Well to be fair before that happened it literally WAS almost 30 years before they had last made the World Series....so you aren't wrong in thinking like that
Me, a Royals fan: "oh boy a KC team finally made it onto Urinating Tree, I hope its good!" Urinating Tree: "you cant really make fun of this team because they cant compete with larger market teams" Me: "oh no....the worst insult of all.....crushing reality" *cries in the corner*
I will always support cities like STL, Kansas City, Cleveland, Buffalo, etc when it comes to sports. Even though they get less attention than the biggest cities, they have incredibly dedicated and great fan bases, and all of these cities truly deserve the teams they have plus more honestly
RobbyBurrito this is true, but that is definitely a trend for baseball in general. Most teams can’t fill the stadium in general unless they’re the Yankees, Cardinals, dodgers, cubs, etc.
That's not the case cause teams like the Arizona Coyotes, Ottawa Senators and even the Carolina Hurricanes still have a hard time maintaining success too. Carolina seems to have switched it up but it's been like 20 years since their last successful season. Carolina right now is what the St. Louis Cardinals have been for MLB, a small market team that seems to be getting it right but won't be competing with the Big Market teams like Pittsburgh or Washington
"There are rich teams and there are poor teams. Then there's fifty feet of crap, and then there's us. It's an unfair game." I love that scene from Moneyball. Also, I believe that a hard salary cap is the only real way to remedy this. But, as you said Tree, the players would never consent to it.
nope..MLB players would never allow it nor would any of the top spending teams...imagine tell LA or NY they have to dump half their team in order to meet the cap requirements....
@@georgeprchal3924 agreed. Dont blame your market size blame your ownership. In a day and age where you can stream games anywhere your market can be as big as you want it to be if you are willing to invest in your team and lets face it most small market clubs dont care to invest more than they have to despite the long term benifits
@@georgeprchal3924 these low spending teams probably wouldnt be so cheap if revenue was shared like the NFL.....Green Bay, where the packers play, only has a population of 105k people..but yet they can compete for the same free agents that a team in NY, Boston and LA does because no team, regardless of market, can simply outspend another...
@@carsonc29 Green Bay hasn't had a big free agent since Reggie White and market size doesn't matter in the NFL, whether or not you have a QB does. When people say big markets they only mean LA (NBA) and NY (baseball).
@@rodneydonaldson4097 I'm referring to when Jefferey Loria was their owner (he also fucked up the Expos, hence why they're the Nationals now.) And it seems things haven't changed with Derek Jeter as part-owner.
The points Tree made in this video are still relevant today. The smaller market teams may think they have a shot at basking in the glory of a World Series championship, but without such things as a hard salary cap and a seemingly unlimited budget to work off of, their windows can slam shut in a matter of minutes.
I used to read Deadspin but then Tommy Craggs took over and it got real bad. I went to SB Nation but it got preachy in the same way. I don’t bother with Barstool because it’s frat bullshit. It seems like this channel is the only oasis in the world of sports commentary.
As quoted from the movie Moneyball: "The problem that we're trying to solve is that there are rich teams, then there are poor teams, then there's 50 feet of crap, and then there's us. It's an unfair game. Now we've been gutted, organ donors for the rich. Boston taking our kidneys, and the Yankees taking our hearts... We got to the think differently. We are the last dog at the bowl. You see what happens to the runt of the litter? He dies!"
What I expected: my team getting shit on What I got: a great explanation of why my team sucks and why MLB sucks for small market teams Pleasantly surprised but disappointed with MLB in general
Thats why it's my least favorite of the 4 major American sports. Between slow pace of play, lack of scoring, and the fact that the team I support is a small market team with no hope of winning anything most years I really couldn't care less about baseball.
Nikolas Johnson lack of scoring? You can hate MLB for all other reasons but you can’t say you hate baseball due to lack of scoring. There have never been as many runs as this year. Never as many HR’s. I personally think too many HR’s and a juiced ball are boring and burn out fans who like good balanced pitching and hitting. Bad for small markets? Fair enough. Corrupt as fuck commissioner? Fair enough. Lack of offense? You’re just not watching baseball in 2019.
It’s really depressing...that’s why those World Series runs were so amazing. My favorite part was the All Star game being completely full of Royals! Everyone complained about how KC fans stacked the online voting, but somehow we were able to surpass all the big market teams 😂
This was SO true. As a Cardinals fan I completely get that we are like the only smaller team that is pretty regularly in contention and I would say it’s heavily because of how ingrained our entire city is the team. Going to Colorado, Kansas City, or any other small market area I quickly realized that we are unlike other cities. EVERYONE in St. Louis loves baseball and it just isn’t like that elsewhere, that’s the biggest reason we, as a small market team, are pretty good
Nicholas Garcia So, the unlimited money of the Illitch Family just doesn't exist? Don't kid yourself, the AL Central can spend a lot of money when the teams in question aren't complete ass.
I live in st. Louis and it never feels like the cards are in a small market. The dedication in this city is insane, and I wouldnt trade it for the world
Anoctuary and Jalen. The Cardinals are basically the regional team for much of the Midwest, Plains states and even the Mid South i.e Tennessee for their fan base. I think the Cards are among the highest in all of MLB with the amount of local radio affiliates broadcasting their games as well. This is Despite fact St Louis is in the lower tier of smaller populated cities in the US with a MLB team. They are more accurate a higher tier revenue making club in MLB similar to say the Green Bay Packers. Thus they got "regional fans" from Louisville to Nashville, and as far west as say Omaha. And fans across the US and dozens of countries worldwide as well. Just shows the huge importance of dedicated and excellent owners in pro sports who spend well on drafting and developing players as have the Redbirds have done in the past 25 years or so even as a so-called small market team. Not counting their previous great extended period of success of nearly 30 years from say 1964 to the Mid 1990's. The Redbirds are a model club that the Royals, A's Reds, Pirates and Rays should be following.
@@Jamer767 You mean spending money "wisely" and making excellent decisions in drafting and signing prospects as well. With many of the prospects both homegrown in the US and internationally often not top 5 prospects since the Cards are often drafting in lower rounds because of their frequent playoff berths over the past 25 years or so.
A league with such top-heavy money imbalance is asking for the smaller market teams to fail and fail miserably. If you think it’s bad in baseball, just look across the pond for a second. Soccer in England and across Europe is so top-heavy that lower league teams are not only never able to truly succeed, but often times are doing nothing but circling the drain. All it takes is one bad owner and a team could go completely bust (as was the case just yesterday- Bury FC, a team with 120+ years of history, liquidated, and another team, Bolton, just barely escaped the same fate thanks to a last minute sale of the team.) Sports without hard caps are always going to become pay to win and create a hard divide between the haves and have nots.
Soccer doesn't pride itself on handicapping teams and I appreciate it. Look at almost any sport and you'll find it's certain groups that dominate. Are you going to handicap them as well? Are you going to punish Federer, Nadal, Djokovic for dominating Tennis? Are you going to punish Lewis Hamilton for dominanting F1? Are you going to punish team USA for constantly shitting out gold medal swimmers and so on. Also, the money differs depending on the league. Bury were languishing in the equivalent of an single A league, of course they are going to struggle. Clubs going bust more often than not is because of bad ownership. Leeds spent beyond their means which is why they suffered, same with portsmouth.
not attacking you or anything but only 1 team can win every year. it bugs me how people expect a team to be good every year in a league of 30 teams. there WILL be teams that are bad. its part of sports
@@shannonmurray34 true. baseball is like that. pure luck sometimes. I just wanted to leave that there cause he got all those likes, and my comment would bet buried otherwise lmao my point is that if true parity existed, you would have to wait 30 years for your team to win the title , if the title rotated on a yearly basis to every team. is also impossible for every team to have a winning record. I hate to say it, but teams will suffer in sports. its part of it. although I agree fully baseball needs a salary cap asap
@@alexandergilles8583 I'm a royals fan and I felt bad for Indians fans when Brantley left. I've actually been rooting hard for you guys since we started sucking again because you have a pretty likeable team.
