Trevor Bauer Rant

[Possumlad]

 

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.

Sounds like you'd be a great fit on Manfred's staff! It's ironic that's baseball's most hardcore fans are the ones seemingly most intent on driving the final stakes in to its long-term viability coffin.

 

On its current trajectory, I expect the MLB to be about as popular as the NHL in 20-30 years. The sport will be a niche in no time unless they figure out how to appeal to the next generation.

[KirbyDome89]

 

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.

The NBA is killing it because they recognized that it's a star driven league, and they've done a phenomenal job of marketing said stars over the course of an 82 game regular season. Casual NBA fans aren't flocking to watch the 36-46 eight seed in the east get bounced by the one seed in 4-5 games simply because it's playoff basketball. They're tuning in because they recognize, or have developed a rooting interest in, certain players thanks to a familiarity developed via exposure over the course of the regular season and the offseason. 

 

No doubt that having your best players in the postseason helps with marketing, but 3-4 extra games for Mike Trout's 80-82 LAA in October still isn't the same opportunity as a 162 game regular season tour across the country. If an effective regular season marketing campaign simply doesn't exist, then maybe MLB should address format changes to the game itself. I agree with Bauer that the former should be the first course of action. 

[Riverbrian]

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?

Both can be done.

 

For the record... I agree with Trevor Bauer. I think his rant is almost spot on. I only disagree with his use of rule changes to show misplaced attention while supporting his overall point.

 

You can do both but regardless more power to Bauer. Go get em because he is right.

[KirbyDome89]

 

Both can be done.

For the record... I agree with Trevor Bauer. I think his rant is almost spot on. I only disagree with his use of rule changes to show misplaced attention while supporting his overall point.

You can do both but regardless more power to Bauer. Go get em because he is right.

You might have a more kind view of Manfred than I do. I agree, they could certainly do both, but I don't see the merit in making format changes until they've exhausted or at least attempted a revamped marketing approach. To me the rule changes are more about Manfred "making his mark," or cashing in on a quick buck rather than advancing baseball. 

[Riverbrian]

 

You might have a more kind view of Manfred than I do. I agree, they could certainly do both, but I don't see the merit in making format changes until they've exhausted or at least attempted a revamped marketing approach. To me the rule changes are more about Manfred "making his mark," or cashing in on a quick buck rather than advancing baseball. 

 

I don't think about the commissioner hardly at all. I have no opinion.

 

I'm just talking from a state of the game view and I happen to strongly agree with Trevor. 

 

Weather you agree with the rule changes or you don't. The rule changes are separate from the real issues that Bauer talks about. 

 

The Blackout Rules: Are arcane and ridiculous. The rules PREVENT people from WATCHING the game. If you want to grow, restricting access is impossible to explain. I get it, the purpose is to protect the TV deal and they pay a lot of money for the broadcast rights but it's short term pennies sacrificing a longer term dollar. I'm amazed that they haven't figured out how to get out of this. People are cutting the cord, baseball can't change this. They can go down with cable or stop and think about it for a second... and then fix it. If people want to watch the game. LET THEM. The technology is there to watch a game in an elevator on your phone... get out of their way and let them. Be where the people are!!!! It's 2020 not 1960. 

 

Highlights: A few years back, every night, I would go to bed and watch the highlights from every baseball game on my Ipad before I nodded off to sleep. The following year... a 15 second commercial was attached to every 15 second highlight. It was annoying enough that my highlight watching reduced to maybe a quarter of the highlights a couple of times a week. The year after that, no more access to them at all unless I paid for them. I can afford them but I refuse out of principle. Highlights are promotion. You don't pay for a movie trailer. If Trout robs a home run, it should be sent straight to my phone and it should interrupt my dinner while I watch it, if I choose. Get some people who understand social media and get the people who get in their way out of the way. 

 

Personalized Cleats: Let players express themselves. Absolutely agree. Let them flip bats to the hearts desire without a ball in the back. Put some individuality, put some emotion into the game. 

 

Marketing: Everybody knew who Babe Ruth was via Radio and Newspaper alone. If Babe Ruth was playing today he would be surpassed by the top athletes of almost every other sport. Baseball marketing hasn't advanced past Radio and Newspaper (add television) while generations of new ideas haven't been utilized. Baseball doesn't have a single player on the most popular list, Baseball doesn't have a single player on the most followed list. 

 

But... it stands to reason... because they have been restricting access, squashing expression and personality for quite some time now. 

 

Trevor Bauer is completely right.

 

However, playoff expansion has nothing to do with his rightness. It was just the vehicle that got him rolling down this particular road.