While I certainly understand the "many bites of the apple" approach, I worry that with the expanded playoffs, we may end up like the late-era Kohl Bucks teams that did just enough to get a 7 or 8 seed. It helped the bottom line of the owners to say we were a playoff team, but the Bucks couldn't truly compete against the top of the league. Look what happened to the Bucks when Edens/Lasry decided to pay the luxury tax.
Mark A. says there's always money for moves to improve the team, but outside of 2018, it always seems like we are just nibbling around the edges. I can sympathize with Lauer's frustration because the current players may not be around for those "bites of the apple." They want to win now. And frankly, so do I.
Mark A. has earned the benefit of the doubt that he will never truly strip the team bare like the Orioles or Pirates, but I remain skeptical he'll do what needs to be done to truly contend for a championship. I think he's very comfortable making the wild card game and saying aw shucks when we get beat by the Braves or Dodgers.
Right now we have a lower payroll than what we had in 2012 (in today's dollars), even though revenues have gone up tremendously over the last 10 years. We were a top 10 payroll in 2012. No reason why we can't be a top 10 payroll if we wanted to truly contend.