My wife came up with this little nugget after the Angels signed Josh Hamilton away from her Texas Rangers. We'll get into why she's a Rangers fan on another day... :noshake:
The answer is, again, a little from column A and a little from column B. Yes...and no. The Yankees have been playing fantasy baseball since the late-90's. They went out and got Paul O'Neil for their World Series run, they also added Jeff Weaver, David Cone, David Wells and Al Leiter along the way. Crossing into the new millennium, they added Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Mark Teixeria, and Curtis Granderson. Recently, some other teams have joined the club, notably the aforementioned Angels adding Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols. The other team in Los Angeles is guilty of this as well; last year the Dodgers traded for Hanley Ramirez, Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, then adding Zach Greinke this offseason. Every name on this list is a high-priced veteran, each with contracts valuing near or over $100 million. Even the "small-market" Blue Jays joined in the fun adding Jose Reyes, Heath Bell, RA Dickey, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle.
What has all this spending returned to these teams? It's still too early to tell for the Angels, Dodgers and Blue Jays, but the Yankees have yielded only one World Series title since 2000--in 2009. Which suggests their spending of well over $1 billion in salary was unjustified.
I'm sure most of you are familiar with the term "moneyball" or at least the movie. Teams are shifting in this direction. It started with the A's. Boston took the formula and added money--getting players who excel not only at getting on base but other things as well costs money. Other teams have invested money into their drafts and growing their own talent rather than signing free agents. The Giants have won two of the last three World Series because they drafted well--notably they drafted pitching well. They play small ball offense and have shutdown pitching.
Even the Yankees haven't fully realized the importance of strong home-grown players. Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada were all drafted by the Yankees and were key players in their run of four championships in five years.
To come back to the question: Some teams still have a mindset of getting the best free agents and building a roster that way. But, others are having success by not following the fantasy baseball model. So, real baseball is actually probably becoming less like fantasy baseball.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Then or Now?
The inaugural post in this blog comes from a question my wife asked me a few months ago. We were watching the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary "You Don't Know Bo." She asked: Do you think college football was better in the 80's than it is now?
This caught me a bit off guard. I had just gotten done explaining how spoiled football fans were in the early- to mid-80's with Hershel Walker, Barry Sanders and Bo Jackson all playing so close in time to one another. I marveled at the highlights, jealous I never got to really see them play.
After some time, I took the cop-out answer and said, "It's not that it was better or worse back then, just different." Very informative, I know...
Between Walker, Sanders and Jackson, you have arguably the best power, speed and combo-backs in the history of the game of football. Only three other running backs even belong in the conversation: Jim Brown, Walter Payton and Gayle Sayers. For what it's worth, if I had to choose between these six runners, I'd pick Barry Sanders to build my team around.
More to the question at hand: in the 80's, you had teams running the wishbone and option offenses. Now, only the service academies run those formations. Today, most teams operate out of the shotgun with 3-, 4-, and 5-wide sets. I suppose it's worth mentioning that Alabama runs a "pro-style" offense--primarily under center with a fullback, running back, two wide outs and a tight end--and the Crimson Tide have won three out of the last four BCS Championships. These difference in philosophies make it nearly impossible to compare the eras. Running backs aren't the feature players, and as a result, there are fewer "great" running backs. They are simply complimentary players or extensions of the passing game as outlet receivers or extra blockers in the backfield. I don't know how Walker, Sanders or Jackson would have fared in today's game. Though I am certain Sanders would not have set the single-season rushing record. With today's offensive systems, we are treated to scores routinely totaling in the 70's; in the previous era, teams may have combined to score 40 on a good day.
So, the question should not have been "Was college football better in the 80's," it should have been "Do you prefer ground-and-pound or air raid offenses." The answer to that is easy. I am a child of the 90's, I need things now: College football is better today than it was in the 80's.
This caught me a bit off guard. I had just gotten done explaining how spoiled football fans were in the early- to mid-80's with Hershel Walker, Barry Sanders and Bo Jackson all playing so close in time to one another. I marveled at the highlights, jealous I never got to really see them play.
After some time, I took the cop-out answer and said, "It's not that it was better or worse back then, just different." Very informative, I know...
Between Walker, Sanders and Jackson, you have arguably the best power, speed and combo-backs in the history of the game of football. Only three other running backs even belong in the conversation: Jim Brown, Walter Payton and Gayle Sayers. For what it's worth, if I had to choose between these six runners, I'd pick Barry Sanders to build my team around.
More to the question at hand: in the 80's, you had teams running the wishbone and option offenses. Now, only the service academies run those formations. Today, most teams operate out of the shotgun with 3-, 4-, and 5-wide sets. I suppose it's worth mentioning that Alabama runs a "pro-style" offense--primarily under center with a fullback, running back, two wide outs and a tight end--and the Crimson Tide have won three out of the last four BCS Championships. These difference in philosophies make it nearly impossible to compare the eras. Running backs aren't the feature players, and as a result, there are fewer "great" running backs. They are simply complimentary players or extensions of the passing game as outlet receivers or extra blockers in the backfield. I don't know how Walker, Sanders or Jackson would have fared in today's game. Though I am certain Sanders would not have set the single-season rushing record. With today's offensive systems, we are treated to scores routinely totaling in the 70's; in the previous era, teams may have combined to score 40 on a good day.
So, the question should not have been "Was college football better in the 80's," it should have been "Do you prefer ground-and-pound or air raid offenses." The answer to that is easy. I am a child of the 90's, I need things now: College football is better today than it was in the 80's.
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