Chicago White Sox

If you believe Forbes’ numbers, the average operating income was $18M per club in 2022. Only eight teams exceeded $50M in profit and only two are what I’d consider true small market clubs. Doesn’t really support the narrative that most teams are raking in boatloads of money.

How did you get access to the revenue and operating costs for every major league team?

What‘s the “spillover effect” exactly?

But let’s pretend we’re rational people here for a second. The regional TV money that teams get is out there for a lot of clubs. Have you tried researching this at all or do you just naturally assume everything is a conspiracy? Also, just from a logic standpoint, do you actually believe a market the size of Milwaukee would have a TV contract the same size one one in LA?

Lol…you think the Brewers should be able to spend as much as the Dodgers despite a TV deal that’s 10% of what LA gets?

I think they go with Westburg at 2B, which makes Ortiz and/or Norby very expandable.

But they have waves upon waves of prospects and nowhere to play half these guys. Assuming Holiday is at SS and Henderson is at 3B, what are they doing at 2B? If it’s Westburg, then where does Ortiz & Norby fit in? Ortiz is going to be 26 next year and hasn’t proven a damn thing in the majors. They also have an OF prospect in Stowers who turns 26 in a month and is ready for a shot but will not see one given there are three major league starters in place and two high end prospects chomping at the bit in Cowser & Kjerstad. They simply don’t need all these guys even if they have financial limitations. Cash in some of them and fill holes while you still have these young studs under team control. Ruschman is as good as gone after the 2027 season and they need to be a bit more aggressive if they want to fully take advantage of this four year window.

I have no idea who Craig Calcaterra is. And yes, there are some owners gaming the revenue sharing system which is why everyone is in favor of a salary floor. But if you honestly believe most teams should be able to spend as much as the Yankees, Mets, & Dodgers, then you simply don’t get how this s%*# works.

This is literally stupid as f*** and is actually the post I referencing when I said her argument was dumb. Those teams can spend more because they make more from their TV deals than all other clubs and Cohen is a unicorn when it comes to owners due to his insane wealth. I am actually embarrassed this person is employed as a professional writer if she is really this stupid.

Who is trading useful pitching for one year of Santander?

I posted quite a bit over on that Orioles board and kept pointing out that some of their guys are simply going to age out in AAA if they don’t move them. And most of their posters agree and want to actually move them for something that can help them now. Unfortunately, Elias is prospect hugging SoB who wants to have backup prospects to the backup prospects in case the main prospects fail.

I’m not suggesting they are offering that or even will, but saying it they did we should take that in a second even if there is no quality pitching coming back.

I don’t disagree at all, but if the Orioles are offering Kjerstad, Westburg, plus some other stuff let’s say, it’s unlikely there will be a better deal. Don’t turn it down because it doesn’t have a big pitching prospect in it.

Teams are going to see one of the most durable starters with elite stuff who has already flashed dominance over a full season despite being part of one of the most behind the times organizations. An anonymous Astros’ front office exec called Cease their “dream acquisition” at last year’s deadline.

Which new hire are you referring to?

I’m not sure I follow here. Our payroll was like 7th in 2022 ($200M+) and still above $180M on opening day last year. It’s disappointing that he actually cut payroll last year, but a competent front office would have had plenty of dollars to work with. I hate Jerry with all my heart, but it’s not fair to expect him to spend like the Mets, Dodgers, or Yankees. The real issue is how we’ve allocated those dollars and that’s where Jerry becomes problematic. He’s risk adverse and doesn’t like committing huge dollars to individual players. Unfortunately, this meant no stars for us during our window and a lot of money spend B & C tier free agents. Additionally, it lead a GM already with a massive hard-on for relievers to go hog wild in free agency on them. No team has gotten less for its free agent dollars than us. Also, I’m pretty sure Jerry has complete control on how much we spend and who we spend it on. Maybe he can’t go deep into the red, but his partners don’t really have voices on any real decision making.

I really don’t think TLR has much involvement at the moment.

We basically have no financial commitments beyond this coming season, so even if he goes cheap on the payroll (say $140M) I’d still expect having a ton of money to work with. Not expecting any A free agents, but they I fully expect them address needs in free agency after this season. Jerry knows his time is running out and he wants to “win”. Plus I think our TV deal expires soon and that will force Jerry to pretend he’s serious about winning at minimum.

Do you buy this pitching stuff James? Would Getz actually forgo the chance to solve both RF & 2B in one fair swoop with an Orioles trade?

Counterpoints: Benintendi has never played RF at the major league level and was brought in to play LF specifically Saying Benintendi is a good defender is a tough sell right now coming off a -11 OAA season (and candidly he looked legit bad and slow out there) Moving Benintendi to RF would be bad given his poor arm / throwing and complete lack of experience there (see AJ Pollock in RF for reference) Not turning Cease into multiple assets would be absolutely disastrous and would almost certainly push our time to compete back a couple years

But you’re not making the playoffs with a bunch of slapdick hitters, so not sure why we’re focused on playoff roster construction at the moment.

When I say “see what we have” I’m talking about farm system and guys at the major league level coming off disappointing seasons. Do you think we know what we have in Vaughn, Eloy, Colas, or Kopech at this point? Those are just a few examples of guys who could greatly increase this value with a strong season.

Why would baseball writers who are spoon fed “leaks” from agents s%*# on crazy spending which benefits said agents? And this Kate’s arguments are plain dumb. Allowing the Dodgers to go hog wild in free agency because of their regional TV deal is not mutually exclusive with wanting the worst MLB owners to spend more.

Why do I care what Kate Feldman has to say?

I don’t think we’re purposely tanking, but I do think Jerry is forcing budget cuts to make up for any losses he endured last year and Getz doesn’t want to spend his limited funds on C tier free agents who require multi-year deals. In fairness to Chris, it does make sense to use 2024 as a “see what you have” type season and start pushing in some chips next off-season.