1. No, the Yankees are not unbeatable.

2. None of the above.

3. Why not?

4. Josh Lewin.

5 Out of baseball.

1. Isn't this topic always brought up after a NY WS win?
2. Take a pass on all three.
3. No way. Maximum effort pitcher out of the John Wettland mold. Better suited for an inning @ best maybe two. There's a reason he's in the pen.
4. All HD, all the time.
5. Long gone. Is it really going to take that long though???

Cap
none
Leave him in the pen!
Josh Lewin gone! Please, Please, Please! Right TAG?
Gone!

1. Salary Cap is needed.

2. Byrd, 3 Years at $18M. He's younger, more of a leader, and the team needs leadership and stability right now.

3. Leave Wilson in the pen. Power lefty's out of the pen are hard to come by.

4. Being out of state, (NC) and being able to watch on MLB Extra Innings, I don't have any problems one way or the other with the broadcasts.

5. On the DL.

1. No team should be able to sign 3 top FAs in one year.
2. Vlad for one year.
3. No. He is a reliever.
4. No Jim Knox.
5. Not with the Rangers.

1. Baseball has a very unique personnel situation. Players are paid nothing for 3 years (pre arb), a decent salary for 3 (arb) and then have the possibility for huge contracts. With a cap, the huge contacts will go away, or be highly restricted, so the arbitration situation will have to change. You can't cap the front end and the back end IMO. So this would involve a major restructuring to how baseball works that would be difficult to implement. I don't think it will happen. We could see a stronger version of the luxury tax, but nothing more.

2. None. I'd take mike cameron on a 1 yr contract.

3. I don't think so. He is very good in the bullpen.

4. Don't get to see and fox games

5. Agree with Andy, on the DL

1) Limit teams to signing one "A" free agent
2) None.
3) Leave him in the pen. Far too many promising arms coming through the system to start follong with this idea.
4) Don't have the games in my area.
5) Injured and on another team.

1. I agree with Andrew in Boston. MLB contract and salary structure needs an overhaul. The AL is competitively imbalanced with the Yankees, Red Sox and Angels perennial playoff teams and KC, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Oakland perennial doormats. The years the have-nots are successful, the prospect of pending free-agency encourages them to trade away their stars, thereby relegating these franchises to AAAA status. Highly stratified leagues allow for dynasties and heated rivalries. I am fine with no parity in professional sports. I am not an advocate of taxpayer-financed stadiums with little-to-no local control of team operations.

2. The 2010 Rangers have no openings in the strating lineup. None of the three options should be considered

3. C.J. Wilson is a great reliever. Keep him the in pen for another two years.

4. Release Jim Knox and Josh Lewin.

5. Three years from now, Brandon McCarthy is struggling to remain healthy pitching for another team as their number 4 starter.

1) It's a free society and any club can and should be able to spend their money they way they want to.
2) Only Marlon Byrd.
3)Yes.
4) All telecasts should be on Fox Sports Southwest only.
5) Gone.

1)
The Internet gives fans a chance to get organized. Any major change to any capitalist venture should be rooted in capitalism as well. Grass-roots (fan-based) initiatives to work first locally with teams (ownership) but eventually (given clout) with the players' association and owners together-- not in the form of lowering ticket prices or players' salaries, but in the form of community projects funded by percentages of profits... would be nice. It would turn even non-baseball fans into fans of the success of their city's team and of baseball (eventually other sports?) in general, for their city's sake.
Rather than being disgusted by the money being thrown around in MLB & trying to slow down those profits, we the people need to organize and succeed to the point of getting our communities' backs scratched in return for keeping this entertainment industry populated.

2) None, but if we trade David Murphy, Reed Johnson looks like a decent LHP-hitting platoon partner for Borbon in CF, whether as a free agent after the Cubs let him go, or as a trade (say Gentry & Millwood for Reed, Bradley, and enough $ that we don't increase payroll.

3) Give CJ a shot that depends upon a prescribed level of success within pitch count.
4) No opinion. Don't watch TV.
5) BMac: Top notch long reliever when healthy.

2)

1 - No. Nothing will happen to the greed we call MLB until the owners start losing money at a meteoric rate. Selig & Co. care nothing about the fans as long as they keep wasting their money on his overpriced and malfunctioning product. The Yankees could win the next 15 WorldSeries' and we'd hear the same ol' competitive balance boloney.

2 - Vlad....hands down.

3 - Yes. That doesn't mean he would stay there should he not perform. But anyone that wouldn't attempt change for the positive is too...uh... timid... to make prudent decisions.

