[SFG Blog] Why Giants fans should root for the Dodgers in the 2013 postseason

[Villain]

Why Giants Fans Should Root for the Dodgers in the 2013 Postseason

Written by Richard Dyer on Friday, 04 October 2013 05:45.


What? Are you kidding me? Are you actually asking San Francisco Giant fans to cheer for the Los Angeles Dodgers throughout the 2013 MLB playoffs? Tell us your medication has run out or maybe you're overdoing it with a great new Mezcal. And that none of this is true.

Cheering for the Dodgers goes against the genetic code of any righteous San Francisco Giants fan. We'd rather spend our summer vacation on the Santa Monica pier eating Dodger Dogs, writing birthday cards to Tommy Lasorda.

But wait just a minute. This is all about money and forcing the Giants ownership to spend some of it.

Let's everyone grab a bottle of Trumer Pils, take a good long swig and sit down on the couch with some cornnuts. Then take another minute to think about the bigger picture.

For years the San Francisco Giants front office and ownership group have tried to sell the same bullcrap story at the start of every season to Giants fans and the media: "Hey, we're just a small market baseball team that can't afford to spend as much money as the rich teams on player salaries. We, you know, have a budget".

The Giants are hoping everyone will understand when they don't sign the players they need because there's a "budget limit " each year. Because, like, that's all the money they have to spare. Right?

Wrong, Jocko.

The San Francisco Giants are 6th out of 30 MLB teams in yearly revenue, with $262 million coming in in 2012. They're one of only four teams that own their own baseball park and all the revenue that goes with that. And the $30 million yearly mortgage on AT&T Park will be paid off in several years. The Giants are also developing land use deals on property they own next to AT&T Park that will result in enormous future residential and commercial revenue for the team.

In addition, like every other franchise in baseball the Giants get $60 million dollars each year in national media and revenue sharing from Major League Baseball simply for owning a team. Then there's the local radio and TV revenue, plus a potential boatload of post season money, and you have a lot of extra frosting on a very large cake.

So when the Giants announce their player payroll "budget" each year, what they're really doing is letting the ownership group know exactly how much profit they'll all be getting at the end of the season. Which is fine. I get that people are in business to make money, not donate it.

But understand, that payroll "budget" is something they pull out of the dark recesses of their hindquarters each and every season. It has nothing to do with how much money the franchise is able to spend signing players each season.

So here's my point.

What the Giants, and probably a lot of other MLB owners, want more than anything else in the 2013 playoffs is for low payroll teams like Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, or Oakland to do well. What the San Francisco Giants don't want is for big payroll teams like Los Angeles or Boston to do well.

That way Giants' ownership can say, "Well it just goes to show you, spending a lot of money on players doesn't work. It's all about having a great minor league system and bringing young players up."

Which justifies the Giants keeping their payroll down and signing cheap marginal players in the hope they accidently do well.

Owners looking to spend less love it when fans look down on big spending ball clubs and talk nasty about those teams trying to "buy" a World Series. But as we've seen over the years, that tired idea of rich teams "buying" a World Series is a myth. Otherwise either the Yankees, the Angels, Philadelphia, or the Texas Rangers would win the Series every year. And, as it turns out, they don't.

Here's something else that's not true: the San Francisco Giants don't have a "great" minor league organization developing great young players as an alternative to spending money. San Francisco's minor league system is rated at the bottom third of all 30 MLB teams.

To recap: the Giants don't want to spend money on getting the players they need to win, and they have been terrible at developing and bringing up young position players through their minor league system. A double threat.

So back to my traitorous lead: Go Dodgers, and make it harder for the Giants front office not to spend some of that money they're printing every year.

 

[tzill]

Why Giants Fans Should Root for the Dodgers in the 2013 Postseason

Complete douchesack article. Two horrible premises:

1. that money doesn't equal a greater chance to win because "the Yankees or Phillies don't win every year." Classic reductionist fallacy. If you look at the playoff participants over the last 15 years, you will see that the top 10 payroll teams are massively over represented. That the top spending team doesn't win the championship every year doesn't change these facts. If you spend money it won't guarantee you the playoffs, but if you DON'T spend money it almost always guarantees you won't be playing in October.

