nrockway

hmm, I have no real opinion on this structure, but it sets off conspiratorial alarm bells that a single entity would privilege certain markets or even fix games. for example, does a Yankees vs Dodgers World Series increase the share price more than a Royals vs Reds Series? I suppose corporations don't have a legal duty to maximize shareholder value, but it's still ostensibly their duty. I suppose that isn't the case with NASCAR, but then again I know nothing about NASCAR.

I get the feeling that it would be worse for the sport if the teams were publicly traded. profit really becomes the sole motive when you're talking about that many shareholders, though of course there's also more transparency and money to build a stadium without relying so much on the taxpayer...or even to pay player salaries but I wouldn't hold my breath. I don't know if the GM would be held especially accountable for team performance, I imagine an individual's investment in a team would be bundled with everything else he's investing in and that the team's performance would not be highest priority so long as the investment is performing. then again, as far as I can tell the Braves are the only publicly traded team in the MLB (I believe the Indians used to be) and they seem to be doing something right.

yeah I don't say "civic-minded" as necessarily positive, just that I think these guys have motives beyond making as much money as possible in the short term. I imagine they want to shift the center of soccer from Europe to the Gulf or otherwise improve the region's international image. not to say they aren't making money hand over fist, but the logic of team ownership feels a little different than the likes of some entity like the Fenway Group.

https://mercercapital.com/article/investors-view-major-league-sports/ seems like it outperforms equity markets these days. television networks pretty much only have professional sports nowadays as a consistent way to show advertisements to people and those TV deals are only going to increase, probably more rapidly, if the likes of Amazon and Hulu try to take those contracts away. Professional sports teams have even more revenue sources than during the 1990s and before with the (unfortunate) rise of gambling and their new-ish role as real estate developers. A professional sports team is a total cashcow which is precisely why these private equity people cannot be trusted to do anything besides try to derive maximum profit. I don't trust the idea that it's "just a toy", no it's a very sound and safe investment. I wish the league's regulations would adjust to this ecosystem, when was the last time some billionaire bought a team because he just loved the sport and not because he was money hungry? I can think of very few professional owners like this, maybe the more civic-minded Arab owners in soccer, but I don't think you really see this in the MLB. People will say Steve Cohen, but it looks to me like this guy realizes he has a team in New York and could possibly usurp the Yankees if he spends enough money in the short term. We'll see what Cohen does over the next decade but I think their contemporary payroll is an aberration.

who says the grass is always greener? do private equity bozos actually care about baseball or do they want to produce maximum profit? I've shared my thoughts on Rubenstein in the previous thread about this topic.

Evidently they do dynamic pricing which I guess just means I won't be buying tickets beforehand. It's currently $40 to sit 10 rows behind the visitor's dugout to watch the Sox vs Royals, I was hoping it would be more like 10 bucks...we'll see what the turnout is like and how it affects pricing but I bet sharing a complex with the Dodgers doesn't help. The Sox first game is "at" the Cubs and it's pretty much sold out, lawn tickets are $30 which seems outrageous but I'd like to see their new(ish) facility and it's a closer drive than Glendale.

Camelback Ranch tickets are more expensive than Guaranteed Rate Field tickets...how does that work? 40 dollars to watch them play the Royals... Still going to try to see a couple of games but watching the workouts would probably be fun.

well if the Mariners were in on Cease, they traded one of the two guys I would've wanted back. looks like a decent deal for both teams though provided Polanco is actually healthy.

it's a fun trade proposal but I bet Varsho's value is closer to Kopech's than to Cease's. Wouldn't mind seeing a non-Cease related trade involving Kopech and another player with a little bit of value, maybe for India. I like Varsho but I don't think he's a great fit on this team. I think you'd want to play him in center field. But if you could get him for Kopech and some middling prospects in our system, I wouldn't mind doing a deal. I think it would be a waste of Cease though, I'd rather just keep him than trade him for two "buy low/change of scenery" candidates.

I like this guy but I'm surprised to see him get a contract before his debut. looks like he'll play 2B, I thought he was more of a 3B/1B.

Preller made moves that had to be made within the context of Seidler's death, but to a typical fan I'm sure it looks like breaking up a dream team and reloading with "scrubs", particularly if they trade Kim too. In retrospect, it looks like the initial Soto trade was a mistake in that the prospects they gave to the Nationals are far better than what they got from the Yankees. Different situations of course considering Soto's contract situation and I don't think you can fault the Padres for swinging for the fences, but I'd be disappointed if I were a Padres fan...though not really Preller's fault he was dealt a shitty hand.

