Trevor Bauer Rant

[Seth Stohs]

Trevor Bauer posted a video in which he rants on some interesting baseball topics...

 

In particular, he talked about things like the cleat policy and baseball's advanced media. About how well the NBA markets themselves on social media and how poorly MLB does. Where is the innovation? 

 

It's worth taking the one minute to listen to and then discuss.  

 

 

 

[KirbyDome89]

He's 100% right on everything. MLB is essentially the grave digger being paid to dig their own plot. Until they can resist the instant gratification of a quick buck upfront and start making decisions that support the long term health of the game, the hole will continue to get deeper. 

[Dman]

I think he makes some good points.  Baseball doesn't market itself where young people hangout and can get involved like Twitter among other sources.  I think he is right that it likely is short sighted that the pay for content might make money now but by not keeping it open and engaging the younger generation then over time their fan-base will be gone.  

 

While I get his frustration with baseballs proposed rules changes and specifically the playoff changes I don't think they will be damaging to the game either.  I guess his point is those changes won't help engage young fans because they are not hanging out on MLB.com but checking out Tweets, about flashy plays, and what players are saying etc.  The changes baseball is making won't help them connect to the younger generation and I think he has a point.

 

None of my kids are interested in baseball or follow it or talk about.  They all watch and follow football and even keep up with hockey some.  Heck they even follow soccer more than baseball.  

 

I am not sure what the answers are but I do think Bauer has some interesting points.  Right now there are still plenty of baseball fans but I think as time goes by in the next ten years or so if things don't change they literally might have trouble filling seats.

[Thrylos]

Self serving:  "Market the players".   Most of the fans care about teams and not players.

And players like him who have no team loyalty can go (havefunwith) themselves

And they can wear any color cleats they want to while they are at it.

Period. Fullstop.

[cardsfan]

Trevor Bauer posted a video in which he rants on some interesting baseball topics...

 

In particular, he talked about things like the cleat policy and baseball's advanced media. About how well the NBA markets themselves on social media and how poorly MLB does. Where is the innovation?

 

It's worth taking the one minute to listen to and then discuss.

 

https://twitter.com/tysonhutchins_/status/1227461850977185792

This NBA season: TV ratings on TNT are down 21%. 15% overall.

[PseudoSABR]

 

This NBA season: TV ratings on TNT are down 21%. 15% overall.

That's part of his point though: that TV ratings as a measure of your league's popularity and exposure is completely outmoded.  The NBA's presence on social media I'm sure completely surpasses MLB, perhaps  100 fold; and it's social media how young people consume entertainment.  

[Dman]

 

That's part of his point though: that TV ratings as a measure of your league's popularity and exposure is completely outmoded.  The NBA's presence on social media I'm sure completely surpasses MLB, perhaps  100 fold; and it's social media how young people consume entertainment.  

 

Totally agree with you.  My kids don't watch TV there are too many commercials and they don't want to wait for what they watch they will go out and find it on You tube, or Netflix or amazon etc..  They hangout on Facebook and Twitter and like to do snapchat.  TV is not really a part of their life it is for old people.  The times they are a change-in you can ignore it if you want but then you go the way of the Blackberry or horse and buggy at some point you are no longer relevant.

[dex8425]

 

Self serving:  "Market the players".   Most of the fans care about teams and not players.

And players like him who have no team loyalty can go (havefunwith) themselves

And they can wear any color cleats they want to while they are at it.

Period. Fullstop.

If you look at which U.S. counties have the angels as the team they follow most now, as opposed to the pre Mike Trout era, there is only one conclusion to draw: Mike Trout as a player is marketable. Also if you know Bauer you know he is a big Dodger fan. Trout has 1.7 million followers on instagram.

 

https://www.vividseats.com/blog/most-popular-mlb-teams-by-state-county

[Tyler Roepke]

Man this guy annoys me for some reason but I do like how he calls people out intelligently. I also recall him claiming that Houston pitchers were using something to get more spin on their pitches. I believe that very well could have been possible after the recent news.

[Dman]

 

Man this guy annoys me for some reason but I do like how he calls people out intelligently. I also recall him claiming that Houston pitchers were using something to get more spin on their pitches. I believe that very well could have been possible after the recent news.

 

Totally agree that he comes off as annoying and childish.  I guess that can be how passion manifests itself but if he just used facts and a well thought out plan he would be more convincing.

[Thrylos]

 

If you look at which U.S. counties have the angels as the team they follow most now, as opposed to the pre Mike Trout era, there is only one conclusion to draw: Mike Trout as a player is marketable. Also if you know Bauer you know he is a big Dodger fan. Trout has 1.7 million followers on instagram.

 

https://www.vividseats.com/blog/most-popular-mlb-teams-by-state-county

How many of Trout's fans are not Angels' fans?  Will any Twins' fans ever follow White Sox' players?

[Sssuperdave]

I've never like Trevor Bauer but I have to admit that I agree with pretty much everything he said, especially how MLB makes their content too hard to access, that the rule changes are kind of dumb, and that he cleat policy is dumb.

