caulfield12

And "prestige"... Which is why those MLB teams that own their own networks are even more profitable AND have even more writeoffs/tax benefits available that other teams do not. “We are fortunate to have much of this expertise in-house at the Braves … and we have one of the largest [local] television territories in baseball, which affords us the opportunity to optimize our financial outcome and is a factor that provides us an advantage that no other Main Street team has,” McGuirk said on a call with analysts, via Front Office Sports. Other teams have had to go to MLB to create their television broadcasts in-house. Meanwhile, BravesVision was announced on Tuesday. It'll be on traditional television, carrying regular-season 140 games, and will be available on streaming with no blackouts. Most teams have a metropolitan area to pull from. The Braves have about six states with multiple major cities to pull from, including Charlotte, Charleston, Nashville and Birmingham. Some of those towns want an MLB of their own, but for now, they're in Braves Country. Even after, there will still be plenty of fans in those regionals. How deeply rooted they are in this part of America (see Superstation WTBS) is another reflection of why they're able to flex this muscle. Even in a down season, where they won just 76 games, they still saw major boosts in the money coming in." https://www.si.com/mlb/braves/onsi/news/how-braves-revenue-boosts-influenced-their-tv-future

"The Battery Is Becoming Atlanta’s Profit Engine The Atlanta Braves own 3 million square feet of mixed-use development space surrounding Truist Park. This mixed-use development, called The Battery, now generates more than $100 million in annualized revenue, going from just 7% of total revenue in 2018 to 13% in 2025. But revenue isn’t the story. The Battery is now significantly more profitable than the baseball team, accounting for $69 million in OIBDA last year (64% of the total) compared to $51 million from baseball-related events. With 9 million visitors last year, compared to just 2.9 million tickets sold at baseball games, the Braves say that their 30 tenants generated $137 million in annual sales. That makes The Battery one of the most successful mixed-use developments in the country." https://huddleup.substack.com/p/inside-the-atlanta-braves-2025-earnings&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwj0_sLKv_qSAxUIjpUCHUT5COIQFnoECAUQAg&usg=AOvVaw3RYgORl1c2MzIMRdbcNrNj https://www.sportico.com/leagues/baseball/2026/atlanta-braves-battery-revenue-surges-main-street-1234885613/&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwjVnb6awPqSAxUtlJUCHV4ONjgQFnoECAcQAg&usg=AOvVaw3WfJ4tgYzmpY1xOIQH6Ch5 https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7070967/2026/02/25/atlanta-braves-annual-revenue-report-surging-finances/&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwjVnb6awPqSAxUtlJUCHV4ONjgQFnoECAQQAg&usg=AOvVaw1f39xNLi-8lLyHDRL338Na

But what do all billionaires crave? To down differentiate themselves from the herd. Sports teams are unique, with a finite number available. Plus you can use depreciation of stadium/equipment as a tax writeoff. https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-roster-depreciation-allowance-how-major-league-baseball-teams-turn-profits-into-losses/ This article discusses one such tax issue: the Roster Depreciation Allowance. The topic has been discussed in simple terms in the popular press, as in this quotation from Time: “owners get to deduct player salaries twice over, as an actual expense (since they’re actually paying them) and as a depreciating asset (like GM would for a factory or FedEx a jet).”6 It has also been discussed in the academic field with in-depth mathematical and economic language and analysis. Or getting free land/infrastructure improvements for surrounding entertainment dustricts, etc.

"The Padres’ sale is viewed as a litmus test for valuations at a critical time for baseball. Many investors believe the sport’s clubs are undervalued—the MLB revenue multiple is 6.6x in Sportico’s valuations, by far the smallest of the five major U.S. leagues—and there are potential structural changes coming that could grant owners greater cost certainty. To get there, however, the league and its players must navigate a labor battle that many believe could result in missed games in the 2027 season." https://www.sportico.com/business/team-sales/2026/feliciano-friedkin-potential-padres-buyers-1234883438/ "Earlier this month, Sportico estimated the franchise value around $2.31 billion. It seems the Seidler family is aiming a fair bit higher. Acee writes that people within the industry anticipate the sale price will land north of $2.5 billion. Rosenthal and Lin report that the Seidlers are seeking a purchase price closer to $3 billion than to the estimation from Sportico. Anything north of $2.5 billion would be a record for an MLB franchise. Steve Cohen’s 2020 purchase of the Mets from the Wilpon family was for roughly $2.475 billion. That remains the high-water mark. More recent sales of the Orioles and Rays have landed in the $1.7 billion range. Peter Seidler’s group purchased the Padres for $800MM in 2012. The reports from the Union-Tribune and The Athletic — each of which are worth a full read for San Diego fans — suggest an agreement could be reached around Opening Day." MLBtraderumors.com 344% increase in value over just 13-14 years....pretty impressive investment by the Seidlers

Homered tonight against Chunichi. Guy you don’t know yet but should: Hyun-min Ahn had a huge breakout season for the KT Wiz in the KBO last year, hitting .334/.448/.570 with more walks (75) than strikeouts (72). The 22-year-old outfielder is the kind of ascendent talent capable of stealing some attention from the more well-known commodities on the roster who have benefited from exposure at the major-league level

Pallette has yet to make his Cactus League debut due to right shoulder fatigue, SI.com reports.