2. That the Giants are horrible at developing position players and therefore always will be. Classic flawed premise followed by illogical conclusion. First, Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, and Pablo Sandoval say "hi." Second, the Giants philosophy had been to draft and develop pitchers (which they are very good at) and then trade for position players as needed. You know, playing to your strengths. That philosophy has changed (see first point) and we are seeing a lot more position players come through.

Finally, this stoopid article was written to justify the doyers embarassing payroll and the sad fact that MLB is the only major sports league in the country without a salary cap. Because the last thing in the world doyerfan wants is to have a salary cap. Couldn't buy their way into the playoffs that way.

 

[Mays-Fan]

I'll take "World's Thinnest Books" for $800, Alex.

 

[Epic Voidfield]

I should print this article on toilet paper and use it to wipe my ass with it.

 

[SFGRTB]

"I award you no points, and may god have mercy on your soul."

 

[SF11704]

Interesting article ..... very flawed but still interesting ...... even if each and every point that the writer stated was true ... 100% absolute truth ..... there is no way on God's green earth that a SF Giant fan could root for the LA Dodgers in the playoffs. Makes me wonder if the writer actually understands the dynamics of a fan's loyality. As much as I dislike the RedSux ..... I would root for them in a series against the Doyers. As a matter of fact .... I would root for ANY team against the Doyers in a playoff series .... This wouldbe similar to asking the NYY fans to root for the RedSux in the playoffs .... just not going to happen ......

 

[moxie]

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=...O9ZrhAcu616b5cluJQ4w8_ZQ&ust=1381243213336878http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=...6-TUrP_RTk9pEktxRC21w85Q&ust=1381243462644178

 

[Villain]

Finally, this stoopid article was written to justify the doyers embarassing payroll and the sad fact that MLB is the only major sports league in the country without a salary cap. Because the last thing in the world doyerfan wants is to have a salary cap. Couldn't buy their way into the playoffs that way.

I don't think it's embarrassing, but that's a debate for another thread.

Back on topic, I just thought this article was so entertainingly bad that you guys might get a kick out of shredding it.

 

[MarcoPolo]

It's embarrassing because it's a "buy the world series" payroll. Up until now, that was restricted to the 1997 Marlins and the Yankees after 2000. Now, the despicable dogs are trying it.

 

[Villain]

It's embarrassing because it's a "buy the world series" payroll. Up until now, that was restricted to the 1997 Marlins and the Yankees after 2000. Now, the despicable dogs are trying it.

All payrolls are buy the world series payrolls. Unless you guys are trying to buy last place or something.

 

[tzill]

It's embarrassing because it's a "buy the world series" payroll. Up until now, that was restricted to the 1997 Marlins and the Yankees after 2000. Now, the despicable dogs are trying it.

That, and it's embarrassing that a pro sports league lets one team spend almost ten times what another team spends. Selig should be shot

 

[Pattersonca65]

That article is horse manure. It is not like the Giants are cheap. They are in the top 6 to 8 in the league in payroll. The Dodgers and Yankees are well over everyone else. The Dodgers just got that huge billion dollar TV deal. They have alot more money to spend.

 

[MarcoPolo]

All payrolls are buy the world series payrolls. Unless you guys are trying to buy last place or something.

Bullshit. Total and complete bullshit. While one could argue that "all payrolls are trying to win the world series payrolls", BUYING the world series is spending huge amounts of cash to buy a huge quantity of the best players, and hugely increasing spending. The doggies went from approx #10 payroll to absolute #1 in less than 12 months. THAT is "trying to buy a world series".

 

[MarcoPolo]

That article is horse manure. It is not like the Giants are cheap. They are in the top 6 to 8 in the league in payroll. The Dodgers and Yankees are well over everyone else. The Dodgers just got that huge billion dollar TV deal. They have alot more money to spend.

What's somewhat funny is that when the dodgers bought the RedSox (figuratively), the RedSox and the Giants are pretty damn close in salary (#5 and #6).

 

[Pattersonca65]

What's somewhat funny is that when the dodgers bought the RedSox (figuratively), the RedSox and the Giants are pretty damn close in salary (#5 and #6).

That is funny. I was surprised to see the Giants payroll was more than the Angels. I thought the Angels were big spenders, but I guess they have alot of payroll tied to a few players.