From a proud lifelong Royals fan, thank you for this. All of the points are valid, especially the fact that small-market teams are at an inherent disadvantage compared to the big teams. At least we got 2015. BTW David Glass is considering selling the Royals, and I'm cautiously optimistic that he will, the value of the team has skyrocketed over the past few years because of the team's recent success.
Sterling. Good luck. Even though I am a Yankees fan, I always had respect for the Royals especially their early 1980's playoff contending teams(capped off with a 1985 title) with the legend George Brett.
@@sominboy2757 I could've sworn that either his contract was to much or he was not very nice in the club house, then again our replacement for him during the time was Kendrys Morales and Hosmer since he was only a DH/1B. Right now our DH is Soler I believe, which even tho his Batting average is low, he drives in a lot of runs with lots of homers (more than butlers) and our 1B O'Hearn still has time to shine and reveal his potential
The Rays and A’s are the best of working with what they got. They are by far the smartest teams in baseball. Somehow competitive every year despite having the smallest payrolls is incredible to me
2019: The year of the Small Market Stanley Cup: St. Louis Larry O'Brien: Toronto World Series: Washington (Not really a small market, but compared to all other big market teams, they are the smallest) Super Bowl: Kansas City Man I miss 2019.
Also, this video sort of sums up why I've been falling out of love with the MLB in general. It always seems to be the more or less the same big teams making a splash. And having two of those "big teams" in your division certainly makes progress towards contention that much tougher to come by (I'm a Blue Jays fan referring to the Yankees and Red Sox).
The Blue Jays are a big market team they're just owned by Rogers a very cheap company that is more interested in fucking you over on your phone bill than putting together a winning team for more than 2 out of the last 10 or so years
I have been a baseball fan for as long as I can remember, and a Royals fan since their beginnings. You have summed up one of the biggest problems in Major League Baseball: small market teams will follow these patterns, as long as nothing is done to make it a level playing field in this area.
Actually they were competitive for about a 5 year window, barely missing the playoffs in 2013, then getting there in 2014 and winning it all in 2016. They were contending at points in 2016 and 2017 before everything went to hell last year and this year. So, I disagree.
@@joeomalley2835 they didn't win it all in 2016, they did in 2015 then in following 2 seasons they were mediocre, then they decided to blow it up and try to repeat their success again.
St. Louis is very unique compared to other small market teams. While it’s smaller the team is a lot older and has a more established fan base then other small market teams. During the early 1900s St. Louis was the main hub for radio broadcasting in that area of the country. which allowed to the team to establish a fan base in areas like Arkansas Kentucky and southern Illinois and not just the STL area. The team also had complete access to the south for several decades until expansion into Atlanta and Texas. Playoff Success and good management have also helped keep the franchise more relevant then other small market teams.
St. Louis has been a baseball city for a hundred years and it used to be one of the most populous in the US. Kansas City has always been more invested in NFL.
This was a surprisingly cathartic video as a Royals fan. I'm just glad I got to see them win in my lifetime and their success in '14 and '15 really ushered in a new era for the city as a whole.
As someone who is a fan of a large market franchise (Dodgers), I support a salary cap to create parity and a salary floor to prevent tanking, although I get that neither are likely to be achieved in the short term future or at all. Although I would love to see the Dodgers win it all this year, I won’t help but think of their accomplishment as less special than, for example, my Rams winning a Super Bowl, because the Dodgers are the beneficiaries of such an uneven playing field. On the other hand, when a team like the Royals wins a World Series, it should count as two championships because they have to start from an undesirable, disadvantageous position relative to (at least) half of all baseball teams. 2023 EDIT: About one year after posting this initial comment (and picking up the small-market Orioles as another one of my favorite teams), the Dodgers spent over one billion dollars on two generational Japanese players in the span of twelve days. Most other teams could not possibly dish out such a sum of money. Baseball is fucked.
I grew up around the Kansas City area, so I've been a lifelong fan of the Chiefs and Royals so I have been used to mediocrity. Tree definitely brought up a good point about the lack of money, another problem is that when they might have some money to spend on a good free agent, they are still at a disadvantage because Missouri isn't usually a high destination for top tier free agents like a LA, New York, or Boston. Part of the reason why Patrick Mahomes has been elevated to almost deity status is because Kansas City teams have rarely acquired transcendent talents like him, he offers something fans of these teams aren't used to: hope.
9:01 God bless the DeWitts. After Budweiser got out of the game one could’ve been concerned at the Cardinals becoming Royals East. However, even with the stumbles, we’ve seen four WS appearances and 2 chips in a ten year span in St. Louis. Really puts things into perspective.
No one EVER in stl, or from stl, that I know of would ever even consider Cardinals becoming "Royals East". No one in STL would ever even think about the royals. You are definitely not from STL and I bet a transplant KC person doing weird voodoo sleight of hand stuff.
Alexthesniper19 heck, living in KC as a Cards fan, we turn the K Red constantly. The Cardinals have a great fan base all over the state. Cardinals are an outlier.
MrBlue3rd yeah, STL lost the Rams. Personally, I think the city was set up for failure in that regard. Kronke ensures that team was bad, had a horrible coach in Jeff Fisher, and didn’t do anything to try and save the team. But, it is a good hockey, baseball, and soccer town. So, the MLS coming is good for the city.
TpXd8bXqT I am, but it’s likely bc, even though I grew up in stl, my parents grew up in a time when the chiefs were the only missouri team, so they were fans of them. As a result, I am also a chiefs fan now even though the rams were here when I was a kid
The important thing to remember is that the big market cities are the big name cities. LA, DC, New York, Boston, Chicago are the biggest names of cities in the US. They always have a lot of crowds simply because of the popularity of the area and that’s how it’s easy for teams to grow big fan bases and gain good, consistent attendance numbers. Nobody is gonna say “Hey, when we go to the USA, let’s go to Oakland, or Kansas City, or, Cleveland.” This is part of why the Cubs and Nats have only become relevant so recently, and both won 1 World Series yet have strong pools of money. Also dedicated ownership is a big part of it too. The Rays and A’s are young, up and coming teams that can be as successful as they want but if ownership won’t spend, it won’t mean anything in a few years. And those two are teams that need owners to spend badly if either want those new stadiums they’ve been begging for.
It’s not just about getting high draft picks. It’s about scouting and development more so. The big market teams are getting later picks than the royals but the big markets are developing them better and also buying expensive free agents. The royals currently can’t seem to find the word “pitching development” in their dictionary. We also don’t spend much in free agency either. It’s very frustrating. At least we have the chiefs. Sherman our owner wants a downtown ballpark when the team is dogshit right now. Good luck with that.
This is why I can’t respect Major League Baseball, the smaller teams have no chance and nobody cares. In football and hockey you have teams rise and fall over the years. In the NFL for instance, the Chiefs, Colts, Seahawks, Bills, Packers, Bengals and Broncos are all small market teams and have had plenty of up times and down times. But look at the Rockies, Mariners, Royals, Pirates, Brewers and Marlins, most of the time they completely suck unless a total miracle happens and they get good for a year or two, but then BAM, right back to the basement. If there is anything humans are good at it’s finding patterns, and when the same pattern keeps repeating, ad nauseam, for decades, it breeds apathy. Apathy is death. (Edit: And it's a real shame too because I think baseball is one of the greatest sports ever devised. A game that is impossible to win by being selfish, yet is forced to rely on an individual at any given moment to make it happen.)
@@ulikemykungfu3995Credit the M’s for making a postseason two years ago, but I would agree that a better run front office could’ve gotten more out of the team they’ve had of late.