4 - n/a

5 - a KC Royals reliever.

1. Salary Cap is needed.
2. The 2010 Rangers have no outfield openings. None of the three options should be considered
3. YES, he scares me everytime he takes the mound, I feel he is going to give up hits and walk someone... to start with... with him as a starter, we have a chance to overcome, because after he gives a little up THEN he gets serious and shuts them down... I'm for it...
4. Release Jim Knox and Josh Lewin. give TAG some help...
5. Three years from now, Brandon McCarthy is a top of the rotation starter, 17+ wins and 200+ innings. He has grown up got stronger and overcome his weakness'
GO RANGERS.

1. Contrary to what many will say, No. Let them break the bank every year while all other teams focus on developing talent with "controlable" players.
2. If Hamilton is fully recovered and they commit to Cruz, none of the above. While the "gun is being held to your head", do your homework quickly on the players you do have on your roster.
3. No, leave him in the bullpen. He excels in his role, and it's hard to find a solid left-handed setup option.
4. Don't really pay that much attention to the broadcast.
5. Three years from now, Brandon McCarthy is the right-handed setup man for the Rangers.

1. None, but as long as Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera are around they are going to be tough with Tex and A Rod in their primes. The Yankees would go out and buy replacements, but Jeter and Rivera are first ballot Hall of Famers. You can't easily replace their productivity.
2. Vlad at one year $7 mil is pretty tempting. Byrd is not bad value. No to Dye.
3. Keep him in the bullpen. The Rangers have enough "potential" starters. We need him in the pen.
4. I have no idea. I am "John in Clearwater", not "John in Dallas" anymore.
5. McCarthy will be in the majors, but not with Texas.

1. This is the way it has been for a century. Deal with it, and put together a better team than they are.
2. None of the above. Go after Chone Figgins.
3. If he can do it, go for it. You can't have too much starting pitching. See who's better in that role, Feliz or Wilson, and put the other in the pen.
4. Keep Tom Grieve just where he is.
5. Out of baseball, unless he can find a way to keep from getting hurt.

Best set of 5 questions this year

1) Don't think you'll ever get it changed
2) Byrd by a very small margin
3) Keep him in bullpen..I know he's scary but he had a pretty good year
4) Lose Lewin and Jim Knox...a professional like Tom Grieve deserves better support around him
5) Hard question..I think he'll figure out the injury problem and be a back end starter for someone although probably not the Rangers

1. It sure is looking unfair at this point, but as jd21 said, they ain't unbeatable. I think MLB really needs to look closely at creating a salary cap and floor. Right now the competitive balance is totally out of whack, partially faulting the Yankees ability to blow any other offer out of the water, and the inability (and unwillingness) of the Royals/Pirates types to invest in their teams at all. It is not fair right now.

2. Just not Jermaine Dye. I hope we can keep Byrd, though it is not really practical. He does give us great depth, but it's expensive. Guerrero is better than Dye, and for one year he might be worth it while Smoak puts on the finishing touches.

3. C.J. is a really solid set up man, leave him there.

4. Yes, please more games on Fox SW! We can't get the kdfi games in San Antonio.

5. Three years from now McCarthy is in somebody's pen spitting more sunflower seeds than pitching baseballs.

The system needs to be restructured. I'm not sure how, because I don't think a hard salary cap is the answer.
None of the above. I'd be for signing for Mike Cameron or trading for Dunn/Bradley, however.
Wilson is a great set-up man. Don't mess with the dude when it seems he's finally figured it out.
Less human-interest BS and the elimination of Jim Knox.
A journeyman middle reliever.

1) No. Winning a World Series does not signal a tipping point. Reaching the playoffs 14 of the last 15 years is the signal of the mess that baseball economics is. Selig is so enamored with his "win" in revenue sharing that he just can't face the fact that it isn't enough.

2) Dye

5) middle rotation starter making $7-10M/year on a 3-year deal.

1. No cap, but way more revenue sharing. That would at least give some other teams a shot at those A players. Yes the yankees can be beat, but every other team is at a disadvantage. You want some kind of competitive balance. I don't feel sorry for a team that has the money and doesn't choose to spend it, but look what Oakland and Kansas City have to work with.
2. Yes on Byrd. If it's not going to cost us losing out on going after another player, then yes on Vlad. HELL NO on Dye.
3. No room in the starting rotation and he had a great year. If he left, literally every team in baseball would want him.
4. Lewin out. Jim Knox annoys the crap out of me, but thats a tough job. It's hard to make every Wednesday night game look really exciting
5. Kansas City Bullpen. Not throwing, but sitting there hurt.

