Indians CEO Paul Dolan recently spoke to Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer about a number of topics concerning business both on and off the field…
- Dolan wasn't "shocked" to hear about Roberto Hernandez (a.k.a. Fausto Carmona) living under a false identity, saying that the team had heard an unsubstantiated rumor about the situation last year.
- Grady Sizemore will miss at least one month of the regular season after undergoing minor back surgery, but Dolan doesn't regret re-signing the outfielder. "It's disappointing that he got hurt again," Dolan said. "But we thought it was worth the risk because no one else on the [free agent] market had even close to Grady's upside for that price."
- Though recent long-term signings like Sizemore, Travis Hafner and Jake Westbrook have suffered injuries, Dolan said he is still open to signing players to such deals, though not without some caution. "If Chris [Antonetti] and Mark [Shapiro] comes to us with a long-term deal they want to make, we will seriously consider it. They have not done that [lately]," Dolan said. "We will remain open, but in totality, how successful have those kind of deals been? More often than not, they have been failures."
- Dolan disputed a recent Forbes article that claimed the Indians made a $30MM profit in 2011, arguing that while the club "made a little bit" of profit, that money went back into the team. Dolan said the MLB Players Association cited the Indians as a franchise that was properly using the league's revenue sharing system.
- Dolan was surprised when GM Chris Antonetti approached him about the Ubaldo Jimenez deal last summer. "Like most fans, I'm used to us trading for prospects — not trading some of our best prospects," Dolan said. "I was happy to see us take that approach and try to win."
- It doesn't concern Dolan that the Indians don't have any players under contract past 2013, as the CEO notes that the team has control over many of its young stars like Carlos Santana and Jason Kipnis for years to come.
- Dolan didn't address rumors that the team was looking to sell cable network Sports Time Ohio, but said, "We are always looking to add revenue on the TV side of things."
- It doesn't sound as if Dolan was totally satisfied with baseball's new collective bargaining agreement. "We achieved labor peace," said Dolan. "But we didn't address the fundamental problems [such as a lack of a salary cap]."
- Dolan said that there have been no "serious buyers" interested in purchasing the team during his ownership stint. He would possibly have interest in a minority investor, should such an interested investor come forward.
- The Tigers' signing of Prince Fielder dwarfed the Tribe's modest payroll increase of $50MM to $70MM. "I understand that makes us look bad," Dolan said. "I don't understand the foundation of what they are doing … OK, in the short term, I do understand it, but long term …" The Tigers' desire to win now makes them "operate much different than most franchises. Even the teams in major markets tend to operate as we do — they spend what they take in and don't go way above that."
Lol at the Tribe.
Lol at the Tigers.
Lol at winning?
Lol at short-term.
Short term? You obviously know nothing about this team. We have perhaps the best hitter in baseball, perhaps the best pitcher in baseball, and one of the best left handed hitters in baseball and none of the three have hit 30 years old yet. We also have one of the best pitching prospects in baseball and one of the best third base prospects. Both are 20. We are a dominant young team and the Indians are an average team, perhaps less than that, with only one top 100 prospect. They could have been good in a couple years but for some reason decided to trade there best young players for a guy who has only been good for half a season.
Talking about financials when he says short term, not the product on the field
What’s wrong with the financial aspect? Detroit is not a small market. It’s not huge but it’s towards the upper end of the middle. They can afford what they’re spending.
Devin Knotts gets it.. Also you forgot “Doug Fister” haha. Anyways it could unravel, this is baseball after all.
That’s an astute comment about the Tigers. Some teams will go into the hole to try to steal a pennant, but nobody else is willing to lose money on a consistent basis.
Ilitch is what 82 or 83 and a multi billionaire. As the old saying goes, you can’t take it with you. What does he care if his heirs are short a couple hundred million? He wants a championship before he goes. Can’t blame him but you can blame baseball which allows a guy in his situation to destroy the competitive balance this way with no salary cap.
Why is it “stealing” a pennant to play by the rules of the game? The Indians are just cheap, which is ridiculous considering that Indians fans have proven that they will be very loyal and spend money on the team, just look at that ridiculous games sold out streak the Indians had in the 90s and early 2000s. Since that time, Indians management has decided instead to let its great talent go in free agency, haven’t done much to replace it and their trades haven’t garnered much return, nor have they made a significant free agent signing in a very long time. I can’t even remember the last time they did it, actually. They’re a badly run ball club. The Tigers have built a team with very strong offense and pitching.
Yes, as the Yankees have taught us, it is such a mistake to heavily invest in procuring talent. Cause there is nothing to be gained from regularly making the playoffs and being successful…
yes, detroit is a lot like new york
At the risk of drawing the ire of older Yankee fans who might actually remember and newer ones who have no clue…
Iltch was a respectable business man, who built his in a clean way and cannot recall any ways in that he ever got into serious trouble.
I can recall several times Steinbrenner was sued by the USN for “transgressions” in his shipbuilding “empire” for shortcomings and cost cutting towards ships not for commerce, but military contracts and that’s not even to mention the hot water he got into over the Watergate scandal, where he was actually indicted as a co conspirator and carried a felony conviction for years.
There was a slight difference in Pizza man and ship builder there…
And your point is?
nothing more than an excuse to take a shot at Steinbrenner.
Man always wanted to win more than anything, many times it cost him.. Yet I know of several stories about him giving away millions to aid schools, help groups in trouble etc etc that were done behind the scenes with little publicity.
There is no doubt the Tigers will have some tough decisions to make in a few years when JV, Cabrera, and others are due for potential big raises and or new contracts. Will be fun to watch.
Tigers will, IMO, top 3million at the gate this year. They made money last season and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them come close in 2012, definitely not the BIG losses that some think.
Cabrera will not be getting a raise until his contract is up in 2016. He won’t be resigned. real simple.
Yeah, Tigers have no chance to sign Prince either, huh, what, they signed who?
Cabrera may not be a Tiger, wouldn’t shock me if he or Prince are gone. I expect one will be traded, probably after 2014 season.
Dombrowski will move one of them along with a pitcher in the next few years. No way they let Cabrera go with nothing in return ala the Cardinals/Pujols.
They won’t let Cabrera or Verlander go. Both will be extended in the next year or so.
You really think they’ll be able to keep all three?
I suspect we’ll be saying goodbye to Cabrera before his contract is up. I could see him getting dealt to replenish the farm system. Especially if Castellanos shows he’s ready to step in at third.
I don’t want it to happen, mind you, but it’s a scenario I could see playing out.
tigers organization isn’t built on cheating and cash-chucking