Let’s take a break from the election to focus on the things that really matter.
Like baseball.
Baseball’s Unethical Season is upon us. The trade deadline is tomorrow at 6 pm. It means that several teams…fewer this year than usual, but still…will announce to their fans that they won’t be trying to win any more, that hope is lost, and that they will put on the field from now on even worse squads than the ones that got them to this point.
This is because they have decided to trade or sell off many of their best players, especially veterans with big contracts or who will be free agents after the season, for unproven prospects. Those teams will “tank” for the foreseeable future, meaning accumulate losses so they can get high draft picks.
Sometimes, as Old Lodgeskins says in “Little Big Man,” the magic works (eventually) like it has for the Orioles and did for the Astros before they hit on their next strategy, cheating. Sometimes it doesn’t, as in the sad cases of the Marlins, the White Sox, and the Pirates.
Meanwhile, the good teams get better while those that have given up become exalted minor league teams, often playing games like it is Spring Training, using the contests to judge talent. As a result the rest of the schedule is played for the last 50 games or so with more blowouts and fewer competitive games.
This system is a betrayal of sportsmanship and fan bases. Because baseball still has the most limited play-off pool, 12 out of 30, no other pro sport tolerates such an extreme polarization between good teams and losing teams mid-season. Last season, the World Series was won by a team that was a .500 squad at best before it gorged itself at this late season buffet and inflated its record against patsies to make the play-offs (and don’t get me started on THOSE).
Moreover, the Bizarro World ethics principle applies: because the culture is insane and unethical, a team has no choice but to behave unethically. When in Bizarro World, do as the Bizarros do. If a team with a chance at the grotesquely inflated play-offs doesn’t take advantage of the teams selling off talent, its chances of winning this season are vastly diminished. If a team with no chance to win any titles doesn’t cheat its fans out of watching decent baseball for the rest of the year, it is dooming itself to mediocrity without end.
I can see a few ways to fix this unethical state of affairs. Make the trade deadline midway through the season, or even earlier, before any team can be sure whether it can make the post season or not. Every team takes its best shot to create the best team possible, and plays 81 games with that personnel. Limit the number of Major League players any team can trade once the season has started. Also create levels of excellence for players that makes them ineligible to be traded mid-season. I’d say a player with a 3 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) should be declared untradable, unless a Major League player or players of equal or higher value is received in return. Players leading their leagues in batting, slugging, home runs and other major categories should be trade-proof too.
Here’s my favorite proposed rule if the trade deadline stays where it is, roughly 2/3 through the season: Mandate that any team crippling itself at the trade deadline must cut ticket prices 50%.
Both the MLB cable channel and the MLB Sirius channel have been running promotions where commentators say that they love this time of year, meaning the trade deadline. Sure they do: they don’t have to pay to see games, they get paid to do it, and the deadline creates controversy and news. For everyone else, all it does is create lousy baseball.
Ethics Alarms 
“Make the trade deadline midway through the season, or even earlier, before any team can be sure whether it can make the post season or not.”
You mean, so only the White Sox (or the very worst teams) can trade away their future, no?
I think this may be a case of Ethics Zugzwang.
There is no good solution.
If you want to take the strategy out of the trade deadline, eliminate it; or let it go up to game 150. That only re-activates the moral hazard that the trade deadline was designed to address: recruiting a bunch of ringers to play in the play-offs for teams they had not played with all year.
You can’t make teams cut their ticket prices in half. The White Sox are only drawing 17K per game as it is; Oakland’s at 8K (though Oakland is a special case). They can’t even sell half their tickets, and then they have to drop the price?
You can’t restrict good players from getting traded. Not only would the player’s association fight that, the moral hazard would be for a borderline player to tank himself a bit to stay eligible for a trade. Good players should not get stuck with a bad team when a trade would be mutually beneficial, especially when a lesser player is free to trade.
-Jut
This wasn’t a problem before the free agent era, and we aren’t going back. But tanking has to be addressed. While I believe in ethics zugzwang, I also believe most problems have a solution if you look hard enough.