1. Continue to increase revenue sharing.
2. None of the above.
3. Reliever.
4. Less (zero) fan interviews.
5. Playing for another organization.

1, I am not in favor of socialism so I say make it more costly for signing FAS including foreign FAS by hurting them more in draft.
2. No on Byrd. VAD for dh
3. I do not think he is consistent enough to be either. I tell him his choice and let him make it or break it.
4. I like a change but just because of change. Keep Emily she is easy on the eyes.
5. Being a part of a trade. Where he will be winning 20 games. Then we can say that is another one that got away and we got nothing for.

1. salary cap
2. Marlon Byrd
3. 8th inning setup man
4. Josh Lewin
5. not with the rangers struggling to stay healthy

1. Luxury tax like the NBA. Even a billionaire like Cuban has 2nd thoughts when paying a hefty tax. If you want to spend- fine. But you'll be taxed for anything over the previous year's salary cap in baseball. Of course the union will be against this. So the salary cap will have to be negotiated between owners and the union (the strongest in all of sports). Then every $ over the salary cap will be taxed 2:1.
2. None. With our starting pitching looking good, I would invest in the pen. Studies and history has shown one of the most cost-effective ways to improve your team is investing in the pen. That's where I would spend the $.
3. Sure, if CJ wants a crack, no problem. And maybe this will help him get over the fact that he likes to let the 1st man he faces get on base. If he's starting every inning, I hope he becomes more aware of how damaging this is. So moving forward in the pen or the rotation, he'll cut down on that propensity.
4. Don't know. Live in Seattle and don't get to watch. How about stream it free to Ranger fans across the US?
5. Looking for work as non-roster invite. Settles in as a long reliever in the NL.

1. You cannot have a cap without a floor:

Last year Forbes reported that from 2002 to 2006, the Royals’ revenue-sharing dollars doubled to $32 million, while their player costs increased only 6 percent. Likewise, in 2006 and 2007, the Florida Marlins reportedly received more than $60 million in revenue sharing, according to The Hardball Times, but the team had opening day payrolls totaling $45.5 million.
http://www.bnet.com/2403-13502_23-210897.html

As a possible alternative, what about a tiered Draft Comp plan: 1 type A costs your team 1 1st rounder, 2:2, 3:3, etc.

I realize this would also need to be collectively bargained, but perhaps the other 20+ clubs would like to gang up and stick it to a few of the big boys.

1. Salary cap
2. None. I want Adam Dunn.
3. Sure. Let's make the best 5 pitchers in the spring start in the rotaiton.
4. Get rid of Jim Knox. I like Josh Lewin. I don't know why everybody has a problem with him.
5. A #2 or #3 starter for a playoff winning team. All he has to do is stay healthy & I think he will do it. I know my father is a huge Sox fan & would love to get him back. I don't want to get rid of him unless we get an impact player back (Adam Dunn, etc.).

1. There needs to be a cap. It is outrageous that these small market teams have to try and compete against NY. Yankees are vultures sitting in a tree waiting for the next batch of stars they can sweep away from the teams that developed them. Yankee fans make me want to puke with that pride. From what, buying pennants? Nothing wrong with a cap and free enterprise. MLB is one business. GM and Ford control what their franchisees can or cannot do. They have to protect the brand. MLB is no different.
2. Byrd. Vlady would be good for one year, but doubt that will get done.
3. I can see giving CJ a shot. He can always go back to the pen.
4. Lewin and Knox gone. All that non-baseball talk drives me crazy.
5. Out of baseball.

1. Contraction: Fold the Yankees. Implode the new stadium and the old. Lets never speak of them again.
2. None of the above.
3. I think he would make a fine starter. I say go for it.
4. More guests. The segment with the studio hosts is always a welcome break. Why not do more of that? By the way, does anybody out there like Knox? Anybody? Even his Mom?
5. ... flipping burgers with his left hand. His right arm is in a sling, again.

1. Salary Cap
2. None, why not try for Adrian Gonzalez
3. Keep him a setup man
4. I'm cool with it
5. injured or in the minors

1. No, not at all. The Yankees can be beat.

2. If I absolutely had to pick one, it would be Guerrero. I do not want Dye, under any circumstances. I don't think Byrd is worth 6 million at year for 3 years. So, I guess I'd have to say Guerrero. Even so, I'd prefer trading for a platoon CFer like Cody Ross. I'd also take a gamble on a player like Troy Glaus before I'd go after Dye or Guerrero.

