Cubs' Tom Ricketts Crying Poor

[Kc61]

The Passan article, which Ron quotes above, is interesting reading for baseball fans with access. Focuses on some issues in the baseball player market today.

[The Operator]

This really should serve as a stark reminder to all of us just how much contempt the owners have for fans and how stupid they believe we are.

The Reds, for example, were purchased for $270M in 2005 and are worth well over a billion dollars now. Hell, The Miami freakin’ Marlins, one of the laughing stock franchises of the sport, sold for over a billion dollars despite the fact that they consistently rank near dead last in ticket sales.

Are we really supposed to believe that these franchises would be soaring in value if they were somehow strapped for cash and working on razor thin profit margins, or even losing money, as some owners try to tell fans? BS.

We constantly bemoan player salaries being “out of control” but rarely do we talk about how much money the owners are pocketing on the backs of those players. I feel a hell of a lot better about Joey Votto making $25 million a year than I do about Castellini and the Williams family seeing a 400% increase in the value of their investment over the years, while we’ve gotten to watch three - count ‘em, three - winning teams during their ownership tenure. I’m not counting this season for obvious reasons.

These guys are not poor. Not a single owner of any MLB team anywhere is actually struggling right now.

Meanwhile, there are people who have literally lost their livelihoods over the past 9 months, real working people, and we’re supposed to feel sorry for billionaires whose biggest problem might be only buying a third yacht this year and not a fourth?

Give. Me. A. Break.


Edit to add: They could put an end to all this by making their books public. Want us to believe you’re poor? Prove it. We all know that’s not gonna happen.



/end rant

[Kc61]

This really should serve as a stark reminder to all of us just how much contempt the owners have for fans and how stupid they believe we are.

The Reds, for example, were purchased for $270M in 2005 and are worth well over a billion dollars now. Hell, The Miami freakin’ Marlins, one of the laughing stock franchises of the sport, sold for over a billion dollars despite the fact that they consistently rank near dead last in ticket sales.

Are we really supposed to believe that these franchises would be soaring in value if they were somehow strapped for cash and working on razor thin profit margins, or even losing money, as some owners try to tell fans? BS.

We constantly bemoan player salaries being “out of control” but rarely do we talk about how much money the owners are pocketing on the backs of those players. I feel a hell of a lot better about Joey Votto making $25 million a year than I do about Castellini and the Williams family seeing a 400% increase in the value of their investment over the years, while we’ve gotten to watch three - count ‘em, three - winning teams during their ownership tenure. I’m not counting this season for obvious reasons.

These guys are not poor. Not a single owner of any MLB team anywhere is actually struggling right now.

Meanwhile, there are people who have literally lost their livelihoods over the past 9 months, real working people, and we’re supposed to feel sorry for billionaires whose biggest problem might be only buying a third yacht this year and not a fourth?

Give. Me. A. Break.


Edit to add: They could put an end to all this by making their books public. Want us to believe you’re poor? Prove it. We all know that’s not gonna happen.



/end rant

Tampa Bay made the WS with an efficient financial structure, low payroll. What is to incentivize owners to have very high payrolls? Same issue with the recent minor league shrinkage - even billionaires don’t want to spend unnecessarily. If they perceive waste, unneeded spending, they will cut down.

The system has been negotiated by both sides, owners and players. It’s a free market more than other sports. That means all participants look out for their financial self-interest with relatively few restrictions.

These things can be addressed in negotiations if the players and owners really want a better structure for the sport. But not sure what anyone expects given the current structure - from all sides in the baseball wars.

[bm1475]

We could see players willing to negotiate a salary cap in exchange for a salary floor if things keep moving in the direction they are now.

[757690]

Tampa Bay made the WS with an efficient financial structure, low payroll. What is to incentivize owners to have very high payrolls? Same issue with the recent minor league shrinkage - even billionaires don’t want to spend unnecessarily. If they perceive waste, unneeded spending, they will cut down.

