Ever root for your baseball team to lose?
 

I'm a Braves fan (lol, obviously) and going into this season I had no illusions that they would be even remotely competitive. So, I pretty much felt like they might as well lose 100 games and get the #1 draft pick. They are moving into a new park next season so I'm not worried about attendance falling really.

But now, out of the blue they have started winning games and have fallen out of the worst record in the game spot and it's driving me mad!

The #1 spot not only provides the first pick in the draft but a larger draft pool of $$$ in which to use for bonuses (which means higher quality picks down the line).

So, ever feel this way? I just don't see much point in finishing 65-97 versus 58-104 overall when you lose several million in draft bonus cash by doing so. It's not like you get a prize for finishing 2nd worst in all of MLB!

unlike other sports, while a #1 quarterback or a franchise-changing basketball player MAY be available w/the top pick, baseball is different - how many top picks have flamed out either in the minors or at the ML level?? - too many to mention (or even research) to prove my personal viewpoint...

but YES, I've actually not given a sh!t whether or not my personal favorite team finished at THE very bottom, or close to it, at the end of the season IF the season is already in the sh!tter when over.

a crappy season is a crappy season, and - "wait 'til next year" is MY way of looking at it, even if that's only a worthless example of positive thinking.

P.S. - the Braves had so many positive/great years that I cannot feel TOO bad for their current lack of quality showings - how many teams would sell their collective souls to the devil to replicate that amazing stretch of division titles the Braves enjoyed for so many years in the Maddux/Smoltz/Glavine/Jones/Justice era???

okay, so they only captured one (1) WS title, but I can see many teams wishing for their (Atlanta's) success for such a long time...

look at the long-suffering Red Sox who finally got their sh!t together in the past 10-15 years, the Giants who sucked for so many seasons, or even the Cubbies with their century+ of futility, and I'm certain they'd definitely trade their crappy years for even a legitimate shot at a legitimate - if not perennial - postseason appearance!

hell, I'm a Phillies fan at heart, and while they had a few good years in the Charlie Manuel days (look it up) they've been horsesh!t since them, and IMO even a handful of worst-record #1 picks are incapable of resurrecting the franchise.

while there' been a few possible exceptions (Strasburg?) of high-draft picks that have panned out, there's been more (#25 pick Mike Trout) or Mike Piazza (62nd round, and a favor to Tommy Lasorda) that have been infinitely more remarkable than acquiring a #1...

JMO, of course, and while I admire your passion for your team, sucking for a year and picking up a #1 ain't all that it's necessarily cracked up to be.

DS

while it is true that baseball draft picks are less of a sure thing, it IS true that the majority of major league players come from the top 2 rounds.

Plus, the way they allocate the bonus pool these days, getting the first pick really can make a difference as you have so much more $$$ to spread around.

with all due respect, a team with the 23rd highest payroll in MLB (out of 30 teams) ain't getting a helluva lot of sympathy from me - personally - by crying poor...we're dealing with fuck!ng billionaires, not mom-n'-pop shops.

have quality scouts, draft well, but *please* - re: the bonus pool, don't insult my (or anybody's) intelligence - playing the "poor me"/us game for individuals/teams that can't/won't pony up for a few extra $$$'s - guess what: I'm a VERY small business owner, and I'm NOT buying the "so much more $$$ to spread around" crap. I gotta do what I gotta do with my (much-more limited) resources, so...

best of luck, Braves - and "Bravos4evr" but - again, with all due respect - I'm just not feelin' the sacrifice/hardship here...



DS

what? the bonus pool makes no difference to team payroll. It is set and stone and to go over by more than 5% means losing draft picks in the future. So, regardless if you are the Dodgers or the A's you must stick to your allotted bonus pool money. (this is why bad teams getting that #1 spot and the $$$$ that comes with it can be so important)

It's not like the old days where you could spend what you wish, you go over 5%, you lose your next year first rounder, go over 10% you lose 2 picks...etc

As a sox fan, only to eliminate the pink hats

ha! yeah, there is that. I would take great pleasure sweeping the Nats or Mets out of the playoffs!

I probably will in a couple of weeks for the Cubs to lose to the Cardinals so that the Mets don't make it to the Wild Card game.

Nick - between the dismantling of the Frank Wren collection via trades for promising prospects and reorganizing of the farm system, better days are coming.

At this point, I would not worry about not getting the number one pick...that doesn't matter as much in Baseball as it does in other sports because there are very few Jr. Griffeys and Bryce Harpers. Teams do just as well in the draft with later picks...it is a very imperfect science.

While I have winced at some of the trades the Braves made, the current results of those trades and their associated follow-up transactions look really good.


...and since I have been an Atlanta Braves fan from day one in 1966, and have lived through all those 'lean' years before 1991, I can say without hesitation that I have never, ever rooted for the Braves to loose.

I've been a fan since the late 70's (when they were awful) and this is the first time I've rooted for them to lose. The business of the game now means that any extra bonus pool $$$ has a value of nearly ten times it' face value. So, I'm less interested in the quality of the #1 vs the #3 draft pick as I am the extra $3m getting the #1 pick grants you in bonus money. That means you can take 2 guyd with higher bonus demands later on that other teams have passed on due to signability. Thats why I think losing 100 games is worth it.

Only if by the Giants losing (and already out of the race), the Dodgers didn't make the playoffs. :D

Anytime i bet against my team.