I would say move it back to game 145-ish. White Sox can bail early; borderline teams have more time to try to make a run before deciding to try to re-build.
-Jut
I’ve thought of team sports as a way to have people scratch some kind of inate regional tribalism itch via simulated battles.
So make players establish some kind of legal residency before playing in a different region? Similar to carpetbagging politicians.
“Meanwhile, the good teams get better while those that have given up become exalted minor league teams, often playing games like it is Spring Training, using the contests to judge talent. As a result the rest of the schedule is played for the last 50 games or so with more blowouts and fewer competitive games.”
Preach!
Is it any wonder that the most no-hitters have been thrown in the month of September, vs any other month?
Well, prior to the current format, there were actually two trade deadlines — a nonwaiver and a waiver deadline (players had to clear waivers before being traded). But then September 1st, about the time minor league seasons ended, the major league rosters expanded to 40 players from 25. So what happened was that bad teams brought their prospects up to the big leagues and gave them a trial, meaning the bad teams got worse. So yeah, historically September would be a good month for no hitters historically as well as today.
An earlier trading deadline might help. I don’t think you could do a set number of games (because different teams get to 81 games on different days), but what about at the All Star Break? That’s not too much past the halfway mark, and it could easily be moved up a week or two.
———————–
On the other hand, you know I am not going to apologize for the Texas Rangers. I followed them all year — they were not dreck. They actually had a slightly better record before the trade deadline than at the end of the season. Even so, they ended up as co-division champions — would your ire be as great towards the Astros if they had won? They had the identical record as the Rangers. And Texas did go unbeaten on the road that took them to the championship.
But all that’s water under the bridge and, in fact, everyone in Arlington is wondering which way the Rangers will jump at the deadline, if at all. They haven’t been doing well, but they also expect to have one or two of their best position players return from the DL. We’ll see soon.
—————
You have very valid points about tanking. I hated it when the Astros did it. I think I would favor an earlier trade deadline, but maybe bring back the waiver deadline as well. Don’t know the ins and outs of claiming players off waivers, but it would make a team think twice about trading Mike Trout or Albert Pujols or the like when they were near their peak.
And for now…….the Rangers game’s about to start……
No other sport allows such a thing
sorry, what doesn’t other sports allow?
Tanking a team’s prospects. You know, the NBA would never allow teams to tank just to be better draft picks…..
Heh. No, not that….
Yeah, thanks, that was unclear. I fixed it.
Limit trades to the off-season? In case of injury or rank under performance, bring guys up from the minors.
So, I’m not a big baseball fan, as I’ve stated before, and I’ll drag out the strike of 1994 as the reason why every time. But is it absurd to suggest that NO trades should be allowed during the season? Is it unreasonable to suggest that once you’ve assemble a team, that’s the team for the year? In other words, I second Old Bill’s motion to limit trades to the off-season.
Thanks, Ryan. All we need to do now is get one of us appointed Commissioner. You own any car dealerships?
I think trades used to work back in the day when they weren’t so numerous. The idea of: Let’s trade Ted Williams because the Red Sox are 45-52 at the break. Or Tony Gwynn is only hitting .378 and we’re 8 games under so we can get a lot of prospects.
That sort of thinking is poisonous.
“Sometimes, … the magic works (eventually) like it … did for the Astros before they hit on their next strategy, cheating.” Hah! Laugh of the day! And A.J.
Ooops. hit the button too early. Continued…
Hinch and Alex Cora are long since right back in baseball.
(Has anyone ever seen a live human being who looks more like a “Doonesbury” character than A.J. Hinch?)
On the subject of trades – this unique situation arose.
Catcher Danny Jansen is set to make history as the first player to play for both teams in the same Major League Baseball game.
The 29-year-old was batting for the Toronto Blue Jays on 26 June when their game against the Boston Red Sox was suspended because of rain.
A day later he was traded to the Red Sox – and is now set to appear for his new team when the fixture resumes on Monday night.
Yeah, I’ve been waiting for this.