Look at who makes the playoffs every year. It’s mostly the same big market teams, and a few smaller market teams that change every year. That’s the incentive to having a higher payroll. That incentive is so strong, MLB had to institute a luxury tax to keep some teams from just buying championships.

[Chip R]

I found these articles today that go back a year that will give you an idea of what Cubs ownership has been involved in over the past year.

https://www.cubsinsider.com/2019/12/...ptics-for-cubs

https://www.cubsinsider.com/2020/06/...hoice-of-words

https://www.cubsinsider.com/2020/06/...ery-profitable

https://www.cubsinsider.com/2020/10/...debt-from-rsns

https://www.cubsinsider.com/2020/11/...me-tax-credits

https://www.cubsinsider.com/2020/12/...der-to-swallow

https://www.cubsinsider.com/2020/10/...all-operations

[Strikes Out Looking]

I believe the Cubs are going to change their name to reflect ownership. Hello Chicago Grifters.

[RedTeamGo!]

We could see players willing to negotiate a salary cap in exchange for a salary floor if things keep moving in the direction they are now.

Hopefully

[Kc61]

Look at who makes the playoffs every year. It’s mostly the same big market teams, and a few smaller market teams that change every year. That’s the incentive to having a higher payroll. That incentive is so strong, MLB had to institute a luxury tax to keep some teams from just buying championships.

If you have access, you should read Passan’s article.

Owners are looking for efficiency. Don’t spend big on over-30 players. Don’t pay much to the “middle class” player. Cut down the minor leagues because the yield isn’t always that good.

Guys like Ricketts (even Castellini) won’t say they are running down their teams. They’ll say they can still win after the non-tenders and salary dumps. They see a TB and wonder why payrolls are so high.

There will always be some exceptions, but I don’t believe Ricketts is alone in his stated view of baseball economics.

[757690]

They see a TB and wonder why teams have increased payrolls so much over the years.

This is like Walmart looking at the success of a local hardware store and changing their business model to copy it.

[Kc61]

This is like Walmart looking at the success of a local hardware store and changing their business model to copy it.

I don’t believe so. Sometimes efficiencies are accepted industry-wide. Or almost industry-wide.

[757690]

I don’t believe so. Sometimes efficiencies are accepted industry-wide. Or almost industry-wide.

If I am a big market team, I am looking at all the other big market teams that spent their way to multiple playoff appearances and championships, and not one anomaly of a small market team that made the World Series twice in the last 12 years.

[Kc61]

If I am a big market team, I am looking at all the other big market teams that spent their way to multiple playoff appearances and championships, and not one anomaly of a small market team that made the World Series twice in the last 12 years.

It’s not a matter of turning large market teams into small market teams. It’s a matter of overall trends in the industry. Nobody is saying the Yankees wants to be Tampa Bay.

Again, try and read the article.

[757690]

It’s not a matter of turning large market teams into small market teams. It’s a matter of overall trends in the industry. Nobody is saying the Yankees wants to be Tampa Bay.

Again, try and read the article.

I said over a decade ago that the measures the A’s used to gain the system will be used by the big market teams, making them even more dangerous monsters.

But let’s be clear, these big market teams when they want to compete, will always buy their way into competition. Even the Cubs and Astros spent like soldiers on leave on free agents. Spending money is the way to win in this game and that will never change. When big market teams start dumping salary, it means they aren’t trying to compete, it doesn’t mean they are trying to be smart, no matter what how they try to spin it.

[Patrick Bateman]

The reason the rays work
Is the perfection of the 6 year control player cycle. If every team wants to adopt that then the players will hold hold out, create a strike, change 6 years to 3 years, which in turn sill increase player salaries earlier, abd reduce free agent prices due to earlier free agency. The overall dollar outlay wouldn’t change dramatically (I believe around 55 percent of baseball revenue goes to players), it would be distributed more fairly accross players, but decrease parity.

Ultimately guys like ricketts can suck it. You can’t complain about the pay to 30 plus players without recognizing the superb value you get from kris Bryant during his youth.


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