I thought Puig was banned for life from the sport but I guess he hasn't actually pled guilty to anything yet. I'm reading about his case and found this quote from his agent very amusing: “He came to the interview feeling rushed, unprepared, without criminal counsel with him, and also lacked his own interpreter,” Carnet told The Associated Press. “Given his history growing up in authoritarian Cuba, government interviews are triggering and only worsen his ADHD symptoms and other mental health struggles, for which he is in treatment. He would have benefited from this care at the time of the interview.” like, wut?

It's a good point about Turner and I don't know what people were saying about him as a prospect, but I imagine since he was a bit smaller and much speedier than Montgomery, he projected better as a middle infielder. I guess give Montgomery a shot because who else is playing there next season, but he was bad defensively at AA and I don't see his mobility improving as he gets older/stronger. Which is to say, I'd be stunned if he was even 'slightly below average' defensively at SS. Obviously it would be great if he sticks there, but I'd feel more confident about the team with a defense-first SS who can hit the ball a little bit. Maybe that could be Gonzalez, but I like those two guys I mentioned (especially Winn) because they smashed AAA pitching and look like they could be plus defenders at SS or 2B. Rafaela could play the outfield too, I like the versatility in contrast to having 13 first basemen and a center fielder on the team.

Good read, thanks for sharing. Surprised Popeye didn't make the top 27 but he's probably just not as good as I imagine he is. Doubly surprised Adam Hackenberg isn't in the article at all, he seems to me like the most underrated guy in the system. defensively, I bet he could start at the major league level next season and his bat improved drastically in 2023. I think an interesting question to ask is what to do about Ramos/Montgomery. It's inevitable that Montgomery will move to 3B so where does that leave Ramos? Still hoping we can get a legitimate middle infielder for Cease, Masyn Winn or Ceddanne Rafaela would be my preferred choices of the teams that have been rumored to be in on Cease.

Yoan Moncada’s face is most often pleasant, one that won’t always endear him to frustrated fans who’d rather see him angrily slam a helmet or unload on an umpire after getting rung up on a borderline call. nobody cares about that, we just want him to actually play and sometimes hit the ball. I'm convinced "journalists" have to agree to a certain amount of dick-sucking in order to get an interview and appease their bosses. I'd rather just forego the interview and maintain some amount of integrity, personally...or maybe the Sun Times is employed by YoYo's agency, who could say. also, shut up about "motivation." I guess 70 million dollars wasn't enough motivation but the next $720k apparently is.

this is hilarious but totally expected. the marketing department puts its foot in its mouth once a month it seems like...or at the very least, they do something that makes me think "huh".

I'm mostly impressed by how many posts Sports Guy has managed to rack up in a month (in only this thread?). And I thought I posted here too much....and I actually like this team! Put me out of my misery ASAP when I make 1000 posts in a month on an Orioles message board.

This could be interesting, it's a great location. it would have a really great skyline view and could feature wonky dimensions to fit into the rest of the development. But I think they should just stay put. the city and state can kick in money to develop a ballpark as well as all those parking lots, seems like a better use of public money and potentially good for the people who live around there. plus the current park is more accessible than this this place is. it's not close to an L stop nor is it directly off the i90 like 35th/Shields is. I'd be very surprised if this comes to fruition, this land will be developed before the Sox decide to build a new park. I really can't see Reinsdorf building a new ballpark in his lifetime and I don't want him to because he'll f*** it up

Why couldn’t it be these guys?

for reference, Edgar Quero is ranked 8 spots lower than Jones on MLB.com's top 100 list. Do you think 2 years of Cease is worth roughly the same as half a season of Giolito? Something tells me it isn't "self-sabotage" to want to get more in return for Cease than Giolito. If not, keep him.

this twitter guy doesn't know what he's talking about and I don't think anybody cares what he thinks. lol, he thinks it's "self-sabotage" to ask for a mid 70s prospect in return for Cease? I'd rather just keep him than get less than that.

Bauer started off slow, got sent to the minors, then performed pretty well the rest of the season. For context, his teammate was Imanaga Shota and they both performed similarly but Imanaga is 2 years younger. Imanaga had a tick higher ERA but lower WHIP and I would assume FIP but I can't find that calculation and don't know what constant they would use for NPB. Imanaga had an absurd 7.5 K to BB ratio while Bauer had a still good 4.6. Imanaga is projected, I think, to give up a lot of homers and his HR rate wasn't great last season, 1.0 HR/9 in a league that doesn't hit a ton of homers and he gave up 3 more than Bauer in 3 more innings pitched (18 vs 15). Bauer was an above average starter in NPB, but I expected more out of him. He didn't dominate by any stretch of the imagination. So even if Bauer wasn't a clubhouse distraction and an abuser, his market value is probably lower than the $13.25mil AAV Imanaga is being paid and is, likely at best, a 4th starter, probably worse than Clevinger at this point and no team is looking to sign Clevinger it would appear. So I bet he could pitch effectively in the MLB, but not at a very high level, so I don't see why any team would take on his baggage and still pending sexual assault case in Arizona. I think if Bauer tried in any way to seek atonement or to grow up finally at age 32, I might expect a team to sign him. But he's still the same manchild he's always been and a sexual deviant and not nearly talented enough anymore to make up for it. I wouldn't trust the rumor about the Yankees signing him, I think it's a distraction to force the Sox's hand on a Cease trade or lower Snell's value.

