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Braves sign Donaldson to 1 yr 23M deal pending physical


Sleepy Harold
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1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said:

The non-tanking talent isn't really here yet.  If it was, I would feel differently.  Again, if we land a whale, the calculus changes, but as of today, meh.  I'd rather have another 3rd pick in 2020 than have Josh Donaldson push us for 5 more wins.

If we have the 3rd pick in next year’s draft, then a big chunk of the Moncada, Jimenez, Anderson, Rodon, Giolito, & Lopez grouping failed to take the next step in their development and are likely busts.  I hope to god we aren’t picking that high again anytime soon.

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36 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Again, why?  I am not sure what the big addition of moving up another 5 -10 games over what this team will do anyway organically is.  It isn't going to do anything for attendance.  It isn't going to do anything for ratings.  It isn't going to get fans excited at all. 

What am I missing here?

You honestly don’t think having a .500ish caliber team would do anything for attendance or ratings?

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18 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

You honestly don’t think having a .500ish caliber team would do anything for attendance or ratings?

Nope, and to be honest, Yolmer is easily one of the 3 most popular players for Sox fans and someone like Donaldson won’t make your casual fan start attending games.

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2 minutes ago, fathom said:

Nope, and to be honest, Yolmer is easily one of the 3 most popular players for Sox fans and someone like Donaldson won’t make your casual fan start attending games.

Yolmer a top 3 most popular player?  If that’s true, no wonder fan interest in this team is at an all-time low.  And I think you’re selling casual fans short if you think a Donaldson signing wouldn’t pique their interest.

Regardless, our local TV ratings have declined significantly since we kicked off the rebuild.  To think a semi-competitive team wouldn’t improve TV ratings vs. the shit-shows we ran out there the last two seasons is pure lunacy IMO.

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9 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Yolmer a top 3 most popular player?  If that’s true, no wonder fan interest in this team is at an all-time low.  And I think you’re selling casual fans short if you think a Donaldson signing wouldn’t pique their interest.

Regardless, our local TV ratings have declined significantly since we kicked off the rebuild.  To think a semi-competitive team wouldn’t improve TV ratings vs. the shit-shows we ran out there the last two seasons is pure lunacy IMO.

Yes I would say Yolmer is almost definitely the 2nd biggest fan favorite behind Abreu.

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1 hour ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I’m not sure what you mean by “budget money doesn’t just appear & disappear magically each year”.  We have no idea what the Sox do with their excess cash.  You are making the assumption that it’s just sitting in the bank waiting to be used in future years.  Ownership may very well be cashing out their profits.

The other factor you’re ignoring is investing in the team should generate some economic return.  Improving the quality of the on-field product will improve interest in the team and lead to increased revenue.  This is especially important when we have our local TV deal expiring and have bottomed out in terms of ratings.  Donaldson alone may not be a game changer, but if combined with other additions it might provide an economic benefit.

There’s no way that signing Josh Donaldson would provide the team with anything close to $25-30 million dollars in economic return this year. He could sell a couple thousand jerseys and 50,000 extra tickets alone and add five wins and still not approach that.

I know you said with other additions, but those would bring the cost up. Even if they added four good free agents and all our current players broke out and we went from worst to first, creating revenue from winning, the additional revenue would be thanks to all those breakouts. Josh Donaldson would never account for $25-30m of it. 

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1 hour ago, Chicago White Sox said:

So you’re just going to ignore the facts that clearly show our TV ratings have dropped substantially since the rebuild started?

I don't buy for a second that Josh Donaldson and a .500ish team will do anything for ratings.  That is not nearly enough to start the return of the bandwagon fans. People weren't even showing up for a team that was in first place until the middle of September of 2012. I see nothing to support that was .500 is enough for them.

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29 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

I don't buy for a second that Josh Donaldson and a .500ish team will do anything for ratings.  That is not nearly enough to start the return of the bandwagon fans. People weren't even showing up for a team that was in first place until the middle of September of 2012. I see nothing to support that was .500 is enough for them.

You actually think our huge decrease in TV ratings the last two years is the result of losing “bandwagon fans”?  I hate to tell you this, but the bandwagoners jumped ship a long time ago.  It’s our core fanbase that’s losing interest in watching a 100 loss product.  A semi competitive team would definitely improve fan interest and be a godsend for this organization as we begin negotiating a new TV deal.  Having the lowest ratings in all of baseball doesn’t exactly create a ton of leverage for us in negotiations.

