THE JOY OF OWNERSHIP
So you want to own a baseball team? Who doesn’t? We sit in the stands, we sit on the couch, we think we have all the answers. More cogent player personnel decisions, check. A more efficient parking system at the stadium, check. Cheaper beer, of course. A better variety of food, done. Fire that damn…
KEEPING SCORE
KEEPING SCORE We all know the old adage: The difference between a .250 hitter and a .300 hitter is a hit a week. One minor duck fart, quark, Baltimore Chop, Texas Leaguer, or frozen rope per week, and a guy is on his way to All-Star games and the possibility of mega-riches; one less and…
EXORCISING DEMONS
EXORCISING DEMONS On October 16, 2003, Aaron “F*&^%ng” Boone added to the Boston lore by hitting a walk-off, game-winning, series-ending homerun in the bottom of the 11th inning, sending the Yankees to the World Series and the Red Sox home without a championship for the 85th consecutive year. The Boston faithful had reason for hope…
EATING CASH
EATING CASH Eating cash is the new eating crow. I am not sure when the tide turned and teams decided it was better to eat cash and release or trade a player rather than rolling him out day after day (or start after start) and suffer the indignity of a deal gone bad. But it…
UNDERVALUED ASSETS
Last week we set out to determine which team was carrying the worst contracts for the 2016 season. As we saw, there were many contenders. We ended by making reference to the great value in Noah Syndergaard’s $535K deal. The great news for baseball owners and GMs is that there are many more Thor-like contracts…
DUDGER STADIUM
DUDGER STADIUM Hot Take: The Dodgers hate their fans? More than three million people have flowed through the gates at Chavez Ravine in 18 of the past 20 seasons, so the fans obviously don’t hate the Dodgers, but the feeling certainly doesn’t seem mutual. The only explanation I can come up with is that with…
WHO HAS IT WORSE?
WHO HAS IT WORSE? Remember the good old days, when Kevin Brown’s 7/$105M deal with the Dodgers seemed like the worst contract in history? Brown was baseball’s first $100M man; and the deal included twelve chartered flights from Georgia for Brown’s family. A year later the Angels, not to be outdone, gave Mo Vaughn 6/$80M. …
HEAD FIRST SLIDES HURT BOTTOM LINES
HEAD FIRST SLIDES HURT BOTTOM LINES According to FanGraphs, A.J. Pollock tied for second in wins above replacement (WAR) among outfielders last season; and he was fourth overall in WAR in the National League. His unique combination of speed and power (20 HRs/39 SBs) make him a must-have for any fantasy team. And, when paired…
DOLLARS & SENSE
DOLLARS & SENSE It was quite an (un)eventful off-season for the Boys in Blue. When the Diamondbacks swooped in and paid Zach Greinke 6/$206.5M, Andrew Friedman and company took a ton of flak. An oft-held belief is that the Dodgers have unlimited money, and that not signing Greinke was simply a bad business decision. Unfortunately…
HOT SEAT
HOT SEAT The Boston Red Sox 2012 season – what was supposed to be a bounce-back year after the fried chicken and beer calamity that was the 2011 campaign – ended with a thud. The Bobby Valentine experiment failed (in Spring Training), and so the Red Sox needed their third manager in three years. In…