BREAKING NEWS: Pirates, Others To Leave MLB

It was announced late this afternoon that the Pittsburgh Pirates and several other Major League Baseball teams will leave MLB and form the new Semi-Pro Baseball Association. The Pirates, along with the Kansas City Royals, Tampa Bay Rays, Florida Marlins, Oakland A's, Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Washington Nationals, and Cleveland Indians will start the new SPBA after the 2009 MLB season is over. The new league will consist of two divisions and have a salary cap. "This is a great day for the city of Pittsburgh, the Pirates, and their fan" said Pittsburgh CEO and principal owner Bob Nutting. Each team will have a salary cap of $60 million and the cap will increase 3-5% for the first three years. "Every smart baseball fan knows that the current system in Major League Baseball is unfair and this is something that needed to be done" explained Kansas City General Manager Dayton Moore. The SPBA will play a 81 game season with the winner of both divisions playing a best-of-3 series to determine a champion. "We still don't know what to call our new championship series, but considering it's teams from the United States, we sure won't be calling it the World Series" Nutting said. The Los Angeles Angels, who are one of MLB's bigger spenders, surprised some by leaving MLB to join the SPBA. "Los Angeles should only have one Major League team so that's why we are excited about the opportunity to be a part of the SPBA" former California Angels owner and the dead Gene Autry said. As the spending on free agents has become harder and harder for some teams to compete, these ten teams saw no other resolution than to form another league. "When teams are giving good defensive players but weak hitters $6 million a year, like a Jack Wilson for example, how can all 30 teams stay competitive?" asked Nutting. When informed that the Pirates are the team that actually did that, Nutting referred all questions to former CEO Kevin McClatchy. When told that McClatchy is no longer a part of the Pirates, Nutting jumped off the Clemente bridge.