caulfield12

Congrats. Your vendetta dates all the way back to the Russian invasion of Georgia after the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Nice bookends. Just goes to reinforce that the power of negative customer feedback is 10X more impactful than positive experiences. In all seriousness, I won't miss spring training, but will really start to get bored around the 2nd or 3rd week of April after the Masters and Final 4 are over and the weather's starting to turn increasingly nice. Following the minor leagues would be fine (see 2008 and 2016-17) if the White Sox weren't the worst farm system in baseball, but there's Colas, Vera and Cespedes at least.

It's going to be a huge test of ESG investing for the rest of world if Russia pushes oil to $150 gallon...as well as Germany with LNG. That said, Putin would be cutting off his nose to spite his face if they stopped selling energy to the majority of the developed world. And China won't volunteer to pay higher prices, one would hope. Or India, for that matter.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33397392/mlb-lockout-only-reinforces-certain-ugliness-game

Kemp? LaStella?

Or the generation who knows ‘Lil Kim the rapper…a bit confusing. Kimbrel? Those of us laying in the weeds for months are going to have to quickly catch up again.

Why can’t they just have an upward adjustment in the CBT of something like a 3-3.5% increase each year (accounting for extraordinarily high inflation this cycle)…even 2.5% would be better.

Along with Leury, Eaton and Yonder Alonso....Darin Erstad might even be in play.

Well, that's seemingly a HUGE breakthrough compromise, albeit the most logical and hopefully things can move quickly from there... Would be interesting to see a breakdown of how much revenue teams derive from April, if you strip away Opening Day...which would obviously still occur in late April or early May regardless. I wouldn't mind 154 or even 140-144 games per season but anything lower than that feels like too big of a change, perhaps starting seasons between April 15th-20th and also delaying the beginning of Spring Training to provide a longer off-season break.

What did you do with Jimmy Hoffa?

"If you went and got the next 1,200 best players in the world, the product would suffer greatly. If you handed MLB teams over to any 30 competent businesspeople, the sport would not suffer. Actually, it might improve. It doesn't take a billionaire to leverage a spot in a legalized monopoly with profound built-in revenues. The Yankees are not the Yankees if Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra don't win. Without the best players, they aren't in the World Series, and without championships, they're little more than an organization in a big market whose laundry features pinstripes. One would think, then, that a league would recognize that its profits exist because of Shohei Ohtani, Fernando Tatis Jr., Mike Trout, Juan Soto, Mookie Betts, Ronald Acuña Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and others -- and would see players' concerns about the state of the game not as trivial or excessive or outrageous, but vital." Jeff Passan/ESPN

Here all along I believed Russia was more a combination of Orthodox and atheism/agnosticism... Fox will have viewers that Russia was actually there in the 80's and 90's supporting Billy Graham (the father NOTHING like the son), Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.

See Napoleon/Hitler's ill-fated attempts in the winter/mud.

https://atozsports.com/nashville/tony-vitellos-great-reaction-tennessee-vols-pitcher-throwing-103-mph/ Ben Joyce of the Volunteers doing his own Garrett Crochet impression throwing 103 MPH

Cincy, if memory serves me correctly, at least ran a really legit payroll through the 2020 season. The real culprits are the A's, Marlins (historically), Indians, Rays (although they do it so effectively), the Orioles (just terrible in general, although they do occasionally overspend for a free agent that goes all Adam Dunn on them). Projected 2022 Opening Day Payrolls thanks to spotrac.com. 20 Colorado Rockies 27 $85,258,333 - $5,570,500 - - $90,828,833 (disastrous franchise despite steady fan support) 21 Tampa Bay Rays 30 $70,421,213 - $5,000,000 - - $75,421,213 22 Kansas City Royals 25 $72,925,000 - - - - $72,925,000 (some hope for the future with Witt, Jr., and pitching) 23 Oakland Athletics 27 $71,773,334 - - - - $71,773,334 (need to relocate, SOMEHOW) 24 Minnesota Twins 27 $71,742,857 - - - - $71,742,857 (the Northern Midwest's own version of JR at the helm, at least signed Buxton but dumped Berrios) 25 Seattle Mariners 27 $67,600,000 - $3,750,000 - - $71,350,000 (at least they have a plan and lots of young talent and contending) 26 Arizona Diamondbacks 26 $66,610,000 - - - - $66,610,000 (YUCK!!!) 27 Miami Marlins 25 $55,700,000 - - - - $55,700,000 (trending upwards slightly, but such a tough division, remains to be seen on Jeter Admin) 28 Pittsburgh Pirates 25 $21,450,000 - $3,000,000 - - $34,450,000 (YUCK 2!!!) 29 Baltimore Orioles 26 $23,750,000 - $17,000,000 - - $29,416,666 (all their hopes are pinned on Rutschmann and the draft/farm system) 30 Cleveland Guardians 26 $29,050,000 - - - - $29,050,000 (remarkably resilient but owe their fans a lot more, starting with Jose Ramirez/Bieber extensions)

Yeah, thanks for the reminder. Nipped it in the bud at 3:20 Shanghai Time on the 28th. Don't remember EVER getting a reminder in recent years. I can't even remember if GameDay Audio is separate or included....for awhile I didn't dare use MLB.tv outside the US because of internet connectivity issues. Sad. But the only way to send a message to MLB is voting with your dollars.

