Yamamoto ....Imanaga...Come on Bloom, get us one like these.

[Swuhgen]

Get in on some of this international pitching. The Cards don't seem to get that into that Asian market expect for and outfielder. That Yamamoto is the Dodgers best pitcher and it showed. Took a game in Toronto and they needed it badly.

Asian players of any quality are not coming here.

[LCA1951]

Yamamoto is fine but he’s no Mikolas

100% correct. He definitively is not

[LCA1951]

Get in on some of this international pitching. The Cards don't seem to get that into that Asian market expect for and outfielder. That Yamamoto is the Dodgers best pitcher and it showed. Took a game in Toronto and they needed it badly.

Asian players of any quality are not coming here.

Explain?

[2ninr]

Do we have the money to outbid the big money teams?

If $$$ wee comparable , would you pick Southern California sunny weather year round ocean location , , outdoor pool usable 12 months per year OR would you prefer St. Louis ?

And pay California taxes? If dollars were equal I'd take Florida or Texas with no state income tax but dollars aren't usually equal.

Got to also factor in those areas might not offer a Japanese player the same endorsement opportunities and lets not forget playoffs and WS chances. Nothing in Florida with playoff aspirations every year.

Really the only competition for a guy like Yamamoto is San Diego or the Giants. Anyone else would need to outbid by a margin to make it all equal even with higher taxes. Well maybe NYY if they are willing to accept longer non-stops to Tokyo.

All good points. I'm probably dreaming but perhaps in 2027 the small and medium market franchise band together and get a serious MLB payroll cap. That would open things up for more teams to compete for good players - and for world series titles.

We can hope. I suspect because of the competing issues and clans we don't see a hard cap. I think it ends up with a higher luxury tax cap and harsher penalties for going over plus a mandatory minimum. They could also cost draft picks for signing free agents at a certain price point. I don't know there are things they might get thru. I just don't see the have not teams having the clout to push the union and rich clubs into a hard cap.

You want to expound on that?

I can't speak for AZ but I'll render my opinion. It used to be a team signing a type A free agent - similar to today's qualifying offer free agent - was they lost their first round pick and the team that lost the free agent got your first round pick. Now that has changed and penalty and compensation are not as significant. They also put limits on how much teams can spend in the draft and international signings. That was done because the Pirates were spending more than any other team on draft picks and international signings while maintaining a low payroll.

The change was made because the union and big money teams complained. Instead of more parody they went in the opposite direction. 2027 is a crucial year for MLB.

Thanks Scotch. That was kind of my point. They already have draft choice penalties in place. But you raise an interesting thought. Maybe they have a sliding scale where teams that sign more high tier free agents pay more.

[ScotchMIrish]

Do we have the money to outbid the big money teams?

If $$$ wee comparable , would you pick Southern California sunny weather year round ocean location , , outdoor pool usable 12 months per year OR would you prefer St. Louis ?

And pay California taxes? If dollars were equal I'd take Florida or Texas with no state income tax but dollars aren't usually equal.

Got to also factor in those areas might not offer a Japanese player the same endorsement opportunities and lets not forget playoffs and WS chances. Nothing in Florida with playoff aspirations every year.

Really the only competition for a guy like Yamamoto is San Diego or the Giants. Anyone else would need to outbid by a margin to make it all equal even with higher taxes. Well maybe NYY if they are willing to accept longer non-stops to Tokyo.

All good points. I'm probably dreaming but perhaps in 2027 the small and medium market franchise band together and get a serious MLB payroll cap. That would open things up for more teams to compete for good players - and for world series titles.

We can hope. I suspect because of the competing issues and clans we don't see a hard cap. I think it ends up with a higher luxury tax cap and harsher penalties for going over plus a mandatory minimum. They could also cost draft picks for signing free agents at a certain price point. I don't know there are things they might get thru. I just don't see the have not teams having the clout to push the union and rich clubs into a hard cap.

You want to expound on that?

I can't speak for AZ but I'll render my opinion. It used to be a team signing a type A free agent - similar to today's qualifying offer free agent - was they lost their first round pick and the team that lost the free agent got your first round pick. Now that has changed and penalty and compensation are not as significant. They also put limits on how much teams can spend in the draft and international signings. That was done because the Pirates were spending more than any other team on draft picks and international signings while maintaining a low payroll.

The change was made because the union and big money teams complained. Instead of more parody they went in the opposite direction. 2027 is a crucial year for MLB.

Thanks Scotch. That was kind of my point. They already have draft choice penalties in place. But you raise an interesting thought. Maybe they have a sliding scale where teams that sign more high tier free agents pay more.

There are plenty of options available if MLB chooses to go in that direction. The problem is the union and big money teams.

[AZ_Cardsfan]

Do we have the money to outbid the big money teams?

If $$$ wee comparable , would you pick Southern California sunny weather year round ocean location , , outdoor pool usable 12 months per year OR would you prefer St. Louis ?

And pay California taxes? If dollars were equal I'd take Florida or Texas with no state income tax but dollars aren't usually equal.

Got to also factor in those areas might not offer a Japanese player the same endorsement opportunities and lets not forget playoffs and WS chances. Nothing in Florida with playoff aspirations every year.

Really the only competition for a guy like Yamamoto is San Diego or the Giants. Anyone else would need to outbid by a margin to make it all equal even with higher taxes. Well maybe NYY if they are willing to accept longer non-stops to Tokyo.

All good points. I'm probably dreaming but perhaps in 2027 the small and medium market franchise band together and get a serious MLB payroll cap. That would open things up for more teams to compete for good players - and for world series titles.

We can hope. I suspect because of the competing issues and clans we don't see a hard cap. I think it ends up with a higher luxury tax cap and harsher penalties for going over plus a mandatory minimum. They could also cost draft picks for signing free agents at a certain price point. I don't know there are things they might get thru. I just don't see the have not teams having the clout to push the union and rich clubs into a hard cap.

You want to expound on that?

I can't speak for AZ but I'll render my opinion. It used to be a team signing a type A free agent - similar to today's qualifying offer free agent - was they lost their first round pick and the team that lost the free agent got your first round pick. Now that has changed and penalty and compensation are not as significant. They also put limits on how much teams can spend in the draft and international signings. That was done because the Pirates were spending more than any other team on draft picks and international signings while maintaining a low payroll.

The change was made because the union and big money teams complained. Instead of more parody they went in the opposite direction. 2027 is a crucial year for MLB.

Thanks I missed the bolded part and didn't understand what he was asking.

[CorneliusWolfe]

Do we have the money to outbid the big money teams?

If $$$ wee comparable , would you pick Southern California sunny weather year round ocean location , , outdoor pool usable 12 months per year OR would you prefer St. Louis ?

There was a time where maybe some would pick STL for its reputation as an elite franchise over some of the more inept west coast teams but now we’re the inept franchise…with the inferior climate.

[Strummer Jones]

Yamamoto is fine but he’s no Mikolas

Listen, neither of them are a Drew VerHagen. Total game changer.

[VegasVinny]

Thought exercise: a company in Canada is interested in your services and will compensate you enough money to set up the next three generations of your family. You can work and live from any of their branches in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, or Winnipeg.

Maybe you choose Toronto or Vancouver because they are major metropolitan cities. Maybe you choose Calgary because the Canadian Rockies are enticing. If the compensation is in the same ballpark as the others, what would any of our motivations be to choose Winnipeg?