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12 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

You actually think our huge decrease in TV ratings the last two years is the result of losing “bandwagon fans”?  I hate to tell you this, but the bandwagoners jumped ship a long time ago.  It’s our core fanbase that’s losing interest in watching a 100 loss product.  A semi competitive team would definitely improve fan interest and be a godsend for this organization as we begin negotiating a new TV deal.  Having the lowest ratings in all of baseball doesn’t exactly create a ton of leverage for us in negotiations.

Reading what people post here, and knowing what our history looks like, I don't buy it.  An 80 win team does nothing.  Heck two years ago I had people telling me that they wanted this, and people would keep showing up and watching this team. Again that isn't how Sox fans operate.  

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1 minute ago, southsider2k5 said:

Reading what people post here, and knowing what our history looks like, I don't buy it.  An 80 win team does nothing.  Heck two years ago I had people telling me that they wanted this, and people would keep showing up and watching this team. Again that isn't how Sox fans operate.  

Well, all things considered that's almost held true. Attendance last year was only 500/game lower than 2014. 

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Not to many in this thread stating that this was a bit of an overpay. I'm glad the W'sox didn't go after Donaldson at this rate. 

 

It makes some sense for the Braves for sure -- no knock on them. It's just a one year deal and could explode into fireworks for the playoff bound Braves.

But wow, that's a lot of money for a guy that could barely stay on the field, and is well old. 

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29 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Reading what people post here, and knowing what our history looks like, I don't buy it.  An 80 win team does nothing.  Heck two years ago I had people telling me that they wanted this, and people would keep showing up and watching this team. Again that isn't how Sox fans operate.  

Gotcha, so your argument is it’s just coincidence that our TV ratings have dropped ~30% over the past two years just as we started a rebuild?  Lol...I can’t believe I even have to argue this.

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1 minute ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Gotcha, so your argument is it’s just coincidence that our TV ratings have dropped ~30% over the past two years just as we started a rebuild?  Lol...I can’t believe I even have to argue this.

That's it? Good god no one was watching this team in 2016 then either. 

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8 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

That's it? Good god no one was watching this team in 2016 then either. 

You’re right, our TV ratings have sucked for while given our general ineptitude since 2008.  That being said, a 30% drop when you’re already near the bottom is pretty substantial.  Our fanbase may have supported the rebuild, but that doesn’t mean they felt like watching the on-field product night after night.  I’m sure the same thing happens with most / all rebuilding clubs, including the Cubs.

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2 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

You’re right, our TV ratings have sucked for while given our general ineptitude since 2008.  That being said, a 30% drop when you’re already near the bottom is pretty substantial.  Our fanbase may have supported the rebuild, but that doesn’t mean they felt like watching the on-field product night after night.  I’m sure the same thing happens with most / all rebuilding clubs, including the Cubs.

I don't know about the Cubs, but yeah there were some legendary Astros games in 2014 where they were on at the same time as the Texans and the audience on TV was in the hundreds.

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4 hours ago, southsider2k5 said:

Again, why?  I am not sure what the big addition of moving up another 5 -10 games over what this team will do anyway organically is.  It isn't going to do anything for attendance.  It isn't going to do anything for ratings.  It isn't going to get fans excited at all. 

What am I missing here?

So let me get this straight - putting aside Donaldson - you’d prefer to roll the same team out as last year without any major additions because you see no benefit in winning more games? Even if those additions are short term deals that don’t hamper the future of the franchise? Just....keep sucking for another top pick? M

The rebuild will never end. The entire first wave of guys will be expensive before the 2nd wave has arrived and makes a difference. This organization needs to progress - they’ve been terrible for too long and can afford to begin supplementing, even if the reinforcements don’t include two of the most expensive FA contracts ever signed. 

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33 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Gotcha, so your argument is it’s just coincidence that our TV ratings have dropped ~30% over the past two years just as we started a rebuild?  Lol...I can’t believe I even have to argue this.

It's not a coincidence. Fans are abandoning the team in high numbers, just like I said they would. 

It will not be cured by a .500 season.

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