Ryan Randone as someone who is from STL, but has been a life long Chiefs fan, the Rams didn’t leave bc it’s a small market. The owner was a douchebag that didn’t want to fund the franchise, and the stadium was probably one of the worst, if not the worst stadiums in football. Also, the physical location of the stadium was in a bad part of the city. Busch Stadium and the Enterprise Center are much closer together and are in a much better part of the city. If these problems were fixed, football would definitely survive here. Though, I’ll just be a chiefs fan anyways
Boyder6 the Rams left St Louis because they should have never been moved there in the first place. Their owner at the time Georgia Frontiere only moved the team because she inherited the team through the death of her husband, wanted a team in her hometown, and threatened to sue the NFL after they initially blocked the move just so that she could get everything her heart desired. As soon as she died the writing was on the wall for the Rams to move back to LA, especially considering the Rams were bottom 10 in attendance for the entire 2 decade period they were in STL (excluding the Greatest Show on Turf years from 99-01, which just proves how nobody in STL cared about them unless the team wasn’t garbage. Unfortunately for the Rams, they were almost always a garbage team)
Hey Tree, I know the chances of you seeing this are low considering how dated this video is, however I would like to let you know I plan to use this video as a source for my English paper in which we have to write a research paper with four sources. My paper is on how much of a disadvantage small market teams are at currently in the mlb. Thank you for this golden video my man :)
Honestly the Orioles have probably been screwed over the most from this, used to be a medium good sized market before the MLB brought in the nationals which took half or more of their market, completely screwing the team.
I'm a Cardinals fan, but since I live in KC I see a lot of love for the Royals and especially a lot of loyalty. I've gone to more games at Kauffman than Busch. Such a beautiful park. I wish everything well for this team.
I have always had issues calling Cleveland and St. Louis small market teams just because their histories date back to when those cities were huge, St. Louis fell out of the top 10 in the 1970 census while Cleveland fell out the following decade
And really, the only reason it did is because of it’s independent city status. Most people don’t realize that if it was a consolidated city-county like every city (except Baltimore and cities in Virginia) it would currently have the 10th largest population in the US
To be fair, being a former large city doesn't really make them less of a small market team. Fans don't last forever, and a smaller population is a smaller population to gain new fans from. And less fans mean less of a budget for players. The Cardinals don't even just buy the best players; they are actually very good at initial team-building (Albert Pujols took until the 13th round to be drafted), allowing them to maintain a strong and dedicated fanbase, which, in turn, allows them to have a more stable base. While they do have a bigger budget, they also cannot just throw money around like the Yankees.
The Cardinals are the example every other small market team should be trying to emulate. Excellent player development, draft selections, managerial staff/front office/ownership, and a diehard fanbase. Now that’s organizational competence if I’ve ever seen it #GoCardsGo
I still remember when the crown blazed in gold. Now they blaze in dumpsters. Every home game, the visitors would torment them by constantly mentally vandalizing the crown on the giant logo in the home stadium to look like little penises. It's a sad thing to be amused by.
This video highlights why Tree is such a great sports youtuber. Behind the jokes and the snarkyness is a hardcore sports fan who cares about fairness, tension, and competitive balance. He doesn't just focus on the big headlines, but dives deep into every team in every league. This allows him to see the value of parity and the salary cap. I believe the all-around insight also makes his humor effective. It's funny 'cos it's true.
I always feel really bad for the small market teams, like being a Yankee fan I know I’m spoiled as hell when it comes to players, money available and championships and probably a million other things. Small market teams have some of the most loyal fans on earth though and I have such a respect for yall. We all love this game even if it isn’t always fair
August 2024: The Royals have one of the top offenses in baseball, hold a commanding WC lead, and sit just a few games back of MLB's top record. The development finally seems to have paid off!
I'm a Mets fan who lives in Kansas City. Watching the two world series runs--even one at my beloved Mets expense--was amazing to see what it did for the city.
Baltimore's Metro Area is still bigger than a lot of metro areas in MLB, and about the same size as St Louis's Metro Area. If they can't thrive off of that, than it just shows their incompetence.
@@bigdc202 Orioles Market is 24 of 31 they rank on the bottom anyway you slice it. Yes the Royals and Ray's have had success in the past but to act like it doesn't matter is foolish. And I pointed out their incompetence with the Davis contract remark. FYI Cardinals rank 19, the Os are 24
How do you think O's fans feel? Not only do they have the lowest payroll, they have to deal with the Red Sox and Yankees every year. They had a 2 year window, then the team got picked apart. Losing Manny really sucked. He was the only player left worth going to watch. Baseball is broken.
No hard cal in baseball is why I can't get into mlb as much as NFL and NBA. I'm even saying this as a Giants fan, we will spend and have won 3 titles but it's still always the same teams in baseball
Video really hits home. Being a Brewers fan I feel for any small market team. Once every 20 years your team has a chance to win something and it's usually stomped on by a team that spends 2 times as much on players. After that it's back to obscurity for another 2 decades waiting for your chance to get your hopes shattered again.
Mr. Dink A’s in my opinion aren’t that small of a market. It’s just that they act like one. Oakland is like the 8th biggest market in baseball. The Stadium probably isn’t doing them many favors.
Not much of a baseball fan, but with KC, we’re so back and forth. We’ll do well in baseball, yet horrible in football and vice versa. Since the Chiefs started winning, almost no one I’m around pays attention to the Royals any longer.
Awesome video!! Have been a Royals fan since 1988 when moved to the MO/KS area's. Yep - I remember those abysmal years the Royals had during the 1990s-2000's. Those years reminded me of the 1970's-1980's Cleveland Indians where I am from - literally could NOT even give away tickets. Finally, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 were great years for the Royals!! Finally a competitor. 2 World Series and DOMINATING the 2015 season - nobody wanted to those that team. Then the death of their star pitcher which, in my opinion - sucked the life-force out of this team which it has never recovered from, and the return to mediocrity.
I think I speak, not just for us Brewers fans, but for all fans of "small-market" baseball teams when I say, "Thank you," for shedding some light on this. It's an issue that needs to be addressed and talked about more often.
While this may be a sustainable model for now, when the MLB has to start renegotiating TV deals and sees that fan interest is dwindling to the NBA and NFL, they might rethink the competitive balance of the sport.
MLB is in some serious trouble, especially with labor and ownership relationships at the worst they've been since the early 90's. If they suffer a work stoppage, it will kill any popularity the sport had with the younger groups.
@@UrinatingTree The sport's popularity is already suffering among my age group (I'm 24). With even younger groups there's even less interest. Eventually, a salary cap will have to be implemented to rejuvenate fan interest, which is where the money is made anyhow. To me, the real villain is the MLBPA. Contracts are so absurd (Bauer is being paid more than some TEAMS this year) that this is how we've gotten to this point to begin with, and they refuse any change to improve the sport.
You gotta keep in mind this... a lot of these small market owners are cheap asses who don't see a point in investing their team to make it better. George steinbrener may be a hated figure in baseball but he said it best when buying the yankees.. he wanted to build a winner. He wanted to make the team successful. If only owners of the pirates, royals, rays, and orioles had owners with that mindset... the rays alone are competitive with a small payroll just imagine them with more money. At the end of the day you can hate on the "big market teams" when in reality why haven't the Padres been competitive for the last decade? Or the rangers? Or the Phillies? Or Arizona all teams with big markets in terms of population.
Killian Krummel The corrupt af “Players Union” hates the salary cap. It’s what caused the cancellation of the 1994 pennant races and World Series. The owners wanted a salary cap so they could spend less overall money. Players union said no cause “it’ll devalue player contracts”. Then they went on strike and cancelled the season. The point of all this: We the fans are constantly fucked over, and the greedy players and owners diluted what can be a great league and sport.
