Former Baltimore Sun Orioles beat reporter and current ESPN baseball analyst Tim Kurkjian believes that while "tanking" is not the only option for non-competitive ballclubs to get better long term, success is a possible outcome if a team chooses to go that route.
Kurkjian recognizes general managers believe the recipe for success often means losing now to win later. "Tanking" is the strategic decision to bottom out at the big-league level in an effort to secure higher draft picks, bigger draft bonus pools and more international spending money, all of which can lead to benefits down the line for the organization.
"We're in a tough spot in baseball right now," Kurkjian said on The Ross Grimsley Show July 2. "... I understand if you're going to get good, at some point you have to get bad. But I think we have too many teams thinking about it, too many teams doing it and too many teams looking at it like, 'This is our only way out.'"
