Baseball playoffs: The waning influence of money

Spending more money than your wealthier business rival for the same product is not a victory.

 

The charts are interesting, but the difference between 2009's 5-2-1 and 2012's 3-4-1 is really quite small.

If, say, the 2013 Phillies are healthy and don't piss away the first 5 months of the season, and when (not if) the Rangers' and Nationals' payrolls rise to the level of their talent . . . you could easily see another 5-2-1 in 2013.

And then what have we proven?

 

You know, that would be exactly the type of racist conclusion the Red Sox would draw from the Dice-K failure, wouldn't it?

 

I wouldn't call it racist. Japanese free agents all go through a similar career cycle before they've reached the majors. There's real concern that the usage their arms are used to in the Japanese League does not translate well into MLB usage patterns, and as a result they have a history of hitting a massive brick wall after initial success in the states.

Darvish is the perfect test case. If he can't sustain it in the majors, I would feel very uncomfortable bidding on future Japanese pitchers.

 

So, in other words ... it's Obama's fault?

{ducking}

 

Fixed.

 

Have to wonder what Bill James was saying in those meetings. Or if Bill James was even in those meetings.

Why hire the oracle if you're not going to listen to him? Or even ask him a question?

 

Meh. It's funny how the organization is happy to blame everybody outside it now and insist that everybody inside it had nothing to do with it.

 

Well, now that you mention it.....

(low crawls out of the room)

 

This is absolutely true. Especially in their yearly high school tournament, arms are ravaged.