The only place that arm makes sense is in RF, but didn't they stick him in LF already once or twice?...that bat just doesn't play on a corner, though.

https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/article/drew-brees-warriors-owner-joe-lacob-among-groups-to-submit-bids-for-padres-ownership-per-reports-000822046.html Padres have at least five bidders... 3-4 seasons ago they were even with the White Sox in Forbes valuation...but Sox are still stuck at $1.8 billion, potentially $2 billion for those control shares. "The Padres could fetch between $2.5 and $3 billion. The Mets set a record for Major League Baseball teams when Steve Cohen purchased the franchise for $2.4 billion in 2020. Seidler (Peter, his brother, had died, wife was contesting) - who officially took control of the franchise last year - announced their intent to sell in November." 6 hours ago

See Royce Ring/Aaron Poreda.

Mune wasn’t in the dugout in Nagoya tonight. Ohtani already there, dressed in uniform and on the bench cheering.

At that time, there was the belief they pretty much only had success with LHP…Gio/Cease were the outliers. Sale, Quintana, Rodon, Crochet, Schultz, etc.

How are Antonacci and Meidroth both going to get 400+ at-bats?

https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/02/26/white-sox-munetaka-murakami-japan-world-baseball-classic-will-venable-colson-montgomery

Crazy. https://www.japan-baseball.jp/en/team/topteam/2026/wbc/player.html Yoshida, Imanaga and Senga off roster for now (Sugano over them is weird) Yu Darvish in as an advisor. LHP Matsui/Padres out with injury How does the Korean RF oft compared to Trout and Tyler O’Neill look?

https://dodgerblue.com/ben-rortvedt-signed-new-contract-arbitration-before-dodgers-dfa/2025/11/20/ Just the fate of backup catchers with offensive flaws. This guy won a WS with the Dodgers and was trusted over rookie Dalton Rushing, but they still couldn't protect him from the same fate. Getz keeping repeating two young stud catchers provides an advantage over the league, but not how they are being utilized for the Sox...unless Quero was good enough to DH.

It's the closest they have to a roster crunch. That, and what to do with Sosa/Mead. Just don't see getting much of anything back in return for any of them, unfortunately.

That was directed at WestEddy...

Davitt throwing mostly 93-94...some 92s as well.

Nothing burger for both sides. We'll see if Fajardo ever makes it as far as the Boozer trade. A+ ball players are usually still likelier to make it to the big leagues than intl draft pool "lottery" signings. AZ isn't hurting all that badly...they still have a lot of young high-quality depth, especially on the position player side of things.

No Ohtani Matsumoto or Murakami. Sasaki gave up 3 yesterday in 1.3 ip.

https://www.mlb.com/news/brooke-fletcher-discusses-working-at-chicago-sports-network It would be a rough transition, but she always comes off as likeable and earnest. Sure, in the 90's, there was the belief you had to study broadcasting/journalism at Syracuse.

I'd say 75-80% odds she does it better coming from a baseball for life family background. Something that's basically in your blood or not. Like fine art. opera or ballet for some. If you just grow to appreciate it, you can never be a great broadcaster.

You mean if more people pray for Notre Dame than their opponents...they still might not win every game? You'd think that owners would prioritize filling stadiums for increased home field advantage (rather than dynamic pricing) if it would lead to let's say an extra 3-5 wins per season and fans would resultingly feel like they're actually receiving a value-added experience of a sold out rather than 40-60% capacity attended game...?

Max Scherzer back to Jays, just $3 million/1 year White Sox at least are keeping Brooke Fletcher...as their sideline/field reporter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_Major_League_Baseball_broadcasters 34 different female field reporters working across MLB team broadcasts

The context is those teams were deemed to be successful ramp up seasons to playoff/World Series runs for two rebuilding organizations. Is it fair to compare this year’s White Sox team to them? KC won 86. Sox went 72-89. 79 is the midpoint and pretty much the midpoint of 75-81 win projections flying around recently for this year’s team. So 78, basically. Fegan was at 79, right? You’re willing to set that as your definition of success for the rebuild at this point?