speaking of baseball

[BigDrawMan]

is it a coincidence that the only time in baseball history when how much money a team could spend was not the most important factor in a teams performance was the only down period for the Yankees?

I call it the golden era-between the start of the amateur draft and beginning of free agency

[SportsFan68]

is it a coincidence that the only time in baseball history when how much money a team could spend was not the most important factor in a teams performance was the only down period for the Yankees?

I call it the golden era-between the start of the amateur draft and beginning of free agency

I can't figure out if I say Yes or No if I agree or disagree.

[littlebeast13]

is it a coincidence that the only time in baseball history when how much money a team could spend was not the most important factor in a teams performance was the only down period for the Yankees?

I call it the golden era-between the start of the amateur draft and beginning of free agency

I can't figure out if I say Yes or No if I agree or disagree.

Was there no free agency from the mid 80's to the mid 90's?

I was unawre of this.....

lb13

[kayrharris]

is it a coincidence that the only time in baseball history when how much money a team could spend was not the most important factor in a teams performance was the only down period for the Yankees?

I call it the golden era-between the start of the amateur draft and beginning of free agency

I can't figure out if I say Yes or No if I agree or disagree.

Was there no free agency from the mid 80's to the mid 90's?

I was unawre of this.....

lb13

I see your typing hasn't improved any. You been out drinking and gambling all
day or what???

[littlebeast13]

I can't figure out if I say Yes or No if I agree or disagree.

Was there no free agency from the mid 80's to the mid 90's?

I was unawre of this.....

lb13

I see your typing hasn't improved any. You been out drinking and gambling all
day or what???

No, I just slept for the past 10 hours. So I'm recharged and back to my normal self.....

lb13

[Jeemie]

is it a coincidence that the only time in baseball history when how much money a team could spend was not the most important factor in a teams performance was the only down period for the Yankees?

I call it the golden era-between the start of the amateur draft and beginning of free agency

I can't figure out if I say Yes or No if I agree or disagree.

Was there no free agency from the mid 80's to the mid 90's?

I was unawre of this.....

lb13

I was going to say the same thing.

They sucked pretty bad from 1983-1994.

Maybe not as bad as the mid-60s-early 70s, but still...bad enough to be considered a "down period", IMHO.

[etaoin22]

The effectiveness of free agency as a tool for the mass migration of players to and away from certain teams was not genuinely established, or re-established until the end of the 1989 season, and to a certain extent after the 1994 strike. 1987 in particular was the year of Ueberroth-inspired collusion, and then it took a couple of years for the legal fallout from that year to be sorted out. In the eighties, often, if a team showed its genuine interest in an upcoming free agent by trading, the player would sign up with that team, and avoid the open market.

The end of that era was demonstrated by the Expos after 1989. Having traded Randy Johnson (!) and two other pitchers for Mark Langston, the team went 22-40 down the final two months of the season and failed to sign the left-hander. But the real indication of the new era, that George was really in charge again, was the signing of another of the 1989 Five Aces starting rotation -- Pascual Perez -- by the Yanks for at least twice what anyone else would pay. This was of course a failure for the Yanks, one of many occasions in which they have chosen to acquire damaged goods pitchers at a high price, and been disappointed.

The Yanks never really prospered until their own farm system developed a core of stars, and then large amounts of cash could be deployed to fill any holes which were present, especially in mid-season, in a way other teams could not.

The Jason Giambi -- Alex Rodriguez -- Gary Sheffield era Yanks have won exactly zero World Series, but they have until this year blocked out a place for themselves in the post-season. The path to the Series for a team dominant in the regular season seems tougher than previously, which I suspect reflects the increase in the now world-wide talent pool from which MLB draws (esp, Latin America, but far from exclusively..)

[traininvain]

is it a coincidence that the only time in baseball history when how much money a team could spend was not the most important factor in a teams performance was the only down period for the Yankees?

I call it the golden era-between the start of the amateur draft and beginning of free agency

If coincidence another word for CBS, then yes I do agree.