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This is way too simplistic of an analysis. There are other operating costs other than payroll and to some degree those are more fixed in nature. As such, those fixed will reflect a greater portion of total revenue for small market clubs than large market clubs.

I miss being that guy too. I wish this organization didn’t revert to whatever this is, but it’s been an unpleasant stretch for sure

It's the time of year where people can dream, and I miss being that guy! Seriously. Although having expectations usually means more disappointment, so id rather be surprised. I'm thinking this team is more likely to lose 100 than they are to win even 70.

Here's the thing. Whatever measurement they are using, they are using the same one for all 30 teams. The most insane thing is that the White Sox have been so completely run into the ground, that literally the only team in MLB that they are ahead of in this revenue measure is Oakland. That's it. A team that literally doesn't have a major league park to play in, nor a city to call its own for years is the only team we beat. That's a god damned embarrassment and the perfect statement to the person who has run this show for 45 years now.

Still at it

It's better than wallowing in self-pity IMO.

I am not expecting miracles, but it will be fun to watch the development,

I didn't tell you anything.

Yeah, while I don't doubt the Sox are near the bottom of such a ratio list, the overall list doesn't pass the smell test. Aside from a few outliers like the Cubs and Royals, it's almost all big market teams near the top and small market teams near the bottom. Are owners like Reinsdorf and Nutting (Pirates) a big part of the problem? Absolutely YES. But now we're arguing that even good, competitive small market teams like the Guardians and Brewers are the problem because they're not outspending teams like the Dodgers, Mets, and Yankees. Logic tells me that it's extremely unlikely that all the owners willing to spend to win just happen to be in major markets and almost every single small market owner, even those of winning franchises, are all cheap bastards and the sole cause of MLB's competitive balance. I just don't buy it and whataboutisms about the Pirates and White Sox doesn't change that.

As much as they tell you they make no money, they wouldn't keep being sold for billions if they were losers. The fact is, when a team is owned by a publicly traded company, like the Packers and now Braves, and they have to be truthful, they make a rather large profit.

I feel pretty good about 2026 knowing Josh Rojas is gone.

That’s only because you know you are getting an interview with Jerry if Getz has another 100+ loss season.

Didn’t want to start a new post just for this, and this felt like the best existing post

.500 is just beyond that horizon.....be that guy, again

TV deals and equal revenue sharing would be the most obvious and logical start. The Dodgers spend the way they do simply because of the lucrative tv deal they have and the revenue they generate from it. A salary cap is a non-starter with the MLBPA, so they need to look for alternate ways to eliminate the disparity between the big and small market teams. Moving to a collectively shared tv rights package like the NFL pretty much eliminates the entire advantage the Dodgers have and would solve a lot of the disparity we see between big and small market clubs. Teams shouldn't be allowed to negotiate their own tv deals, it should be a league-wide effort so all 30 teams receive an equal share before any additional tickets sales, marketing deals, concession sales, etc. It levels the playing floor almost immediately, and you'd still be able to operate without a hard CAP to keep the players happy.

I see a team with about 6 established, major league average positional starters (Monty, Teel, Vargas, Quero, Meidroth and Baldwin (a stretch, I know)), and interesting prospect experiments at 3 positions (Acuña, Pereira/Kelenic, Murakami). Starting pitching was at least serviceable last season, Shane Smith and Davis Martin may be primed to settle in or even progress a bit. The bullpen is more thought out. If there's any setbacks, you have Antonacci, Hagen Smith, Schultz, McDougal, Davitt, Tristan Peters, Dustin Harris and Braden Montgomery in the pipeline. We would be buried in laughing emojis if we suggested that this team was 3 solid moves away from being competitive. People are still talking like another 100-loss season is practically guaranteed because they don't recognize every name on the roster, yet, everybody in the front office failed for not giving them confidence by hiking the payroll to the top of the league, while also arguing that JR is a horrible businessman that hobbled himself with his short-sighted parsimony. There's an entire range of outcomes for the 2026 season that go from 80+ wins down to 50. Only the numbers above 62 are treated as fanciful.

Not sure what you see but some fans see an improved team from last season for a number of reasons inc., - a better, deeper bullpen with a possible legitimate Closer. - possible improvements in hitting and power numbers from Colson Montgomery, Vargas and Lenyn Sosa. - Murakami - White Sox fan enthusiasm which was stoked with the Murakami signing. I know, positivity is not a metric that can be gleaned from this website.

I think a big issue that cabal needs to address is local TV revenues. Many, mostly smaller market teams, have seen their RSNs go belly up and as a result a huge source of revenue dried up. On the other hand, teams with massive, national fan bases like the Dodgers, Cubs, and Yankees can still make good money off of TV revenue. This has made the competitive balance issue worse. This wasn't nearly as much of an issue 10 or 15 years ago when the RSN gravy train was doing just fine. I want to say that the Cardinals had a $1B RSN deal a while back. Those days are long gone.