The best sanction methods remaining now are removal from SWIFT (Germany and Italy just switched opposition), the Russian sovereign wealth fund access (roughly $600 billion) locked out by the ECB, Bank of England and Fed...and a no fly zone which could easily create a hot war with one side or the other accidentally downing an enemy plane. The biggest point is NATO isn't fracturing, they're actually coming closer and closer to a unified position, even Germany.

https://www.startribune.com/labor-woes-just-part-of-mlb-problem-the-biggest-the-game-is-at-odds-with-your-brain/600150128/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=twins Here’s a new one. “Repetition suppression” asserted as the reason for declining/apathetic fan interest. “Baseball's larger problem is a decline in interest. That has been charted in many different ways, but try this one: a recent poll of 1,570 adults showed that more than half have no interest in MLB.” “A lot of us former baseball fans are scientists as well. Doing science for a living doesn’t mean I necessarily want to watch it for a hobby. For many of us, watching baseball during the “golden age” of baseball was a lot more interesting than watching baseball today. Stated another way, the “art” of baseball was a lot more engaging and interesting than the “science” of baseball.”

Would you leave your current job for a 50-75% pay cut...to move halfway around the world, leave your family behind and likely be unable to speak the local language as well?

Abreu is the heart and soul of a White Sox team that is firmly in the middle of its championship window. He turned 35 in January and Chicago has a ready-made first base replacement in Andrew Vaughn, though Abreu is still so productive and so important to the team in the clubhouse that I have a hard time believing the White Sox will let him go. He is the unofficial captain. "A World Series title is going to be there, but we need to keep working and keep working hard," Abreu told reporters, including Maddie Lee of NBC Sports Chicago, following the team's ALDS exit last year. "... Just enjoying this moment and very glad to be here." Abreu will earn $18 million in 2022, though $4 million of that is deferred. At his age -- he will be 36 in Year 1 of his next contract -- Abreu is likely looking at a series of one-year contracts the rest of his career, or maybe a lower base salary two-year contract. Either way, I have to think Abreu winds up back in Chicago in 2023. An extension makes too much sense for everyone. Possible contract: The Twins gave Nelson Cruz one year and $14 million with a $12 million club option for a second year when he was entering his age-38 season. Cruz was more consistently excellent than Abreu -- Cruz had a 145 OPS+ in the four years leading into that contract and Abreu has a 126 OPS+ his last four years -- but also two years older. Guarantee the second year and call it two years and $26 million? Maybe bump it to $30 million and they have a deal? https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-post-lockout-extension-candidates-aaron-judge-jacob-degrom-and-others-who-could-sign-new-deals/

Scathing?

But where is there to turn? The SEC in football is much stronger than all but the Top 6-8 MLB markets financially…plus, you now have all these NIL’s and one and done NCAA basketball players. I appreciate the once in a decade Caitlyn Clark’s of the NCAAW as much as possible…but that’s still not quite the same from a fan standpoint. And professional soccer/futbol around the world is bigger business than MLB…although I’m enjoying the EPL fans squirm over what to do now about Roman Abramovich’s ownership of Chelsea. The Mariners, Harold cheering for Kelenic aside, have been worse than the White Sox since the early 2000’s, lost the Sonics and the Seahawks are mired in mediocrity and will likely get worse if Russell Wilson is dealt.

Maybe you too can threaten to move to Nashville! I’ve always believed living in a AA MiLB community like San Antonio would be more rewarding…if you have family, at least. And speaking of the dangers of billionaires/corporations…https://ips-dc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IPS-Report-Who-Is-Buying-Seattle.pdf

A year ago, the Braves reported $442 million in revenue, with $404 million of that baseball-related and $38 million from business development on the real estate surrounding the stadium. Expenses are not separated in the same way, but that totaled $348 million, giving the team $94 million in profits before writing off most of that in amortization and depreciation to avoid tax liability. That amount likely includes a $50 million payment for the MLB sale of BAMTech in 2018. Compared to Forbes’ numbers, which do not include the $50 million from BAMTech, they estimated the Braves’ revenues at $344 million, which is fairly close to the quarterly report numbers and a profit of $71 million, which would also be right in line with the team’s report assuming that business development expenses were fairly close to revenues. Forbes’ numbers do come with some skepticism given the closed-off nature of MLB teams’ books, but they come pretty close with the Braves. The 2019 season was another banner year for the Braves on the field and off. As Liberty explained in their release: Baseball revenue grew from $404 million to $438 million. The team drew 100,000 more fans in 2019 and played an extra home playoff game. The comment regarding an increase in local broadcast rights is an interesting one. I had previously indicated that the Braves had one of the worst local television deals in baseball. The club was able to renegotiate their contract in 2013, and those negotiations were more fruitful that I had imagined. Per an AJC article by Tim Tucker: That figure is roughly double my previous estimates and gives the Braves considerably more money to work with than once thought. The club’s profits ended up at $54 million, similar to the 2018 figure without BAMTech money. The team was able to turn a good profit despite a significant $74 million increase in expenses. From the release:

Suicide Squad or Doom Patrol?

Do you have lots of Amazon, Tesla, Wal-Mart and FB/Meta shares? Just curious…