3. We already have plenty of options for the rotation. Wilson is a terrific reliever and I'm not convinced he has the control to be a successful starter. He needs to stay in the pen.

4. No Jim Knox.

5. A bottom of the rotation starter, bouncing from team to team, posting an ERA round 4.75. I think McCarthy will pitch for 4 or 5 teams over the next 8 years. I also don't think he will be with the Rangers in 2010. I think he gets dealt or non-tendered.

1. I am going to go really socialist on this one.

All players should make the same amount of money based upon service years but if they appear in any part of the year, even one day they get the bump the next year.

They should not have individual contracts. Start at 750K for a 1st year player and add 10% per year. Nobody should be able to complain about a 750K income especially not someone drafted out of high school or a barely literate citizen of Haiti or the Dominican Republic. If they want more money that then do TV commercials or become a movie star. That would give most teams a payroll, assuming a mix of veterans and rookies of about 25 to 30 million a year.

Limit signing bonuses to 1 million on draft picks

No team may sign more that 40 amateur players a year regardless of if they are in a draft or in a no-draft area.

The first two rounds of the draft should be in reverse finish order starting in round three the order should be random so that teams are not penalized for sucess.

The flip side of this is that ticket, concession and parking fees should be reduced.

This scheme should be expanded to all major sports that are not paid by winning. So a sport like tennis or golf where players are paid based on the position they finish would not be affected.

Solves problem.

2. I might pull the trigger. Maybe Byrd for two years and an option for the third if some incentives were included. Vlad is gonna have to come for the minimum like Jones last year. Dye doesn't need to apply.

3. A short reliver is, to me anyway, a premere position and much more glamouros than a 4th starter. CJ needs to stay where he is a star

4. Make TVB Hong Kong a Ranger affiliate so that I can see the games

5. Coaching

1. The MLB won't do anything anti-Yankees.

2. Vlad is the best player of the three. So I say him.

3. No. He's been doing too well as a setup man.

4. I would wish that the games come on in Nacogdoches so I could watch them at college.

Badspelllr.....contraction is not a bad idea..... the economy will squeeze profitability anyway during the next decade. Contracting the number of ML teams, the 162-game season, and salaries would work.

1. No
2. None of the above. Marlon played out of his mind this year, let's not pretend he will produce like that year to year. Dye and Vlad are tempting but they're on the backside of their careers.
3. You have to keep it simple for CJ, so keep him in the pen.
4. Obviously, you keep Josh and TAG!!! If I could change one thing, give me more games.
5. OFF THE RANGERS PAYROLL.

1. Increase revenue sharing and set a percentage on revenue sharing that would force the teams receiving funds to put a minimum (say 75%) of those funds into player salary.

2. None, unless Mike Cameron is not possible. Then maybe Vlad for one year. Let Borbon develop in center.

3. Keep CJ in the pen. He has been too valuable there.

4. Replace or remove Jim Knox. Otherwise I have not real problems with the televised games.

5. Not sure, if he stays healthy then a # 4 starter maybe. If not then he is out as a player.

1. Yes, but nothing much will get done any time soon. Yankee intersquad games have virtually no value on the YES network. Real American League games against teams like Kansas City and Toronto do. Since those teams are bringing so much value to the Yankee television rights, they deserve to share the money. This needs to be coupled with a salary minimum

2. None of the above.

3. I can't understand why there is even a question on C. J. Texas has a host of starting rotation candidates after the two for sure starters (Millwood and Feldman) named by Washington. Why throw Wilson in with the crowd of Holland, Feliz, Hunter, McCarthy, Harrison, et al? The bullpen was a problem most of last season. Moving Wilson out of the pen only creates a bigger hole.

4. Jim Knox

5. Sitting on the disabled list of a team not named Texas Rangers.

All things considered, if Sheets is truly recovered from that flexor tendon thing, I'd almost rather see Texas leave both Feliz and CJ in the bullpen, since they both did so well there last season. That is if they can get Sheets. Lotta "ifs." Don't know what they should do about the OF. I like Byrd, but he's probably not worth a 3 year deal.

1. Baseball should have addressed financial inequities among teams years ago.
2. I don't think I'd do any of those. Spend money on pitching and or a long term contract for your long term guys like Hamilton.
3. Bullpen.

1. Rangers,,,Draft, Trade, Develop, Do Not try to buy a championship. Not as much fun.
2. Only Byrd, maybe..
3. CJ's talent is there for SP. Has he matured enough to prevent meltdowns/implosions?
4. More HD broadcasts on DISH
5. Brandon who?

Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer.