Orioles and Diamondbacks...

[Larryrise]

Should MLB continue to allow this kind of obvious tanking? It's fairly clear now, with one team at 20 straight losses and the other at 17 straight losses. At this rate, baseball will have not one, but two teams break the modern day record of the 63 Mets. Just pathetic.
The irony of all this is it saves the Pirates from being outed, when it's actually Nutting who needs forced out of baseball.

 

[Larryrise]

Maybe MLB needs to adopt a relegation system like soccer?

I love the idea!

 

[PAgeologist]

Maybe MLB needs to adopt a relegation system like soccer?

Or a salary cap AND floor.

 

[wex18]

Orioles have the best AA and A teams in the minors. Give them two or three years. They're where the Astros were five years ago.

 

[Ceasar]

Those teams are not tanking, they just are not very good. And those losing streaks referenced by the OP are road losing streaks; they have not lost that many games in a row. But as another poster pointed out, the O's have a lot of young talent and some of those guys are in the big leagues now and taking their lumps but getting experience. This isn't Charlie Finley selling Vida Blue and Joe Rudi. These are teams trying to accelerate the rebuilding process.

 

[Larryrise]

Those teams are not tanking, they just are not very good. And those losing streaks referenced by the OP are road losing streaks; they have not lost that many games in a row. But as another poster pointed out, the O's have a lot of young talent and some of those guys are in the big leagues now and taking their lumps but getting experience. This isn't Charlie Finley selling Vida Blue and Joe Rudi. These are teams trying to accelerate the rebuilding process.

Baloney. These are teams tanking for draft positions

 

[BrucePa]

Orioles have the best AA and A teams in the minors. Give them two or three years. They're where the Astros were five years ago.

If the Angelos family is still the ownership group, they will be traded away for more players like Chris Davis.

Baseball could benefit from a salary floor, which the all-powerful union would support, and a salary cap, which the inept owners would support. Therefore, neither will happen.

The Tampa Bay Rays pay about $60 million in salaries, and they are better than many $200 million payroll teams.

 

[Erial_Lion]

Baloney. These are teams tanking for draft positions

It has nothing to do with tanking for draft picks...it’s cutting payroll, trading away any talented players for prospects for when you are ready to compete, etc.

 

[Obliviax]

Amazingly, the Tribe is a game out of first place with the lowest payroll in baseball. That now includes losing their #1 and #3 starter and their top two catchers. Tribe front office and skipper have to be the best in baseball with TB and Oakland.

 

[MJG-90]

Baloney. These are teams tanking for draft positions

MLB draft isn't like the NFL or NBA where getting the top pick could change your fortunes overnight. The top pick in the MLB draft is likely multiple years away from playing a Major League game. Makes no sense to tank for that reason. More realistically, their poor records are the results of shedding payroll, getting prospects in return and restocking their minor league system in order to make a run in the future. This is the cycle small market teams go through, some more successfully than others.

 

[BrucePa]

It doesn't quite work the way you're thinking in baseball. Number one picks aren't the same as they are in football and basketball.

Mike Trout was drafted by the Angels late in the first round, after 21 teams passed on him. Aaron Judge was drafted with the 32nd overall pick, after the Yankees used the 26th overall pick on Eric Jagielo. Who? Christian Yelich was drafted 23rd in 2010, after the likes of Alex Wimmers and Kolbrin Vitek. I can cite hundreds of examples. The baseball draft is crapshoot.

 

[The Song Remains the Same]

Baloney. These are teams tanking for draft positions

AZ has had, at times, 48% of active roster on the IL (12 of 25) at same time, including 4 of 5 starting pitchers and all 3 late inning relievers, all on the IL at the SAME TIME. Unless injuries are being faked, that's not the definition of tanking.