It's silly to blame any club for any action when it's all CBA anyways. If the cabal doesn't like how the other cabal members are operating change the rules, you know the rules you all agreed to last time.

Part of the equation that is missing is the minor leagues and development costs. Teams you mentioned like the Brewers and Guardians history develop great toung talent. The cost of this will not be considered in this equation. They've learned that if you cant spend with the big dogs you need to develop your own at a better rate.

These numbers just seem mostly made-up or pulled from thin air.

also this

You have said this every year since I have known you

No teams give out info in the offseason.

You give me an 80 win team and I'll best-case-scenario my way to 92 wins in a heart beat. You give me a 63 win team and I cant take you seriously or waste my time investing the time into watching.

This. If it costs $100-150m to run a team at all, then many markets can't just spend 70%+ of revenue on payroll and stay afloat. And going by these numbers, the Dodgers' payroll is higher than the total revenue of all but NYY and BOS. So every other team could spend every dollar of revenue on players, in a magical world with no other operating costs, and still couldn't afford the Dodgers' payroll.

Yea, this shouldn’t be a “he was nice to me” award. This is HoF. Nobody did it better than Bill and Brady for a long period of time

Nothing new, mostly explaining the thinking behind different processes of making the decision to break out Colson in one-on-one coaching in the spring, how Murakami unfolded, etc.

I have no doubt JR keeping the lion share of profits.

Please give me highlights. I can't listen to Kaplan.

He compared them to a team that went 83-79 but then gives them a 12% chance of winning 71 games? What?

I am just observing year four of signing bottom tier free agents with the intention of flipping them, a suspect pitching staff, and a young and unproven lineup. You are free to believe that they are gonna be a lot better. I don’t

I’m really excited to see what Bonemer can do this year.

Tampa Bay signs Cam Booser to a minor league contract. They seem oddly intrigued by our pitching cast-offs. Rays, Cam Booser Agree To Minor League Deal - MLB Trade Rumors

Ding ding ding. Billionaires hate actually losing money but love losing money on paper. They dont own things from the former.

It's just as easy to say you are only seeing what you want to see. Be positive, no one cares. Don't tell me what to think.

Let's just say you aren't trying real hard to see some of the positives.

Wonder which 6 of our pitchers will magically all need TJS the very first day of spring training.

I try to be positive every year.

Made me think of this scene Here's hoping it ends similarly with a 100 win season out of nowhere

Steamer projections for three possible CF options: Acuna: 385 PA | 88 wRC+ | 1.1 fWAR | $0.9M Bader: 436 PA | 96 wRC+ | 1.3 fWAR | $10M Robert: 477 PA | 95 wRC+ | 1.6 fWAR | $20M Offensive projections aren’t too different and fWAR figures above assume Acuna is playing 2B. That being said, if Acuna can provide plus defense in CF, he’s probably around the same fWAR as the other two guys and at a fraction of the cost. I still think Robert will be over 100 wRC+ next year (and possibly by quite a bit), but there is no denying the health concerns.

Caleb to the Da Bears, confirmed.

The Cubs? A team in the playoffs last year? Lol

Ending up with an average of average is fine; but the goal of a first round pick isn’t to draft an average player. One year you might draft Fulmer….later that is counter-balanced with Crochet and the math says average. I’ll take a Fulmer and Crochet over 2 Royce Claytons any day. Now we need the offsets for Collins, Burger, Madrigal, Vaughn, Gonzalez, Kelley (paid like a 1R pick) etc.

You won't until spring

Sam Phalen be…

Santos, Houser and Robert trades are all fine imo. Fedde/Kopech wasn't great, Cease was bad.

Berman gave a more wholehearted congrats to the Red Sox when our Sox sealed the series. It was pathetic. ESPN can suck a boner.

January 24, 2003 - Sometimes luck plays a part in things...sometimes a very big part. On this date, Sox G.M. Kenny Williams signed free agent pitcher Esteban Loaiza to a contract. Loaiza was expected to round out the back end of the rotation...he did more than that. By season’s end he had won 21 games, started the All-Star Game and led the A.L. in strikeouts with 207. His ERA was 2.90. He could have won the Cy Young Award but a pair of 1-0 losses to Detroit appeared to be the difference in doing so. He ended up second in the voting. The next year he was traded to the Yankees at midseason, for pitcher Jose Contreras…another deal that worked out to the White Sox advantage! He was reacquired off of waivers by the Sox on June 4, 2008 and appeared in three games before being given his release and retiring.