@@Zach-mw5so Corrupt as fuck? Buddy, these are billion dollar teams and the players still have dumb bullshit like "service time" where their prime years are underpaid relative to their abilities. The real problem in baseball is the big market teams. How I'd introduce a hard cap: - Remove Service Time, and keep rookie contracts to entry level three year deals, after which players enter restricted free agency compensation for two years where offer sheets are possible - Player arbitration starts after 4th season in MLB organizations regardless of games played - Pay increase in MILB - Offer sheet compensation is weighted towards teams that lose players via offer sheets - International pool players are waiver ordered by worst teams - Teams must hit a minimum salary floor - I'd expand the MLB roster to 50 players Roster expansion, end of service time, pay increases in Minor League Baseball and increased arbitration powers are a fair trade off for a hard salary cap, and I don't think the MLBPA is that unreasonable. However, Major League Baseball would never offer that. So you tell me which side is "corrupt"
Even as a fan of the Cubs, I would love a salary cap. Sick and tired of see LAD and Boston/NYY in every world series. Buying your way to championship is just not the way it should be.
Anmie being fair, the Yankees was last in the world series in 2009. And the Dodgers last won one in 1988. With that said, I get your point about the huge problem MLB has in which the Dodgers, Yankees and Red Sox are serious playoff contenders almost every year for at least 20 years now.
Actually that's my dead uncle who grew up a giants fan until age 18 left the house told the 9ers and Giants to fuck off and rooted for the cardinals since 1980 the man leaves heaven in his custom Blue Cardinals Jersey to root on his team.
@@UHOH_415 as a giants fan I'm excited for the future but when we're not in the playoffs I root for the cards to honor my uncle and the Stros to honor my early baseball playing days at 14 15 16
Also such a great analysis of the competitive disparity in the league and in a way, economic disparity as a whole. It's been cool to see the way your content has evolved over the last year
Hey guys remember when the royals went to back to back world series?
It was only 4 years ago but it seems like 24 years ago.
Well to be fair before that happened it literally WAS almost 30 years before they had last made the World Series....so you aren't wrong in thinking like that
It's incredible how quickly they went from the top of the world to joining the rest of the small market teams in the dumpster fire
At least they won one
@@UHOH_415 Right. The Pirates were good then too, but they have nothing to show for it while the Royals do.
@@aaronb6878 it was immediately after they won. Weren't they pretty terrible in 2016?
In other news, the Pittsburgh Pirates have officially been eliminated from the 2020-2025 playoffs.
George Blair yes your correct
Shit
They were officially done after the Archer trade Rip to his career
Unless a literal miracle happens than yes
They just got eliminated in 2020 a few days ago.
Perfect timing. Royals are looking to sell their franchise.
I think that’s why he posted it now.
@@bagofgroceries Question is whether the new owner is willing to spend.
@@wesleyy2502 I don't think you can get any cheaper than the Glass'
GamerTag97 question is if will even STAY in Kansas City.
The team just got sold yesterday and he didn’t put that in the video? Odd
Me, a Royals fan: "oh boy a KC team finally made it onto Urinating Tree, I hope its good!"
Urinating Tree: "you cant really make fun of this team because they cant compete with larger market teams"
Me: "oh no....the worst insult of all.....crushing reality" *cries in the corner*
If it's any consolation, he ate his words about Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
ur a easy manipulated pussy. Royals won it all in 15 chiefs in 2020 whens the last time the Yankees or Jets won a championship?
@@NeonKC where is this coming from?
That was me I’m a orioles fan
Exact same here
See you guys in 26 years for the next championship run
Hey at least Kermit Mahomes will comfort you though those tough times
MrUHOH415 bruh
Our pitching is terrible but I really like our young nucleus of a lineup.
MrUHOH415 Except Fat Andy will choke again going Full Reid and Mahomes will become Dan Marino 2.0
A championship every 30 years would be the exactly average franchise....
I will always support cities like STL, Kansas City, Cleveland, Buffalo, etc when it comes to sports. Even though they get less attention than the biggest cities, they have incredibly dedicated and great fan bases, and all of these cities truly deserve the teams they have plus more honestly
I agree, even though I am Chciago sports fan
boy you been to a royals game this year? the seats are empty lmao
RobbyBurrito this is true, but that is definitely a trend for baseball in general. Most teams can’t fill the stadium in general unless they’re the Yankees, Cardinals, dodgers, cubs, etc.
man stl poppin my guy we all guys full seats
As an Indians fan, I almost always root for the small market team in the playoffs
It seems Hockey unlike Baseball, can have small market teams not only win but, have continued success.
Usually its because the owners are dedicated to a winning product. Look at the hurricanes of last year
Amazing what happened when you have a salary cap.
666kingdrummer that’s why the NHL is such a great league
Ottawa Senators: MILITARY GRADE TANK!!!!111!!!
That's not the case cause teams like the Arizona Coyotes, Ottawa Senators and even the Carolina Hurricanes still have a hard time maintaining success too. Carolina seems to have switched it up but it's been like 20 years since their last successful season. Carolina right now is what the St. Louis Cardinals have been for MLB, a small market team that seems to be getting it right but won't be competing with the Big Market teams like Pittsburgh or Washington
"There are rich teams and there are poor teams. Then there's fifty feet of crap, and then there's us. It's an unfair game." I love that scene from Moneyball. Also, I believe that a hard salary cap is the only real way to remedy this. But, as you said Tree, the players would never consent to it.
nope..MLB players would never allow it nor would any of the top spending teams...imagine tell LA or NY they have to dump half their team in order to meet the cap requirements....
Yes let's reward bad ownership and mediocrity. The A's are cheap and that's their own fault.
@@georgeprchal3924 agreed. Dont blame your market size blame your ownership. In a day and age where you can stream games anywhere your market can be as big as you want it to be if you are willing to invest in your team and lets face it most small market clubs dont care to invest more than they have to despite the long term benifits
@@georgeprchal3924 these low spending teams probably wouldnt be so cheap if revenue was shared like the NFL.....Green Bay, where the packers play, only has a population of 105k people..but yet they can compete for the same free agents that a team in NY, Boston and LA does because no team, regardless of market, can simply outspend another...
@@carsonc29 Green Bay hasn't had a big free agent since Reggie White and market size doesn't matter in the NFL, whether or not you have a QB does. When people say big markets they only mean LA (NBA) and NY (baseball).
Was expecting the royals to get shit on here but the topic was wonderful and explained very well great video!
Must be 1 of the very few teams he likes.
This is quite possibly one of your best videos. It's interesting to know what you think and want to see more serious videos about this in the future.
Royals fans, take comfort in this.
Your team could be the Marlins. My goddamn Marlins.
I'm quite surprised that he didnt mention the Marlins
or worst, my Orioles who are trapped in a cage with the wild Yankees and Red Sox forever
Miami's not a small market. Miami's just always been plagued by bad ownership and management (even when they won their 2 World Titles)
@@djtrankilo231 Who is the owner of the Marlins?
@@rodneydonaldson4097 I'm referring to when Jefferey Loria was their owner (he also fucked up the Expos, hence why they're the Nationals now.) And it seems things haven't changed with Derek Jeter as part-owner.
The points Tree made in this video are still relevant today.
The smaller market teams may think they have a shot at basking in the glory of a World Series championship, but without such things as a hard salary cap and a seemingly unlimited budget to work off of, their windows can slam shut in a matter of minutes.
while the Mets have been a joke this year there was a funny thing i saw the Mets payroll was more money than the Marlins make in a year
I will take this style of adult contemporary analysis over the time-wasting filler "analysis" that we get on TV. This is such a good channel.
I used to read Deadspin but then Tommy Craggs took over and it got real bad. I went to SB Nation but it got preachy in the same way. I don’t bother with Barstool because it’s frat bullshit. It seems like this channel is the only oasis in the world of sports commentary.
Yo great to see a fellow Zappa fan
Especially since most MLB analysts I see kiss up to the big market teams
@@tehbeernerd oh Deadspin is terrible! All they do is shit on teams Hope's and dreams for a living
@@tehbeernerd check out strong opinion sports
As quoted from the movie Moneyball:
"The problem that we're trying to solve is that there are rich teams, then there are poor teams, then there's 50 feet of crap, and then there's us. It's an unfair game. Now we've been gutted, organ donors for the rich. Boston taking our kidneys, and the Yankees taking our hearts... We got to the think differently. We are the last dog at the bowl. You see what happens to the runt of the litter? He dies!"
