Andrew Zimbalist

It's ludicrous that he's not in the Hall. He's one of the most important executives in the history of the game. He transformed the sport. If the Hall is going include both players and executives, it hurts its integrity for him to not be there.

Everybody got excited in 1997 and then they got smacked in the face, ... They won't go back for another round when that happens. ... If every time you went to McDonald's there was someone there who threw water in your face, you wouldn't go back, either.

But Epstein doesn't walk on water, ... He's certainly not infallible, and the Red Sox still have a bright future without him.

I'm sure there will be thousands of new jobs. But the question is whether they subtract jobs from people working nearby.

I think that the NHL is ripe to have some franchises move. Hartford is a viable area when it comes down to that. To be in the Northeast, in New England, with hockey, is viable. I think the economics of the league have stabilized. They're not perfect, but they're a heck of a lot better than they were. I wouldn't draw the conclusion that Hartford can't work. In fact, I think I'd draw the opposite conclusion. I think it's a much stronger location than several of the cities that are currently hosting NHL teams. And I know that there's a lot of talk about franchises moving around. I don't think it's a slam dunk, but I think it's very viable.

You also then have to acknowledge that when the team performs poorly, it'll go in the opposite direction.

Nobody ever said that the only thing that determines success is salary, is payroll. Certainly, the A's have demonstrated that. But as long as you have a wild-card system, it's possible for a number of teams to be in it.

Historically, it's not uncommon for a Super Bowl ticket to go for several thousand dollars. There are some rich people who wouldn't think twice about spending that kind of money.

It's not a magnet as in all of a sudden the Carolina Hurricanes will spend 49 million. If you were forcing a 50 million payroll on Carolina, then that's a different matter altogether. You're talking about a league that had 2.1 billion in revenue in its last season. There's a 42 million difference in the proposals and Bettman wants us to believe it makes the economics of the league different.

They've just ignited the fan interest in St. Louis, and management has been smart enough to maintain that.

My best guess is they won't strike. They know they'll hurt the game and themselves too much if they strike. I don't think they'll tip their hand right now - I'm sure they'll make it sound like they're willing to strike. But my best guess is players will fight the owners with litigation.

I think they will have to be some greater revenue sharing, reinstitution of a salary tax. But I don't think the big-market owners will agree to everything the smaller clubs want. I'm not sure Bud has got more of a whip than he had in the past. Just because he's been able to keep owners from talking under threat of a fine doesn't mean when they sit behind closed doors, they lie down for him.

It will continue the cycle I think it has to. It's positive to have serious corporations that have the business background to do that kind of work necessary to run teams today.

He was able, in short ... to bring the owners together as partners in a way that has never been done before in baseball.

I don't think it's going to happen, and I don't think baseball wants it to happen. I think baseball would be inviting congressional possibly severe congressional response to it. They also would have to negotiate the effects of contraction with the players union.

He's innovated baseball management. He's shown the way to exploit a big city market by spending heavily on players.

I don't think baseball can abandon the Miami market. If MLB does let that market go vacant, I think it'll be one of the biggest mistakes they ever made.

Baseball does have some slack here. When they were losing 20 million a year in Montreal, there was some pressure to get rid of it. But as long as they are profitable in Washington, there is less pressure. They've got eight bona fide 450 million offers to buy the team, and those offers aren't going to go away soon.

People tend to take sides in these discussions. They feel obligated to say baseball is in catastrophic circumstance or no problem at all. I think extremes are misleading. I think there's a problem and it's of modest dimensions.

It seems to me what necessarily has to happen is some concessions from both sides. Whether that is a victory for owners or victory for players, I'm not sure, ... Baseball and Billions.

But in terms of the competitive balance, that's very problematic. It's not likely it's going to have any significant effect at all. We still have a highly significant correlation between payroll and performance. That's really all we're talking about.

I think it is madness. It is not what you would have if there was any reasonable balance between academics and athletics.

The market's been soft, ... and I think that's mostly a result of the new provisions in the collective bargaining agreement.