This was inspired by a good thread by jatkuva over in the General Wrestling forum.
I compare WWE to a Major Leauge Baseball team.
Let's take a look at some baseball teams that enjoy annual success.
- New York Yankees (10)
- St. Louis Cardinals (4)
- Philadelpia Phillies (25)
- Atlanta Braves (16)
- Tampa Bay Rays* (3)
Let's take a look at some baseball teams that enjoy annual success.
- New York Yankees (10)
- St. Louis Cardinals (4)
- Philadelpia Phillies (25)
- Atlanta Braves (16)
- Tampa Bay Rays* (3)
There is one thing that these teams all have had in common at one point: a strong farm system. A strong farm system is what will allow all of these teams to compete year in and year out. The bold number next to each of these teams indicates their farm system ranking according to Keith Law, the top prospect analyst for ESPN. As you can see, the reigning World Champion St. Louis Cardinals rank among the top 5. During their incredible run last year, it was guys like Albert Pujols, David Freese, Jason Motte, Daniel Descalso, Skip Shumaker, Allen Craig, Jon Jay, and Lance Lynn who played the biggest roles in helping obtain their championship. And guess what? They all were at one point in the Cardinals' farm system.
Wonder why the first place Pirates have had little to no success for the past 20 years and are just now seeing some success. Wonder why the Nationals are having success now? Strong farm systems! The Pirates had horrendous drafts missing out on what we'll call here on these boards; main-eventers, instead they drafted jobbers. They then began taking the main eventers and success followed.
The Philadelphia Phillies have been the most dominant Major League for the past five years. Now all of a sudden they are having a dismal season. You know why? See the Keith Law ranking? 25 out 30 teams. They had a strong farm system and this accounted for the half decade of dominance. But all of their prospects are now either on the main roster or traded away elsewhere for their current veterans.
This is where the Philadelphia Phillies compare to the WWE
The Phillies were dominating their respective sport. All of a sudden they took a few tough injuries to their roster the way WWE has (or suspended super stars in their case). What can the Phillies do without their strong farm system. They have no one to turn to. They've had to put in guys who aren't ready for the spotlight or aren't established Major Leaguers. And they've suffered. Sound a little like the current position of WWE? Orton, Mysterio, Henry, Bourne, Kharma, Barret all have missed the better part of this year, who's stepped up? Phillies lost Halladay, Howard, Utley, Lee, Worley, Contreras; who's stepped up? No one. Because, who can possible step up, when no one is actuall there?And they've suffered for it.
I put an asterisk next to the Rays because I will compare them to TNA. Rays are a smaller organization compared to the Phillies. Their funds are not as luxorious. But yet the Rays are consistently playing Fall Baseball because of their great system. They are ranked third as you can see. They don't have the same money as the Phillies. No where near it! In fact, the Phillies have a team payroll of $174 million compared to the Rays $64 million! Yet as I type this and the fatigue in my wrists is setting in, the Phillies are in last place; the Rays are in third! WWE may get more ratings. That comes from the funds. But look at the hype surrounding TNA ever since Aries won that championship, ending the Selfish Generation. Everyone is jumping on the TNA ship because TNA's homegrowns are beginning to blossom and take off. WWEs homegrowns are sitting at home, healing injuries, or...smoking weed or synthetic weed.
The Cardinals lost Pujols to the Angels. Craig stepped up to do his best to fill in for those BIG shoes. They'd already given him his time in the Minors. Called him up periodically. Got him ready for the show. And he's busting out big time! Craig got hurt himself, so the Cards had to go to the well and brought up Matt Adams who's a very promising prospect. He did a very viable job for a month and kept the Cardinals close to first place. Chris Carpenter, one of last year's heroes, is essentially done for the season, so Joe Kelly has stepped up from the system and done an adequate job. Lane Berkman has missed the majority of the games to injury. Here comes Shane Robinson and Adron Chambers filling the void. These aren't even top prospects. Cardinals have some serious blue-chips that are still seasoning on the farm. In four years, they are going to have an extra Orton, an extra CM Punk, an extra Daniel Bryan, an extra Cena. Guys like Shelby Miller, Carlos Martinez, Oscar Taveras, Kolten Wong, Tyrell Jenkins and Zack Cox are going to make the Cardinals a force to be reckoned with. But this is old news for the Cardinals, they've kept their farm system fresh for years. They've built them up. As a result, they've experienced annual success. Second most World Series out of all 30 MLB teams and counting.
WWE is only now beginning to get an influx of serious stars in their system, but with they aren't quite ready yet. What good does that do RIGHT NOW? WWE needs help RIGHT NOW with these injuries and suspensions. But unfortunately, they're building for the future presently and failed to do that in the past.
Do you agree or disagree with these comparisons? Why or why not? Discuss.