As a Royals fan, I am finally happy to see a vid about this team especially how bad they are.
Its not really completely about them its about all the small market teams.
To think about it, if it wasn’t for the Greatest postseason performance in baseball history, they would have gone back to back
ActionJax u aren’t even the worst team in ur division and at least u won a WS...now let me cry in Tigers😭
ActionJax we don’t have less than the twins . . . Hehe
Likewise
What I expected: my team getting shit on
What I got: a great explanation of why my team sucks and why MLB sucks for small market teams
Pleasantly surprised but disappointed with MLB in general
huey13 I’m a royals fan as well from Kansas City and this video nearly put a tear to my eyes however i wills still always be #foreverroyal
Thats why it's my least favorite of the 4 major American sports. Between slow pace of play, lack of scoring, and the fact that the team I support is a small market team with no hope of winning anything most years I really couldn't care less about baseball.
Nikolas Johnson lack of scoring? You can hate MLB for all other reasons but you can’t say you hate baseball due to lack of scoring. There have never been as many runs as this year. Never as many HR’s. I personally think too many HR’s and a juiced ball are boring and burn out fans who like good balanced pitching and hitting. Bad for small markets? Fair enough. Corrupt as fuck commissioner? Fair enough. Lack of offense? You’re just not watching baseball in 2019.
It’s really depressing...that’s why those World Series runs were so amazing. My favorite part was the All Star game being completely full of Royals! Everyone complained about how KC fans stacked the online voting, but somehow we were able to surpass all the big market teams 😂
Welcome to the joys of unregulated capitalism!
finally, i've been waiting for a video talking about small market teams
and how they struggle
Like my Tigers
Would the Giants be considered a big market team or small market team?
Proud of my Rays :')
thebennettboy I
@@UHOH_415
Big market.
This was SO true. As a Cardinals fan I completely get that we are like the only smaller team that is pretty regularly in contention and I would say it’s heavily because of how ingrained our entire city is the team. Going to Colorado, Kansas City, or any other small market area I quickly realized that we are unlike other cities. EVERYONE in St. Louis loves baseball and it just isn’t like that elsewhere, that’s the biggest reason we, as a small market team, are pretty good
They make their small market a big market
Kansas City Royals: We're not the Orioles or the Knicks
They all are on the same level
Knicks are more embarrassing because they're a big market team.
What about the Detroit Tigers?
You're not in a division with the Red Sox or Yankees. That alone makes you better off than the Orioles.
Nicholas Garcia
So, the unlimited money of the Illitch Family just doesn't exist? Don't kid yourself, the AL Central can spend a lot of money when the teams in question aren't complete ass.
I live in st. Louis and it never feels like the cards are in a small market. The dedication in this city is insane, and I wouldnt trade it for the world
Anoctuary and Jalen. The Cardinals are basically the regional team for much of the Midwest, Plains states and even the Mid South i.e Tennessee for their fan base. I think the Cards are among the highest in all of MLB with the amount of local radio affiliates broadcasting their games as well. This is Despite fact St Louis is in the lower tier of smaller populated cities in the US with a MLB team. They are more accurate a higher tier revenue making club in MLB similar to say the Green Bay Packers.
Thus they got "regional fans" from Louisville to Nashville, and as far west as say Omaha. And fans across the US and dozens of countries worldwide as well. Just shows the huge importance of dedicated and excellent owners in pro sports who spend well on drafting and developing players as have the Redbirds have done in the past 25 years or so even as a so-called small market team. Not counting their previous great extended period of success of nearly 30 years from say 1964 to the Mid 1990's. The Redbirds are a model club that the Royals, A's Reds, Pirates and Rays should be following.
@@americangiant1003 We also have ownership willing to shell out cash. Huge factor
@@Jamer767 You mean spending money "wisely" and making excellent decisions in drafting and signing prospects as well. With many of the prospects both homegrown in the US and internationally often not top 5 prospects since the Cards are often drafting in lower rounds because of their frequent playoff berths over the past 25 years or so.
AmericanGiant100 Also St. Louis itself is not a small market. If the county and city merged it would be around the 10th largest Us city.
@@Poway19 that's true, but that's never gonna fly with all the fuckin money that the city spends
A league with such top-heavy money imbalance is asking for the smaller market teams to fail and fail miserably. If you think it’s bad in baseball, just look across the pond for a second. Soccer in England and across Europe is so top-heavy that lower league teams are not only never able to truly succeed, but often times are doing nothing but circling the drain. All it takes is one bad owner and a team could go completely bust (as was the case just yesterday- Bury FC, a team with 120+ years of history, liquidated, and another team, Bolton, just barely escaped the same fate thanks to a last minute sale of the team.)
Sports without hard caps are always going to become pay to win and create a hard divide between the haves and have nots.
Ryan Smith RIP Bury FC
Can we acknowledge the irony of this comment being posted by someone with a patriots logo as their profile picture
@@itsmealex8959 The NFL at least has a real cap and compared to other pro sports, various contenders can fall and rise up again in much shorter order.
@@itsmealex8959 you dont understand irony.
Soccer doesn't pride itself on handicapping teams and I appreciate it.
Look at almost any sport and you'll find it's certain groups that dominate. Are you going to handicap them as well?
Are you going to punish Federer, Nadal, Djokovic for dominating Tennis? Are you going to punish Lewis Hamilton for dominanting F1? Are you going to punish team USA for constantly shitting out gold medal swimmers and so on.
Also, the money differs depending on the league. Bury were languishing in the equivalent of an single A league, of course they are going to struggle.
Clubs going bust more often than not is because of bad ownership. Leeds spent beyond their means which is why they suffered, same with portsmouth.
Should do an update on this vid after the Ohtani trade
And the Yamamoto signing
"They are a bad baseball team."
Lol ya think?
Yes.
not attacking you or anything but only 1 team can win every year. it bugs me how people expect a team to be good every year in a league of 30 teams. there WILL be teams that are bad. its part of sports
@@chillvibes375 It's all about getting the bounces when it all boils down to it.
@@shannonmurray34 true. baseball is like that. pure luck sometimes. I just wanted to leave that there cause he got all those likes, and my comment would bet buried otherwise lmao
my point is that if true parity existed, you would have to wait 30 years for your team to win the title , if the title rotated on a yearly basis to every team. is also impossible for every team to have a winning record. I hate to say it, but teams will suffer in sports. its part of it. although I agree fully baseball needs a salary cap asap
Well, at least they aren't the Orioles
As a reds fan this speaks all too well for me. The 2012 nlds still stings
Kurt Zurad thanks to them that great tigers team never got a ring
All this is why my Indians had to let Michael Brantley, a very solid .300 hitter, go in the offseason. He’s now hitting .337 with the astros.....
@@alexandergilles8583 I'm a royals fan and I felt bad for Indians fans when Brantley left. I've actually been rooting hard for you guys since we started sucking again because you have a pretty likeable team.
Jim Harbaugh we would have probably lost to St. Louis gain anyway.
Tropicalfire but 2013 was the tigers year but the bullpen threw
From a proud lifelong Royals fan, thank you for this. All of the points are valid, especially the fact that small-market teams are at an inherent disadvantage compared to the big teams. At least we got 2015.
BTW David Glass is considering selling the Royals, and I'm cautiously optimistic that he will, the value of the team has skyrocketed over the past few years because of the team's recent success.
Sterling. Good luck. Even though I am a Yankees fan, I always had respect for the Royals especially their early 1980's playoff contending teams(capped off with a 1985 title) with the legend George Brett.
As a Cubs fan consider this - if that ever happens hope that guy keeps the Royals in Kansas City. I'm sure the fans want their team to stay.
Hey guys, remember when the A's won 3 world series in a row in the 70's?
That's all I have as an A's fan. Help.
