less taxing to watch.

Best-of-5s needs to make a comeback, and in a big way. One of my most bitter NBA fan moments was when the first year that the playoff format expanded. My Orlando Magic was up three games to one against the Pistons----it should have been ours. But the greed of the NBA and the mouth of Tracy McGrady resulted in us losing three straight and not advancing. Not saying we would have won it all that season, but the darn Pistons have had our number for over a decade and this series was the catalyst (4-12 against the Pistons in the NBA Playoffs in the new millennium).

America loves underdog stories, and loves a good upset once in a while to shake up the foundation of the league. When the Nuggets upset the #1-seeded Sonics in 1994, it would trigger a shock that resulted in one of the better franchises of the 90s struggling to get out of the opening round (Nobody remembers they were upset by the Lakers the very next season). We don’t get many upsets anymore, with the Bulls dropping to the 76ers being the gargantuan upset back in 2012---and that only occurred because Chicago lost Derrick Rose in Game 1. A little insanity never, ever hurts, and dipping the first round to a best-of-5 would potentially produce some crazy. Oh dear God, that was three years ago. Dear goodness, the 76ers nearly made it to the Eastern Conference Finals just three years ago…

Hey, want to strum along and get to the good meat of the NBA playoffs quicker? Then Best-of-5 the conference semifinals as well. In here, you’ll have the best cluster of evenly-matched lineups. Usually the 3-6 seeds in both conferences are about even in quality—in this league you usually have 2-4 awesome championship-caliber teams, and then a slew of decent squads that are just a few pieces short from being a true threat. These second-tier teams should be eliminated as quickly as possible. Imagine being able to jam along two rounds of playoff basketball in a mere three weeks. Look at the Cavs’ run: they played their first game in April 19th and lost Game 6 in the Finals on June 16th. Way too much time.

Two rounds of Best-of-5 before hitting the Conference Finals would increase the pressure, would increase the panic, and would increase the stakes. It would give us more surprises, it would give us more insane storylines. The 2015 Brooklyn Nets needed a few surprise wins in order to get New York excited because of the extremely long road ahead and long odds. The NBA is a league far removed from the more competitive 90s, there are only a few franchises nowadays that we all truly know has a shot at the Finals. Even for the 2016 season, we can only really see the Cavs rise up from the Eastern Conference (and maybe, maybe the Atlanta Hawks). Requiring 6 wins instead of 8 wins would make a world of a difference, give more leeway for a shock or two.

The NBA would never drop the amount of games because of potential money lost, but it would increase the quality of the product. The 82-game season debate is for another day, today we should focus on cutting the first two rounds of the playoffs and arriving at the NBA Finals sooner. Three months of playoffs is ridiculous, no matter how much you might argue for its relevance. Chop off a few weeks, and allow for some insanity and panic. Reseeding helps, but more is needed. Reseeding makes the NBA playoffs fair, shortening it makes it crazy.

The $150 Million Dollar Solution For Baseball

Let’s pretend for just a split second that Major League Baseball is sick of Tropicana Field and the crappy situation the Tampa Bay Rays find themselves in. Just for a second, let’s pretend. Now, we all know the story: lease is due in a million years, millions are owed to St. Petersburg for a property that all of Florida knows isn’t worth the price-----not even close.

What if MLB helps pick up the tab? What if each team (including the Rays) fork over 5 million? Just 5 million. I mean, it’s a lot in normal people terms, but in sports franchises terms that’s pocket change. Major League Baseball is worth 36 billion, with half of its franchises now worth over a billion remarkably. So much for “baseball is dead” eh? Even the Tampa Bay Rays, in the lower end of the spectrum is worth at least $500 million because of high television ratings and good merchandise sales. MLB can generate around $150 million in a span of a month and be able to immediately rid Tampa off of the Tropicana Field shackles.

Alright, I know there has to be more legal ramifications around the Tropicana Field deal. But money talks and $150 million to St. Petersburg would be a very loud “LET THEM FIND ANOTHER PLACE TO PLAY.” This money would more than cover the remaining costs of the giant refrigerator that has ranked last in MLB attendance in the past several years (even losing out to the Miami Marlins, which is located in a sexy city with tons of other options and with a terrible owner to boot). This is a way to see what the city politicians really feel about the team: do they really care about the team, or just care about getting covered for the building? Would they miss the Rays at all? Or is this just a city pulling money in an obviously-crappy situation?

Deal talks have died and stalled for years, with the city just flat-out refusing the Rays even a chance to look around. One of the bigger subtle stories is the meteoric rise of Montreal Baseball and how the Rays changing uniforms would be absolutely perfect for the league---even if expansion should be the true blue solution. The Montreal RayExpos would be lodged in the American League East with the Yankees, Red Sox, and Blue Jays. MLB is not stupid, they can see the oodles of money signs, even if it would mean breaking the hearts of people in Central Florida (which clearly have no indication of feeling a connection with the South Beach vibe and teams located within its confides). But this isn’t about Montreal, this is about how baseball can pick up the tab (excruciating left field idea, just letting you all know) to remove one of the few remaining scabs in an otherwise very successful league going through a subtle quality renaissance.

Of course, with all the money around, this is indeed very do-able. The issue is whether or not other teams are willing to participate in something that doesn’t affect them (that is, except for the few games they are stuck in Tampa Bay). You can waive the revenue sharing, but then the lower-tier teams would complain about not getting the extra dough. You can waive the luxury tax, but this would only affect the heavy spenders like the Dodgers, Red Sox, Angels, and Yankees. You can waive the International Player tax usually imposed on the teams, but that would also create an issue as teams like the ones I mentioned would benefit the most. They could be reimbursed in intervals for the next decade after the new stadium is found/built/celebrated, but I doubt the Rays would enjoy the concept of slowly paying back 29 teams for a generation.

The only way this would work is if all teams collectively agree that the $5 million spent on the Rays is justified and would improve the league overall. Unfortunately, I don’t see happening in a long shot, but the point of this article is to point out that it is mathematically viable to solve the awful issue that has been plaguing Florida baseball for the past decade. If pockets would open, then we would be one step closer to making the league an overall happier place.



Now, about that Athletics stadium issue…………………..