 

The only area where I disagree with Trevor is on the game length. I think length of game is a real problem the league needs to keep working to address.  I agree with him that there are other, bigger reasons MLB isn't connecting with younger fans, lack of social media engagement being a big one.

 

I guess I'd say shortening the games is a necessary but not sufficient step towards winning back fans.  Trevor seems to be saying it's not even necessary. 

[nicksaviking]

I completely agree that the MLB is next to incompetent in marketing itself compared to the other sports.

 

However, it seems a bit contradictory that he then is against rule changes, most of which are modeled after the other sports or are geared towards bringing interest to younger fans.  

[Diesel]

He’s 100% right on everything. The marketing of players across the nation has been terrible. I personally remember a bunch of commercials with Mauer, Prince Fielder, Griffey, etc. Around here, a lot of my friends stopped being fans when the Twins took almost a decade off from relevancy, and are just back getting into it. FSN isn’t on every major cable provider, so a lot of people can’t even watch the games! Length of game isn’t an issue with streaming options, games just should start maybe half an hour earlier. Where have the ads been with Astudillo, Arraez, Kepler, Cruz, Sano?

[Dantes929]

 

Self serving:  "Market the players".   Most of the fans care about teams and not players.

And players like him who have no team loyalty can go (havefunwith) themselves

And they can wear any color cleats they want to while they are at it.

Period. Fullstop.

Kind of the point.   Most of the fans, myself included have loyalty to the team and not the players but that is how we grew up.   Don't you think it is different with the younger generation?    What players have team loyalty?    Joe Mauer, Paul Konerko and Aaron Trout are the only ones that come to mind.   Players are controlled for the first half dozen years or so and then sign extensions or free agency contracts that are good for them first, and good for the teams only as a byproduct.     People say he is selfish but I find him rather refreshing.    He is saying pay me well for the year I have just had.and we will go year by year.      Is it somehow better to say pay me well for the next 8 years for the year I just had whether I pitch well or not.    Is that how you define loyalty?

[NapoleonComplex]

 

How many of Trout's fans are not Angels' fans?  Will any Twins' fans ever follow White Sox' players?

 

I followed Frank Thomas while being a rabid Twins fan. I'm also a fan of Mike Trout without being a fan of the Angels. Being a fan of a team and a fan individual players are not mutually exclusive. Isn't it one of the reasons TD has a thread that follows former Twins players? Fans build bonds with players regardless of where they play.

[Bomba2026]

I still can't believe him sailing a 300 ft fastball into the outfield....he has things on his mind and Im glad he is not a Twin.

[Squirrel]

How many of Trout's fans are not Angels' fans? Will any Twins' fans ever follow White Sox' players?

Trout fans? I’d say quite a lot of baseball fans follow him, and I say that based solely on the comments here from people.

 

White Sox? I do, occasionally. I live in Chicago, and we play them a lot. I want to know local sports and I want to know who the Twins are up against. Now, I don’t necessarily follow them the way I do Twins players, but I do follow them enough to have some idea what we will be up against now and in the near future.

 

And I think Bauer has it right about marketing and abut all the pay for content. Heck, you can’t watch the Cubs this year, locally, unless you subscribe to their channel. At the very least MLB should say no to that. Talk abut bad for baseball, but good for baseball owners.

[dex8425]

 

How many of Trout's fans are not Angels' fans?  Will any Twins' fans ever follow White Sox' players?

 

Idk about the first question but I'll continue to watch Trevor May's youtube channel no matter what team he is on next season. And I'll keep watching Trevor Bauer's youtube channel no matter what team he's on. 

 

The growth of baseball in the past couple years has been on social media, specifically in all these specific baseball youtube channels, like jomboy, fuzzy, matt antonelli, domingo ayala, foolish baseball, etc. They are exploding. Kids are on youtube. I'm not even that young and I watch a lot of yt videos. 

[dex8425]

 

I still can't believe him sailing a 300 ft fastball into the outfield....he has things on his mind and Im glad he is not a Twin.

I think it'd be awesome if he was on the Twins.

 

Did you watch the rest of that half inning? Actually, did you watch that whole start? He explained it here

[KirbyDome89]

 

I completely agree that the MLB is next to incompetent in marketing itself compared to the other sports.

 

However, it seems a bit contradictory that he then is against rule changes, most of which are modeled after the other sports or are geared towards bringing interest to younger fans.  

I don't see any contradiction. Bauer believes the game is enjoyable as it is, but MLB is failing to make it available. 

[Diesel]

The growth of baseball in the past couple years has been on social media, specifically in all these specific baseball youtube channels, like jomboy, fuzzy, matt antonelli, domingo ayala, foolish baseball, etc. They are exploding. Kids are on youtube. I'm not even that young and I watch a lot of yt videos.

Jomboy and Foolish BB have actually impacted MLB as a whole. The magnitude of the cheating wouldn't have been known without Jomboy’s videos, and I highly doubt Larry Walker makes it to the Hall of Fame this year without Foolish’s video. Baseball would be smart to let these guys make their money.