WE'RE THE ONLY TEAM TO EVER DO IT BESIDES THE YANKEES! *sobs into pillow*
@@KWCline91 the dodgers have 1989
@@KWCline91 oh shit your right
The rays have....
...
...
H e l p
1989
It's a miracle we made it to the world series 2 years in a row
Especially with Ned Yost as a manager.
Well we had a very great rebuild and awesome decision makings in 2011-2013, it paid off
You would have gotten at least another playoff appearance if you kept billy butler
Can’t wait for the movie about that magical run
@@sominboy2757 I could've sworn that either his contract was to much or he was not very nice in the club house, then again our replacement for him during the time was Kendrys Morales and Hosmer since he was only a DH/1B.
Right now our DH is Soler I believe, which even tho his Batting average is low, he drives in a lot of runs with lots of homers (more than butlers) and our 1B O'Hearn still has time to shine and reveal his potential
The Rays and A’s are the best of working with what they got. They are by far the smartest teams in baseball. Somehow competitive every year despite having the smallest payrolls is incredible to me
Those are also the two teams with the worst stadiums!
And the braves. We are small market.
@@cwosbyjones1550 I don't think the Braves are small market.
This video is so great and so true. My worst nightmare is a NYY-LAD World Series this year
It will probably happen but knowing the Dodgers, they will probably go full lightning in the NL Playoffs
2019: The year of the Small Market
Stanley Cup: St. Louis
Larry O'Brien: Toronto
World Series: Washington (Not really a small market, but compared to all other big market teams, they are the smallest)
Super Bowl: Kansas City
Man I miss 2019.
Me too, and then COVID-19 happened
I can’t help but like David Glass because I met him and he was pretty cool and surprisingly down-to-Earth.
Also, this video sort of sums up why I've been falling out of love with the MLB in general. It always seems to be the more or less the same big teams making a splash.
And having two of those "big teams" in your division certainly makes progress towards contention that much tougher to come by (I'm a Blue Jays fan referring to the Yankees and Red Sox).
The same can always be said for the NBA.
Go Jays Go!
The NBA isn't that bad because of the hard cap. LA lathers have sucked fur a minute d dms the knicks are a large market team too.
Nicholas Garcia The Nba is worse, basically if you don't have multiple stars you don't have a chance.
The Blue Jays are a big market team they're just owned by Rogers a very cheap company that is more interested in fucking you over on your phone bill than putting together a winning team for more than 2 out of the last 10 or so years
David Glass was the CEO of Walmart and he ran the Royals just like Walmart.
it never dawned on Glass that to make $$ you must first be willing to spend it
I have been a baseball fan for as long as I can remember, and a Royals fan since their beginnings. You have summed up one of the biggest problems in Major League Baseball: small market teams will follow these patterns, as long as nothing is done to make it a level playing field in this area.
If there was a thing called a two-hit wonder or two-year wonder. The 2014-15 Kansas City Royals would fit that definition perfectly.
Actually they were competitive for about a 5 year window, barely missing the playoffs in 2013, then getting there in 2014 and winning it all in 2016. They were contending at points in 2016 and 2017 before everything went to hell last year and this year. So, I disagree.
@@joeomalley2835 they didn't win it all in 2016, they did in 2015 then in following 2 seasons they were mediocre, then they decided to blow it up and try to repeat their success again.
St. Louis is very unique compared to other small market teams. While it’s smaller the team is a lot older and has a more established fan base then other small market teams. During the early 1900s St. Louis was the main hub for radio broadcasting in that area of the country. which allowed to the team to establish a fan base in areas like Arkansas Kentucky and southern Illinois and not just the STL area. The team also had complete access to the south for several decades until expansion into Atlanta and Texas. Playoff Success and good management have also helped keep the franchise more relevant then other small market teams.
St. Louis has been a baseball city for a hundred years and it used to be one of the most populous in the US. Kansas City has always been more invested in NFL.
This was a surprisingly cathartic video as a Royals fan. I'm just glad I got to see them win in my lifetime and their success in '14 and '15 really ushered in a new era for the city as a whole.
As someone who is a fan of a large market franchise (Dodgers), I support a salary cap to create parity and a salary floor to prevent tanking, although I get that neither are likely to be achieved in the short term future or at all. Although I would love to see the Dodgers win it all this year, I won’t help but think of their accomplishment as less special than, for example, my Rams winning a Super Bowl, because the Dodgers are the beneficiaries of such an uneven playing field. On the other hand, when a team like the Royals wins a World Series, it should count as two championships because they have to start from an undesirable, disadvantageous position relative to (at least) half of all baseball teams.
2023 EDIT: About one year after posting this initial comment (and picking up the small-market Orioles as another one of my favorite teams), the Dodgers spent over one billion dollars on two generational Japanese players in the span of twelve days. Most other teams could not possibly dish out such a sum of money. Baseball is fucked.
I grew up around the Kansas City area, so I've been a lifelong fan of the Chiefs and Royals so I have been used to mediocrity. Tree definitely brought up a good point about the lack of money, another problem is that when they might have some money to spend on a good free agent, they are still at a disadvantage because Missouri isn't usually a high destination for top tier free agents like a LA, New York, or Boston. Part of the reason why Patrick Mahomes has been elevated to almost deity status is because Kansas City teams have rarely acquired transcendent talents like him, he offers something fans of these teams aren't used to: hope.
The Indians owner literally said to “enjoy” Frankie Lindor 😂😂
Lindor Truffles.
Don't remind me 😭
9:01 God bless the DeWitts.
After Budweiser got out of the game one could’ve been concerned at the Cardinals becoming Royals East. However, even with the stumbles, we’ve seen four WS appearances and 2 chips in a ten year span in St. Louis.
Really puts things into perspective.
No one EVER in stl, or from stl, that I know of would ever even consider Cardinals becoming "Royals East". No one in STL would ever even think about the royals. You are definitely not from STL and I bet a transplant KC person doing weird voodoo sleight of hand stuff.
As a fellow Missourian the royals play second fiddle to the cardinals all the time.
Alexthesniper19 heck, living in KC as a Cards fan, we turn the K Red constantly. The Cardinals have a great fan base all over the state. Cardinals are an outlier.
Maybe that's true but we have the Chiefs and the Rams left STL.
MrBlue3rd yeah, STL lost the Rams. Personally, I think the city was set up for failure in that regard. Kronke ensures that team was bad, had a horrible coach in Jeff Fisher, and didn’t do anything to try and save the team.
But, it is a good hockey, baseball, and soccer town. So, the MLS coming is good for the city.
Ya, I'm chiefs/royals, but alot of missourians are chiefs/cardinals fans, even before rams left, and that makes no sense to me.
TpXd8bXqT I am, but it’s likely bc, even though I grew up in stl, my parents grew up in a time when the chiefs were the only missouri team, so they were fans of them. As a result, I am also a chiefs fan now even though the rams were here when I was a kid
KC has more WS Rings in the past decade then my yanks so I won’t talk crap
thats what i said, two championships with one in this decade only 4 years ago. almost won it back to back as well
@@CHIEFS_DYNASTY_ You could always go back to those Championships I have to go back to 1991 For any of my MN teams
That's something I hold onto as a Royals fan. There are way too many Yankees fans in my part of Kansas
@Harry Engel I live in the Chicago area They have the cubs, and oh yeah, the other team.
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
The important thing to remember is that the big market cities are the big name cities. LA, DC, New York, Boston, Chicago are the biggest names of cities in the US. They always have a lot of crowds simply because of the popularity of the area and that’s how it’s easy for teams to grow big fan bases and gain good, consistent attendance numbers. Nobody is gonna say “Hey, when we go to the USA, let’s go to Oakland, or Kansas City, or, Cleveland.” This is part of why the Cubs and Nats have only become relevant so recently, and both won 1 World Series yet have strong pools of money. Also dedicated ownership is a big part of it too. The Rays and A’s are young, up and coming teams that can be as successful as they want but if ownership won’t spend, it won’t mean anything in a few years. And those two are teams that need owners to spend badly if either want those new stadiums they’ve been begging for.
