4 Comments

If you put 87 losses as the threshold to be in the lottery then it becomes a race to get to 87. Number of losses would not change the tanking but may increase tanking for marginal teams without a playoff shot. It is the same case if it is the bottom 10 teams in the lotto. The race to the bottom team becomes the competitive approach for some teams.

I hate this but expanding the playoffs may stop some of the tanking. Have a one game play-in for more teams to maintain their focus on getting to the playoffs. The issue for MLB is if teams take a long term approach then tanking may be the best alternative for a franchise.

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Jeff, would love to buy you coffee and baseball chat. I'm in Mansfield off Broad. If you're interested there's a Starbucks at 360 and Broad.

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Personally, I would hate to see a lottery. Get rid of revenue sharing, quit giving draft compensation to teams losing free agents, quit taking draft picks away from teams signing free agents, increase the salary threshold to pay a luxury tax substantially, but do not make the huge mistake of installing a draft lottery. As soon as they do the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, or Dodgers will have an off year and then magically get the first pick. No, let's not start that.

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