Is Baseball a Business ???

I agree that was nasty, 3am on a road trip.

Yes, it's a business but seems to not be run too well right now.

With an aging MLB staff, a really not so great farm system, firing WR, IMO will not solve the issues.

They need to take some lessons from some other teams who are drafting better, putting more money and time into development of their youth so they don't have to spend so much on more aging players.

managers always take the bullet, deserved or not. easier than firing the 25 players.

Yes it is a business and as you say TR it is an nasty business. Willie sez: “What we talk about as a team is how we can get this thing going — period,” Randolph said. “I just wish we could get back to that because that’s really what it’s all about. We spend so much time talking about all this extracurricular stuff, man, and it’s like, this team just needs to focus on playing winning baseball.

I think Willie accurately describes the overall problem of business and baseball. He sees the game through his eyes. There are different perspectives. While we don't have to appreciate the business side of baseball we should understand it is all powerful and those calling the shots see the "game" much differently. The problem I have with the business side of baseball (on the professional side) is the lack of justification needed by coaches, managers, and owners to act as they see fit --- In the "real" business world business owners and managers have to follow guidelines when it comes to how they treat their employees. If you were to look at MiLB's labor practices they do NOT follow the same rules as the "real" businesses do. I doubt it if there are any suggestion boxes in hotel rooms or on team buses. To complain is not an option. As far as the 3AM time slot that they selected --- this isn't an 8 to 5 job. 3AM could be the start of one workday or the end of another and the days all run together --- there are no first or last days of the week. Baseball can best be described as a revolving door business and most that "work" there will get caught in it at one time or another.
Fungo

It's one of, if not the only, businesses in the world that is run backwards. In a normal big corporation, executive management pockets most of the company's profits. But are appointed and put in those positions by an executive board and have all the power to steer, hire, and remove resources. It's not like that in baseball. Take a twenty something yr old guy, pay him more money than his manager, you essentially take all managerial responsibilities away from the manager. It becomes a guessing game at that point. As a player in HS, if pulled the garbage Reyes pulled last night I would be sitting for 2+ games. Do you think Omar would allow Willie (or any other puppet in that position) to suspend or sit Reyes? No. Because Reyes is making more cash and is seen as a more valuable resource. The inmates are running the asylum.

quote:

Take a twenty something yr old guy, pay him more money than his manager, you essentially take all managerial responsibilities away from the manager.

or you can take a 25 year old man, pay him less than minimum wage, put him in a 1 room hotel room, work him 7 days a week, tell him he's doing a great job on Monday, keep part of his meager salary on Tuesday for making a mistake, charge him for part of organization's support staff, and fire him the next day without explanation.

I agree that professional sports is a cold hearted world. It is not always fair.

It's true that a large number of minor league players do not make much money and they do have some rough times and long days. And yes, they can be released/replaced at anytime.

In most every case, this happens because that is exactly what the player chose to do. Other than get released/replaced, of course.

Some can say that it is unfair, but everything involving money and pay is made clear before the player makes that decision. When a player signs without a bonus and gets paid first year salary, he should know the odds are stacked heavily against him. Some have such a passion for the game that they don't really care and still chase that dream. And being a former professional player does add to one's resume. Especially if he also has a college degree.

Unfair? Probably! So are a lot of other things in the world.

I thought Willie Randolph was going to be a great manager (still do). Something happened last year that caused the Mets to fall apart and they have not totally recovered from that. Whether a player, coach, manager, or GM, the expectations are extremely high.

Managers and coaches get fired, Willie is not the first and he certainly won't be the last. He will land on his feet and still end up working in MLB. Now it is Omar Minaya who is on the hot seat in New York.

quote:

Now it is Omar Minaya who is on the hot seat in New York

IMO he was the one who should have been axed...Look at the Cubs...fundementally the same team as last year...ditch Hendry and they are world beaters...GM's have huge impact...I've heard many many ungood things about his approach and the way he does business.

jdfromfla,

Not so sure it will end up that way, but right now the Cubs have the best record in Major League Baseball.

I think 100 years is patient enough don't you?

All this stuff about respect and all is a bunch of bull. Everyone's looking out for #1 and covering their own aizz. Baseball's a business and managers are hired to get fired.

The reason baseball runs like a backwards corporation is because players are the ones making the big bucks and generate the revenue. Peeps are paying these high prices to see the players entertain, not the GMs, scouts, managers or the coaches. And the MLBPA is one of the strongest labor unions in the country.

As for Willie, the Mets are the most overrated team in baseball and are not as good as everyone thinks. They're not a championship calibur team.

Willie bites the bullet here because he skippered the biggest choke in baseball history. Their fans wanted Willie ran out on a rail last September and have been ranking on the Mets since opening day.

Reality is that no one could've piloted this bunch to the playoffs. They stink. Reyes is a head case, Beltran's soft, Alou and Pedro always hurt. Wright good but no superstar, Santana can barely hit 90 on the radar gun and is only a .500 pitcher, their bullpen stinks..Heilman pours gasoline on fires and closer Wagner blows up in must-have games.

If anyone needs to get chopped, it's Omar.. He put this mess together.

The 11 pm meeting after the game is pretty much SOP.
However, I heard Willie Randolph was in Omar's office in NY the day before the away trip seeking 'status'.

Maybe, just maybe, Minaya did NOT have the final decision and had not received word yet from upstairs!