Strike Three

Hey kid: Fuck You

I love baseball. I love the way we create heroes (Frank Thomas/Sammy Sosa, anyone?), the way we create rivalries that last (Cubs/Cards, Cubs/Sox, Sox/Twins...etc), and the way that the game is played.

...which is why baseball needs to have another strike.

The reason that we don't have a long lasting player we love like Thomas (the closest we get is Konerko, and he's likely on the way out) is because of the ridiculous inflation in Free Agency. Every year the contracts go higher and higher, and owners eventually get to a point where they just can't compete with the Yankees and Red Sox financially (especially with the Rangers doubling whatever the going rate is for any given FA).

Carlos Silva just signed a $48-million dollar 4-year-deal with the Mariners. Carlos Freakin' Silva! Are you kidding me!?

"This 'hurt' face got me $12 million a year"

Silva's only year with an ERA under 4.00 was the year he got hurt and missed half the season after a good start. In '06, he had a Todd Ritchie-esque 5.94 ERA and laughable WHIP of 1.5. The contract has nothing to do with him being any better than a cheaper player -- it's simply the going rate nowadays. Players actually look forward to being unemployed, because no matter how bad they are, they'll always get a raise.

As long as this trend continues without a strike, we're going to see a few things happen:

#1. Bend over, season ticket holders. Not only have seat-prices been climbing rapidly in the past few years (see: Cubs), but in order to compensate for those crazy player prices, we're looking at $9 hotdogs and $15 beers. $25 for bleacher seats on a value day? Not too far off.

#2. Contraction. Much like how the Expos had to go the wayside, the Devil Rays, Marlins, and Royals will likely be gone. This league setup is not entirely impossible:

AL: Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, White Sox, Rangers

NL: Cubs, Mets, Dodgers, Cardinals, Mariners (they'd be moved to the NL to even things out)

Aside from being an ESPN analysts' wet dream, this isolates the top-paying teams from the rest of the pack, and forces cheap contenders like Oakland and Minnesota out on their asses.

#3. Who's on first? With the value of an all-star player ever on the rise (cough, AROD, cough), how long do you get to keep that productive player? Most players nowadays look for a one-year deal to drive up their asking price (I'm looking at you, Joe Crede), and then sign a 2-3 year deal that allows them to get a bidding war in any even more lucrative bidding market. Some teams are only competitive now because of shrewd trading ability and impressive farm systems -- these teams and their methodologies would likely be kept out of contention in the future.

So to you, baseball, I say this:

Wicked pissah

Like many Sox fans, I'm still really pissed about the 1994 strike -- we had a good chance to win it all, and the season got cut short because of the strike. Wah. Get over it. We need to institute a salary cap once and for all -- don't kick the Royals out on their asses because they can't afford the salaries. Don't force the Orioles to rebuild every two years. In that same vein, don't allow the Cubs to spend $300 million in a single offseason, or allow the Yankees to buy the Devil Rays as a farm team.

History shows that MLB has a strike every 10 years, and we're due for another one.

This Year is Going to be Painful

"Hold me."

I can't actually say that I'm excited to see the White Sox compete with a straight face. I tried practicing it in the mirror this morning, pronouncing each syllable with specific intent, and I still couldn't get the words out of my mouth. Our team has more holes than Jesus, and we don't seem to be making any moves to get better in the short term OR the long term.

First of all, we don't have a premier outfield. Actually, we don't really have an outfield at all. We have Jermaine Dye, the geriatric wonder, who can probably hit .290 with 30 HR and provide some offensive pop -- but it's all downhill from there. As it stands, we're starting either Jerry Owens or Anderson (the correct choice) in CF, and then either Owens or Quentin in LF. Keep in mind, we took great pains to get rid of the consistently hurt speedster in LF to bring in TWO consistently hurt speedsters! Owens has had enough injuries to the point where he and Rex Grossman could basically be hospital roommates. Just the same, Quentin is coming off of surgery on his throwing arm, and is still probably a year away from the majors anyways.

Our bullpen is still the same amazing group of failures, plus Scott Linebrink, who is coming off of an amazing collapse in the NL Central. If you can't get it done in the NL's crapper, what makes you think the AL's toughest division will be any easier? We get to watch MacDougal (throw a strike you pussy!), Logan (I can only pitch 1/3 an inning!), Wasserman (I was the only good pitcher in the 2nd half!), Massett (why am I doing long relief when I should be starting), Dewon Day (the worst pitcher in White Sox history -- yes, worse than Tood Ritchie), and of course:

Bobby Jenks.

Even after the pain of our pitching and outfield, we still have an infield with two logjams (SS and 3B, respectively), and two aging sluggers in Thome and Konerko.

Now, does this mean I'm not going to watch? No! I'm going to cheer my ass off, because it's the Chicago way. There isn't a snowballs chance in my asshole that the Sox will win the division or wildcard this year, but at least we have some young players to watch (Quentin, Ramirez, Richar, Fields, Owens, Sweeney, Anderson) that might actually pan out in the future.

But until then, I'm REALLY not looking forward to the looming break between football and baseball. It gives me too much time to think about the regular season.