[nicksaviking]

 

I don't see any contradiction. Bauer believes the game is enjoyable as it is, but MLB is failing to make it available. 

 

So make it available on platforms needed to get the younger audience in the door, but don't actually change anything to get them to stay.

 

[dex8425]

 

Jomboy and Foolish BB have actually impacted MLB as a whole. The magnitude of the cheating wouldn't have been known without Jomboy’s videos, and I highly doubt Larry Walker makes it to the Hall of Fame this year without Foolish’s video. Baseball would be smart to let these guys make their money.

Agreed! I think there is a nonzero chance Foolish BB's video had an impact on Larry Walker's HOF entry. I think it helped more that there was only one other deserving candidate this year. 

 

I love foolish BB!

[Richie the Rally Goat]

That's part of his point though: that TV ratings as a measure of your league's popularity and exposure is completely outmoded. The NBA's presence on social media I'm sure completely surpasses MLB, perhaps 100 fold; and it's social media how young people consume entertainment.

yup, and if you want to stop the bleeding, better get your game accessible via widespread streaming post-haste! Prime, YouTube, Twitter, whatever... if it’s available, consumers will pay for it al a carte, or from a service they already have.

[KirbyDome89]

 

So make it available on platforms needed to get the younger audience in the door, but don't actually change anything to get them to stay.

I'm not sure why you'd assume format changes need to be made when the current style hasn't been made readily available or properly marketed. That's his entire point, and nothing he said is inconsistent with that.

 

Why dilute the playoff field and devalue the regular season in an attempt to reach out to a younger audience when simply making content available and putting effort into a better marketing strategy can do the same? 

[Tomj14]

I don't have a good answer to getting more people watching, other than parents turning of the video games.

My son (11) loves watching NBA highlights, but there is zero chance he will watch a game (I don't blame him), he doesn't play baseball but loved the home run derby, made us sit in the restaurant we were eating at until it was done (which I loved, the wife no so much)

When I am watching the twins he will be glued to the TV when Sano and Cruz were batting but not so much for the rest of the guys.

If I am watching another game he will ask if it is the Angels just to see if Trout is playing, or Judge he loves him as well., but if I say no he walks away.

So maybe baseball just needs to flood the advertising with all the the stars and have the younger generation get to know more and more of the players?

I will add the analytics have made the game boring as heck to people that don't really understand the game and or don't really love numbers. Besides the shift I personally love the game within the game.

[nicksaviking]

 

I'm not sure why you'd assume format changes need to be made when the current style hasn't been made readily available or properly marketed. That's his entire point, and nothing he said is inconsistent with that.

 

Why dilute the playoff field and devalue the regular season in an attempt to reach out to a younger audience when simply making content available and putting effort into a better marketing strategy can do the same? 

 

Casual fans don't care about the regular season, and that's the problem. The NBA is killing it despite casual fans not paying attention until the playoffs start; which seems like it's 1/3rd of the whole season.

 

Everyone is complaining about extra playoff teams, and if I got to choose I'd put it back at three division winners and a wild card. But MLB already has me and I'm not going anywhere and they know it. If they want new people, they have to roll with the times, and the times say get your star players in the post season and get eyes on every screen on every platform and sell some merchandise and get some advertisers. Selling tickets to the game is only optional.

 

Why isn't Mike Trout a big time star? Because his team is never in the playoffs. A 14-16 team field will get him there. If the MLB wants to survive and thrive, it can't make appeasing us hardcore baseball fans it's priority. Most of us will stick around anyway.

[dex8425]

 

When I am watching the twins he will be glued to the TV when Sano and Cruz were batting but not so much for the rest of the guys.

If I am watching another game he will ask if it is the Angels just to see if Trout is playing, or Judge he loves him as well., but if I say no he walks away.

So maybe baseball just needs to flood the advertising with all the the stars and have the younger generation get to know more and more of the players?

 

Exactly what Bauer was saying about marketing the players.

[MMMordabito]

My youngest son has asked to go to the Twins vs. Astros both years since the Astros "won" the title.  He really likes Altuve, Springer and "CrazyHair" Gurriel.  It sucks.  I haven't told him about the scandal yet, because he is in his basketball season and it's out-of-site, out-of-mind.  Players from other teams are fun to watch, but it really sucks when they do something like the Astros did.

 

I didn't really get too bent out of shape about the Taubmann nonsense, because I thought that was one idiot among a bunch of good guys.  He was an office nerd and the good guys were the players.  Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.

 

Lewis Black tactics are an easy way to keep the kids familiar with the current players.  Put money on the line.  It doesn't matter if it's a dollar or twenty dollars.  Some type of contest or competition always works for me.  We go to or watch a game and (if it's just one of the kids with me) pick four players each from the lineup. Whoever has the most home runs wins.  Hits are the tiebreaker. After a few games into the season, the contest isn't necessary anymore.  I'll get, "Papa, can you tell me when [Cruz or Buxton] is up?".  I probably won't get a whole game, but there is interest.