The Padres are now in their own class it seems. Small market team, big market budget, aggressiveness, and ownership. It is a very interesting subject
Only for the Cardinals to kick their ass. (AGAIN)
It’s not just about getting high draft picks. It’s about scouting and development more so. The big market teams are getting later picks than the royals but the big markets are developing them better and also buying expensive free agents. The royals currently can’t seem to find the word “pitching development” in their dictionary. We also don’t spend much in free agency either. It’s very frustrating. At least we have the chiefs. Sherman our owner wants a downtown ballpark when the team is dogshit right now. Good luck with that.
This is why I can’t respect Major League Baseball, the smaller teams have no chance and nobody cares. In football and hockey you have teams rise and fall over the years. In the NFL for instance, the Chiefs, Colts, Seahawks, Bills, Packers, Bengals and Broncos are all small market teams and have had plenty of up times and down times. But look at the Rockies, Mariners, Royals, Pirates, Brewers and Marlins, most of the time they completely suck unless a total miracle happens and they get good for a year or two, but then BAM, right back to the basement. If there is anything humans are good at it’s finding patterns, and when the same pattern keeps repeating, ad nauseam, for decades, it breeds apathy. Apathy is death.
(Edit: And it's a real shame too because I think baseball is one of the greatest sports ever devised. A game that is impossible to win by being selfish, yet is forced to rely on an individual at any given moment to make it happen.)
I’ll say this about the mariners. They are a mid-market team. They just have terrible management.
@@ulikemykungfu3995Credit the M’s for making a postseason two years ago, but I would agree that a better run front office could’ve gotten more out of the team they’ve had of late.
Glad I grew up in STL. I don’t have to be a bandwagon or a fan of a small market team.
Same for me and KC
We've sucked for most of my existence, but I still love this fucking team.
AUGmatt13 People who root for their hometown teams aren’t bandwagon fans, whether it’s a big market team or small market team.
Ryan Randone as someone who is from STL, but has been a life long Chiefs fan, the Rams didn’t leave bc it’s a small market. The owner was a douchebag that didn’t want to fund the franchise, and the stadium was probably one of the worst, if not the worst stadiums in football. Also, the physical location of the stadium was in a bad part of the city. Busch Stadium and the Enterprise Center are much closer together and are in a much better part of the city. If these problems were fixed, football would definitely survive here. Though, I’ll just be a chiefs fan anyways
Boyder6 the Rams left St Louis because they should have never been moved there in the first place. Their owner at the time Georgia Frontiere only moved the team because she inherited the team through the death of her husband, wanted a team in her hometown, and threatened to sue the NFL after they initially blocked the move just so that she could get everything her heart desired. As soon as she died the writing was on the wall for the Rams to move back to LA, especially considering the Rams were bottom 10 in attendance for the entire 2 decade period they were in STL (excluding the Greatest Show on Turf years from 99-01, which just proves how nobody in STL cared about them unless the team wasn’t garbage. Unfortunately for the Rams, they were almost always a garbage team)
St. Louis is a small market but their front office has been really competent for years
At least the Royals aren’t like the mid-market teams that still has a legacy of failure.
I’m looking at you, Texas Rangers
陳朗 and Seattle
Ouch! But,sadly true
Being a Texas Rangers fan is the ultimate sports anguish
Almost three years after this video came out, it’s still true. Look at what happened to the small market teams even with a new CBA this off-season.
Hey Tree, I know the chances of you seeing this are low considering how dated this video is, however I would like to let you know I plan to use this video as a source for my English paper in which we have to write a research paper with four sources. My paper is on how much of a disadvantage small market teams are at currently in the mlb. Thank you for this golden video my man :)
Honestly the Orioles have probably been screwed over the most from this, used to be a medium good sized market before the MLB brought in the nationals which took half or more of their market, completely screwing the team.
I'm a Cardinals fan, but since I live in KC I see a lot of love for the Royals and especially a lot of loyalty. I've gone to more games at Kauffman than Busch. Such a beautiful park. I wish everything well for this team.
I have always had issues calling Cleveland and St. Louis small market teams just because their histories date back to when those cities were huge, St. Louis fell out of the top 10 in the 1970 census while Cleveland fell out the following decade
And really, the only reason it did is because of it’s independent city status. Most people don’t realize that if it was a consolidated city-county like every city (except Baltimore and cities in Virginia) it would currently have the 10th largest population in the US
yeah i would not call them small markets either. Baltimore is not a small market either.
@@EvanEscher Yeah we are, especially with the Nationals now in DC. There's a reason Angelo's fought the MASN fight with MLB as hard as he did.
The "city" populations are pretty irrelevant...the metro area population is what matters, along with the overall regional tv market size.
To be fair, being a former large city doesn't really make them less of a small market team. Fans don't last forever, and a smaller population is a smaller population to gain new fans from. And less fans mean less of a budget for players.
The Cardinals don't even just buy the best players; they are actually very good at initial team-building (Albert Pujols took until the 13th round to be drafted), allowing them to maintain a strong and dedicated fanbase, which, in turn, allows them to have a more stable base. While they do have a bigger budget, they also cannot just throw money around like the Yankees.
"There are rich teams, and there are poor teams, then there's 50 feet of crap and then there's us"
The Cardinals are the example every other small market team should be trying to emulate. Excellent player development, draft selections, managerial staff/front office/ownership, and a diehard fanbase. Now that’s organizational competence if I’ve ever seen it #GoCardsGo
At least the Royals won a World Series back in 2015. In which they shot the #LOLMETS down that year.
Tree you're honestly my favorite sports youtuber and maybe my favorite youtuber. No one makes quality content as consistently as you. Keep it up.
This video is so good I'm using it as a cited source in one of my essay's for comp II
This video has never been more relevant.
This is why I'm pulling hard for the Brewers this year. They've built a solid organization for 7 years now, would love to see them make a run
I still remember when the crown blazed in gold. Now they blaze in dumpsters. Every home game, the visitors would torment them by constantly mentally vandalizing the crown on the giant logo in the home stadium to look like little penises.
It's a sad thing to be amused by.
This video highlights why Tree is such a great sports youtuber. Behind the jokes and the snarkyness is a hardcore sports fan who cares about fairness, tension, and competitive balance. He doesn't just focus on the big headlines, but dives deep into every team in every league. This allows him to see the value of parity and the salary cap. I believe the all-around insight also makes his humor effective. It's funny 'cos it's true.
I always feel really bad for the small market teams, like being a Yankee fan I know I’m spoiled as hell when it comes to players, money available and championships and probably a million other things. Small market teams have some of the most loyal fans on earth though and I have such a respect for yall. We all love this game even if it isn’t always fair
KC Royal Fans attendance parade was 750k when they won the World Series. That’s more than the 500k that the Cardinals Fans attended in 2011.
Three different types of teams, the big market teams, the small market teams and the Mets
0:16
I was at that game
13 minutes
We were in line for food longer than the game
Fun times
I haven't watched an MLB game in about 3 years. Thanks for helping me remember why
August 2024: The Royals have one of the top offenses in baseball, hold a commanding WC lead, and sit just a few games back of MLB's top record. The development finally seems to have paid off!
Thanks for showing the Cardinals some love. Makes me happy as a Cardinals fan.
I'm a Mets fan who lives in Kansas City. Watching the two world series runs--even one at my beloved Mets expense--was amazing to see what it did for the city.
The Orioles market was slowly eaten when the Nats came to town, now it's just bone, gristle and Chris Davis' inflated contract.
Its painful to be an Orioles fan
@Harry Engel That was Dan Duquette and yeah..he's long gone
They fired both Duquette and Showalter after the 2018 season
Baltimore's Metro Area is still bigger than a lot of metro areas in MLB, and about the same size as St Louis's Metro Area. If they can't thrive off of that, than it just shows their incompetence.
