Hongbit

You know that headlines don’t tell the full story. A few outliers in things like eggs, fruits, and hotels boosted numbers. Shelter which makes up 1/3 of the index was actually pretty good.

Thinking the same. I love the product but yearly 13% increases are ridiculous. It’s been years since I’ve compared with cable so I have no idea how this prices now.

Happy Sound Check Day!

Trolls gonna troll

My issue is that it doesn’t feel like organic growth. The game isn’t exploding with popularity like the NFL which is creating this giant increase in guaranteed money. It feels like a few billionaires in ideal markets throwing money around because they can and it serves their personal interests.

It hasn’t been this way in the past but I think we may start seeing a stronger correlation between FA spending and winning. Expanded playoffs along with free spending by only a few will create a situation where just a rash of massive injuries will keep the top teams from making a deep playoff run every year. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a push for a 5 game first round playoff series to further ensure the marquee teams and players are in the CS and WS.

Things have changed now we’ve gotten into the stupid 12 to 15 year terms on these deals. The Soto contact won’t be unwise for 7 or 8 years. In the near term, he’s in his prime and probably worth every dollar. The added guaranteed money and term is what makes it such a dumb contract.

Baseball is the outlier. Every other sport has a cap. Sure, the players will hate it and it may lead to a strike, but a cap should be on the table as an option. It’s not an impossibility. Easy way to get it on the table is to introduce something much worse to the players and then come back the salary cap. That thing that is much worse…non-guaranteed contracts. A cap beats the other option. All the non multi-billionaire owners sell their teams to VC guys and the league becomes a real life billionaires fantasy league.

It will help the competitive balance when it comes to the acquisition and retention of players. We’ve always had a system where the top teams could spend more. Now, we’ve reached a point where 80% of the league doesn’t even have the option to consider an offer for top players. It’s not even about not wanting to spend the money. They don’t have the money. This will also have huge impact on teams trying to retain their players. Tarik Skubal will not be a Tiger in 2 years. They can not pay stupid dollars and term like he will get from the top teams. He will have to be traded at the deadline or maybe even will leave scot free if the team is in the playoff race. There won’t any debates to keep him or not and there won’t be anyone hammering Chris for not spending money. It’s really going to suck for all of us having to watch it happen knowing there’s nothing to be done. It’s sort of like this already but we will move to where it never happens that even a single young star stays with the non big money team that they came up with. Teams like the Tigers will become like a major league farm team for them. MLB is the only major sport without some type of cap. Something needs to be put in place that either slows the cost of doing business or at least brings that rapid growth inline with increased outside revenue. NFL and NBA have record TV deals and are branching out into new platforms. They are both seeing significant revenue growth that is driving salary up. Baseball is not in this category. Their TV deals are messy and in flux. I don’t see the financial growth of the league flourishing to the same levels that spending has. I see two VC billionaires spending crazy money for their own personal gain. I don’t see how any of it is good for the future of the game and seems like a recipe for disaster.

This is one of the smarter moves by anyone in the portal. He was really good when healthy last year and is a legit one of the top corners on the market. He will get a big payday and probably start on CFP contender.

I’m holding out hope that these two Venture Capitalists that have chosen to pump up the market for their own short term success will spur the rest of the owners to put a salary cap in place.

It’s possible that we could see a complete reshuffling of the deck when the 2026 cars hit the circuit. The odds are much more in the favor of the big teams but Williams has a shot at being the team that figures it out before the rest.

How much more can they continue to increase before people get fed up? $25 beers and $10 hot dogs along with $50 get in tickets just doesn’t seem sustainable especially over an 81 game home schedule. From a competition standpoint, we are quickly moving into an English Premier League model where 6 teams fight for the title and the other 14 are just fodder.

Much of that depends on how many players he can get from UNLV to follow him to Indiana.

I fear this sport is doomed. There is no way the market can handle this type of drastic salary increase.

I wonder if Arizona State is thinking they never should’ve joined the Pac-10 in the first place. This is way down the list of their greatest teams and they are Big-12 champs in their first year.

That was sick to do in a game! He should make a tiktok in his car to celebrate.

First I’ve ever thought about Syrian rebels. I’m sure they’re lovely people just looking for peace, love, and understanding and not Talibanish at all.

Is the someone Mattress Mac?

Love This Team

Crazy how far we’ve come that I’m expecting them to find a way win instead of doing something spectacular to lose.

I don’t believe either defense can keep this up.

Didn’t have defensive battle on my card

Love the spice. It’s just what the sport needed. It’s also rekindled the Toto vs. Horner feud. Too bad it didn’t happen earlier in the season.

Right when I thought it wasn’t possible for East Bay fans to hate John Fisher even more.