Baseball Contraction : The Right Way

Two days after the best World Series in my lifetime (that didn't include Kirk Gibson), baseball commissioner Bud Selig announced that he and major league baseball would vote towards contraction of two teams, in other words the elimination of two teams. The owners voted 28-2 towards contraction with only the Minnesota Twins and Montreal Expos opposed, as they are the two likely targets. The reasoning behind this elimination is:

"The teams to be contracted have a long record of failing to generate enough revenues to operate a viable major league franchise."

This contraction isn't going to be easy though, Michigan Democrat John Conyers says he'll lead a fight against any sort of team elimination. I think it shows a lot of Conyers character that he'd actually fight for a baseball team when we're knee deep in a "war." (And a team that isn't even in his state, WTF?) Conyers claims this is an antitrust violation, as the money-making monopolists (the other teams) will take out some of their competition and will increase their profits. This argument has to be considered utter horseshit. In the past decade we've seen many expansion teams enter the league (Rockies, Marlins, Diamondbacks, Devil Rays) as the league is trying to increase baseballs range across the nation, not worried about losing profits. In fact increasing their range and in turn their fan base, should increase profits in the long run. More baseball fans = more money and higher ratings, it's that simple.

Conyers and the legislators are missing one fact though: Baseball has an anti-trust exemption, and they've shown for the past 80 years that they seem to be able to handle themselves pretty damn well. If these teams were packing their stadiums and making a profit, this would be a whole 'nother story. But MLB is just trying to cut the fat, and bring baseball to cities that can actually support and appreciate it. The Expos owner, Jeffrey Loria, has already stated that he would happily accept the $200 million that MLB will pay the owners for eliminating their teams. The Expos wouldn't be worth even $100 million in the open market, so is this really such a bad deal?

Personally I'm against anything that eliminates a team that has a World Series title (Twins, Marlins), but c'mon if their stadiums going to fall apart or they're going to play to less fans than Neil Diamond...something needs to be done. So now I say, give every team one more chance, and the teams with the lowest attendance are gone...period. Your fans have 162 games to appreciate you, and if they don't, obviously you don't belong in major league baseball. I say that Selig announces that after this next baseball season the team's with the worst home attendance averages be put out to pasture. Put their fate in the fan's hands, besides isn't this game supposed to be for the fans anyway?

No one appreciates something, until it's suddenly taken away. You threaten these cities and teams with elimination, and maybe it will be all the spark that's needed to turn these clubs into revenue generators. And for those teams who's cities that say they don't care, you can just come to Iowa...we'll take care of ya right. All we've got to do is watch the corn grow, and that's getting pretty f-ing old.

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