Dodgers' Alex Wood Has Perfect Response to New MLB Playoff Format Helping Small Market Teams
By Jerry Trotta
To say that Major League Baseball's proposed playoff changes haven't sat well with players would be a comprehensive understatement.
Cincinnati Reds hurler Trevor Bauer spearheaded the campaign to swiftly reject the proposition with a savage tweet directed at commissioner Rob Manfred, and followed that up with a spot-on rant on YouTube a day later.
Well, Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Alex Wood followed Bauer's lead by eviscerating one of the supposed goals of the new format.
The Royals just sold for $1 BILLION there is no $ disparity. There are rich teams and there are really rich teams. All are capable to sign and field great rosters yet choose not to. Cheap teams shouldn’t be rewarded with the playoffs if they don’t spend. https://t.co/eulOinyyqP
— Alex Wood (@Awood45) February 11, 2020
Is it possible for this tweet to be framed and promptly hung in Cooperstown?
MLB pundits, like ESPN's Buster Olney, are convinced that small market teams will be presented the opportunity to overcome financial discrepancy and make the postseason.
Wood rightfully disagrees and backs his vantage point perfectly, specifically noting that the Kansas City Royals just sold for $1 billion (!). It proves that small market clubs that deploy rosters with paltry payrolls doesn't necessarily mean they are struggling with finances.
The teams don't have equal revenue streams. The Indians and Rays don't make as much money as the Yankees and Dodgers. That's just never going to change.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) February 11, 2020
Olney clapped back at Wood, and basically just reiterated what the 29-year-old hurler said in his original post. Obviously the Yankees and Dodgers make more money than most teams.
That doesn't mean all franchise's aren't rich, and this new absurd proposition won't benefit small market teams nearly as much as reports are claiming that it will. Obviously teams like the Royals and Rays won't make as much as the Yankees and Dodgers, but that doesn't mean their payrolls have to be different by $100 million.