@@bigdc202 Orioles Market is 24 of 31 they rank on the bottom anyway you slice it. Yes the Royals and Ray's have had success in the past but to act like it doesn't matter is foolish. And I pointed out their incompetence with the Davis contract remark. FYI Cardinals rank 19, the Os are 24
This exactly why it's tough being a royals fan but when we do have our lightning in a bottle those few years are worth it. Small market for life
Best way to start morning with some coffee, breakfast and UT video
It’s literally 4 in the afternoon in america
This video made me, a Royals fan realize how we were lucky compared to other small market teams because we got a ring out of this
How do you think O's fans feel? Not only do they have the lowest payroll, they have to deal with the Red Sox and Yankees every year. They had a 2 year window, then the team got picked apart. Losing Manny really sucked. He was the only player left worth going to watch. Baseball is broken.
2014 ALCS Royals vs Orioles what a type it was to be alive
No hard cal in baseball is why I can't get into mlb as much as NFL and NBA. I'm even saying this as a Giants fan, we will spend and have won 3 titles but it's still always the same teams in baseball
Video really hits home. Being a Brewers fan I feel for any small market team. Once every 20 years your team has a chance to win something and it's usually stomped on by a team that spends 2 times as much on players. After that it's back to obscurity for another 2 decades waiting for your chance to get your hopes shattered again.
And then you have the Mets a team with every opportunity to be a big market team but chooses to remain small
But they don’t. That’s total bullshit. Try being a pirates, rays, or a’s fan.
Mr. Dink A’s in my opinion aren’t that small of a market. It’s just that they act like one. Oakland is like the 8th biggest market in baseball. The Stadium probably isn’t doing them many favors.
Mets are small market, they may be in New York but they will forever live in the shadow of the Yankees.
Mr. Dink It’s not. We have to deal with the Yankees.
ishmael r Again, no.
Not much of a baseball fan, but with KC, we’re so back and forth. We’ll do well in baseball, yet horrible in football and vice versa. Since the Chiefs started winning, almost no one I’m around pays attention to the Royals any longer.
Best RUclipsr online today. Keep it up U Tree
MLB needs a salary cap
Awesome video!! Have been a Royals fan since 1988 when moved to the MO/KS area's. Yep - I remember those abysmal years the Royals had during the 1990s-2000's. Those years reminded me of the 1970's-1980's Cleveland Indians where I am from - literally could NOT even give away tickets. Finally, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 were great years for the Royals!! Finally a competitor. 2 World Series and DOMINATING the 2015 season - nobody wanted to those that team. Then the death of their star pitcher which, in my opinion - sucked the life-force out of this team which it has never recovered from, and the return to mediocrity.
I think I speak, not just for us Brewers fans, but for all fans of "small-market" baseball teams when I say, "Thank you," for shedding some light on this. It's an issue that needs to be addressed and talked about more often.
While this may be a sustainable model for now, when the MLB has to start renegotiating TV deals and sees that fan interest is dwindling to the NBA and NFL, they might rethink the competitive balance of the sport.
MLB is in some serious trouble, especially with labor and ownership relationships at the worst they've been since the early 90's.
If they suffer a work stoppage, it will kill any popularity the sport had with the younger groups.
@@UrinatingTree The sport's popularity is already suffering among my age group (I'm 24). With even younger groups there's even less interest. Eventually, a salary cap will have to be implemented to rejuvenate fan interest, which is where the money is made anyhow. To me, the real villain is the MLBPA. Contracts are so absurd (Bauer is being paid more than some TEAMS this year) that this is how we've gotten to this point to begin with, and they refuse any change to improve the sport.
The problem with small organizations is you have to run it well to be sucessful.
Well said.
Nunya Damn Bidness same with big market teams look at the Angels and Mets.
Very true less mistakes that you can financially bounce back from.
well, with small market clubs, the room for error is so small..1 or 2 bad contracts could put you in the hole for 5 -10 years...
You gotta keep in mind this... a lot of these small market owners are cheap asses who don't see a point in investing their team to make it better. George steinbrener may be a hated figure in baseball but he said it best when buying the yankees.. he wanted to build a winner. He wanted to make the team successful. If only owners of the pirates, royals, rays, and orioles had owners with that mindset... the rays alone are competitive with a small payroll just imagine them with more money. At the end of the day you can hate on the "big market teams" when in reality why haven't the Padres been competitive for the last decade? Or the rangers? Or the Phillies? Or Arizona all teams with big markets in terms of population.
You're not wrong with Steinbrenner on that one. Some owners are such cheapasses.
Personally, the MLB needs to get on board with a salary cap, this is why free agency has been so terribly slow these last few years.
Probably the most insightful video on small-market teams I've ever seen, thanks tree!
It’s really hilarious how the delta between the small market teams in baseball is so much larger than the small market teams in the NFL and NHL.
Royals fan here, thank you for the video. I know we’re bad it hurts, but hopefully we can pull another 85 and 15 again.
A very insightful video, actually.
This is why I enjoy being a fan of a large market team
NFL style team salary cap is the only real solution, but it'll never happen.
What's the big roadblock? That'd be the healthiest thing that could come to the MLB
Killian Krummel The corrupt af “Players Union” hates the salary cap. It’s what caused the cancellation of the 1994 pennant races and World Series. The owners wanted a salary cap so they could spend less overall money. Players union said no cause “it’ll devalue player contracts”. Then they went on strike and cancelled the season.
The point of all this: We the fans are constantly fucked over, and the greedy players and owners diluted what can be a great league and sport.
There is no way in hell MLB owners would split broadcast & merchandise revenues 30 ways then base a salary cap off that number
@@Zach-mw5so Corrupt as fuck? Buddy, these are billion dollar teams and the players still have dumb bullshit like "service time" where their prime years are underpaid relative to their abilities. The real problem in baseball is the big market teams.
How I'd introduce a hard cap:
- Remove Service Time, and keep rookie contracts to entry level three year deals, after which players enter restricted free agency compensation for two years where offer sheets are possible
- Player arbitration starts after 4th season in MLB organizations regardless of games played
- Pay increase in MILB
- Offer sheet compensation is weighted towards teams that lose players via offer sheets
- International pool players are waiver ordered by worst teams
- Teams must hit a minimum salary floor
- I'd expand the MLB roster to 50 players
Roster expansion, end of service time, pay increases in Minor League Baseball and increased arbitration powers are a fair trade off for a hard salary cap, and I don't think the MLBPA is that unreasonable. However, Major League Baseball would never offer that. So you tell me which side is "corrupt"
@@de132 I should run an OOTP league with a structure similar to this. Great points all around.
That was the best Segway to a sponsor ever!!! And yes. I’m a Royals fan!
Even as a fan of the Cubs, I would love a salary cap. Sick and tired of see LAD and Boston/NYY in every world series.
Buying your way to championship is just not the way it should be.
Anmie being fair, the Yankees was last in the world series in 2009. And the Dodgers last won one in 1988. With that said, I get your point about the huge problem MLB has in which the Dodgers, Yankees and Red Sox are serious playoff contenders almost every year for at least 20 years now.
agree, it's beginning to look like the same teams make the playoffs every year
a cap would definitely be more fair to small market teams
All valid points, but all the major American sports are afflicted by this. It was such a breath of fresh air having the raptors win this year.
You forgot the Cardinal Devil Magic, seems to be at play again 😈
Actually that's my dead uncle who grew up a giants fan until age 18 left the house told the 9ers and Giants to fuck off and rooted for the cardinals since 1980 the man leaves heaven in his custom Blue Cardinals Jersey to root on his team.
Would you have the Cardinals Pixie Dust or the Giants Pixie Dust?
@@UHOH_415 as a giants fan I'm excited for the future but when we're not in the playoffs I root for the cards to honor my uncle and the Stros to honor my early baseball playing days at 14 15 16
Also such a great analysis of the competitive disparity in the league and in a way, economic disparity as a whole. It's been cool to see the way your content has evolved over the last year