I think part of the issue with ballpark construction is that only one firm builds all of them, HOK/Populous. Teams do not want to depart from a strategy that is making them plenty of money and HOK makes the cookie cutter model a little more efficient each time...removing amenities that aren't turning a large profit and replacing them with more nostalgia-based restaurants and bars. I actually disagree with the author of this article because he talks about "looking to the past" which I'm really not a great fan of nostalgia-themed architecture. I'm not an architect or engineer, but there are probably some cutting edge ideas they could have to create truly unique ballparks rather than being derivative...Fenway and Wrigley look the way they do for practical reasons due to constraints that don't really exist anymore. A new Comiskey wouldn't be limited by needing to be nestled into the grid, their present site is gigantic and they will definitely replace the parking lots with "amenities" if they choose to build the new park there. There are a few other sites too, I still like the idea of Soldier Field being converted into a ballpark if the Bears leave. You can have your nostalgia factor and have it actually make sense rather than constructing something brand new in 2030 to look like it's from 1914. That being said, there is a "new era" of ballpark construction as seen by Truist and Globe Life, the KC Royals and Mets proposals and to a lesser extent Busch, Target, Nats and PetCo. Which is that the ballpark is no longer the only thing, but rather the focal point of a large and comprehensive development/redevelopment. I have mixed feelings on this idea because I think I'd personally rather just have a ballpark and not an entire consumption/theme park district, yet this ballpark-led development seems to actually be beneficial to cities' coffers and could justify public investment. I've written about this on this forum before, but the area around GRF is basically a blank slate for this kind of development and I'd like for there to be some amount of public investment/democratic input on how that development proceeds; that there might be some public amenities that aren't there to help Reinsdorf (or whoever the owner will be) turn a profit but might actually be beneficial to Chicagoans, especially to kids. I think it could be a good idea to let the team do whatever it wants on all the parking lots, but also build something like a non-profit youth sports complex on the other side of I-90 on the Stateway Gardens site. I think it could be something very positive for the kids in Chicago and also re-ingratiate the team to the South Side because it feels like the Cubs do more community outreach than the Sox do down here. This could be a win-win-win for the team and the city government and our residents, and expand on this idea of "comprehensive ballpark district development" to be more than a yuppie theme park, but express the idea that a baseball team has a social role in the community beyond turning a profit. Hell, chances are that these 'free', public amenities have the affect of raising adjacent land values and helping the Sox profit and city derive tax revenue even more. I think this is something the city and team could both get on board with and it isn't just a pipedream.

I root for Bellinger because we went to high school together and I like to joke that he's the reason I stopped playing baseball because he did everything I did on the field, left-handed outfielder/first baseman, only he did it 100 times better.? Still, I think it would be a mistake to sign him to the contract he's likely to receive. I wouldn't mind a high AAV contract for 3 years and with team options for a 4th and 5th year but I don't think he's the best fit on this team. His best value is in center field and we already have a center fielder. I think the risk is too high of having two corner outfielders who can't hit for power when ideally that's where you might want to put some sluggers, especially considering our first baseman doesn't really hit for power. Maybe he can continue to bat .300 and hit 25 home runs, but I think it's risky. still, wouldn't be unhappy if the Sox signed him.

he said the same thing when he was trying to get out of his NPB contract too lol. I didn't realize slaves got $2.7 million signing bonuses when they started working at the plantations. What a silly thing to say especially given the context, he sped through the minors and there was good reason he stayed at A+ so long. I read an interview the other day with Andy Barkett from Jan 2023 about Colas, Benintendi and Romy. He said this: “(Winston-Salem Dash manager) Lorenzo (Bundy) did an amazing job,” Barkett said. “Holding him (Oscar) accountable to the point of ‘Do you want to go to Double A? Do you want to move up? Well, you need to do this every day.’ (Colás) would come in his office after every game, and they would go over a checklist. ‘Did you do this today? Did you do this today?’ It wasn’t about getting two hits. It was like, ‘Did you go to the cage and prepare? Did you do your outfield work?’” It seems to jive with the lack of preparation and poor fundamentals he was criticized for on the major league team, that he stayed in A+ so long because he wasn't taking the necessary steps to improve into a major league player. I hope this past season was a wakeup call for him. Also, didn't realize til now that Barkett was fired. Does anyone know who they replaced him with?