Three NL West teams — the Giants, Diamondbacks and Rockies — open their seasons today. Here are some links from the NL West…
- The Padres' 20-year TV deal with FOX Sports San Diego is "all but finalized" and should be announced within one or two days, Dan Hayes of the North County Times reports. The deal could be worth $1 billion or more. "Life is good and I'll leave it at that," Padres majority owner John Moores said.
- MLB officials are concerned that the winning bidders for the Dodgers have been slow to produce details about themselves and their bid, Tom Verducci of SI.com reports. Some owners are questioning why the group fronted by Magic Johnson and Stan Kasten hasn't filed a more detailed Purchase and Sale Agreement.
- Bill Shaikin of the LA Times reports that the terms of the Dodgers’ sale are scheduled to be filed in court today.
- The Giants originally requested right-hander David Phelps from the Yankees for catcher Chris Stewart, George A. King III of the New York Post reports. The Yankees ultimately sent right-hander George Kontos to San Francisco.
$50M/year for the Pads… and their payroll is something like $53M. They ought to be bumping up that payroll soon.
Padres don’t strike me as a team that spends for the sake of spending.
Depending on how many minor leaguers make it to the bigs this year, the Padres payroll will be between $58 and $62 million.
Looks like things are about to be real interesting in the West.
Life is good unless you’re an actual Padre’s fan.
We have hope!
Which is more than Red Sox fans can say this year in a stacked AL East.
true to everything written above. Moores do something will ya!!! We’ve been patient. We understand the small market and everything but now you have no excuses. Do something!!
That LAD entire new situation looks scary. On top of whether or not McCourt could actually profit still from it, how much of the money will wind up being “dirty” money which the league will only find out years from now?
The league should suspend the final yes/no until after 4/13 until a full investigation is done. Fast tracking this, only because of the mess McCourt got himself into is a disgrace in waiting to the entire league.
What do you mean by “dirty” money? Do you think it came from drug dealing or something? It’s unclear to me how MLB could be concerned with any of the bidders this far down the line. All of them were supposed to be vetted in advance.
Especially when it’s CASH (the process may be delayed while a team of experts actually explain to Frank McCourt what “cash” really is).
“Of particular interest to MLB is a breakdown of where the money is coming from to cover the $2.15 billion sale price and what role McCourt has in the ownership”
There was other parts of the article and not necessarily drug money, but any kind of money not properly vetted. It says it must be a cash only transaction several times, but let me ask you as one of the most ardent LAD fans here.. Wouldn’t you like yourself to make certain McCourt was doing this on the level and nothing would happen..Say 6 months or a year down the road and this entire fiasco would recur?
Even, the current (new) owners would turn out to be in debt and hidden the fact that they actually had no capital?
This all sounds like something is very shady and being rammed through.
Of course we don’t want to see it go south again, but I don’t think anyone is seriously concerned. Guggenheim Partners represents $125 billion in assets, making them possibly the richest owners of any sports franchise. Besides, McCourt didn’t do any of this on his own. The bidders were screened by MLB. The process was overseen by the bankruptcy court. The owners voted (unanimously) in favor of the sale. Based on the totally vague-sounding “concerns” being expressed, I don’t see how you come to the conclusion that the deal sounds shady.
Just worried that something will fall apart and maybe it is me reading something into that article.. Taking bits and pieces from things and putting it together wrong, but trust me.. I don’t want that sale to go south and don’t want the league dragged into any scandal.. Just want the same as you do am pretty sure, which is McCourt and his other half OUT of the Dodgers ASAP, but making sure everything is done correctly at the same time.
Representing assets and having $2 billion in liquid cash are two separate things. MLB wants to make sure that none of the capital invested in buying the team will be tied to shareholder money.
The sale is all cash. That part we know. Pretty much everything else is speculation.
McCourt will walk away after all is said and done with something just over $400 million. I personally think that its sick that that crook would profit from decimating a storied franchise and driving it into bankruptcy.
Baseball salaries are just going to keep going up with all these NEW TV deals for billions of dollars. There is going to have to be a salary cap soon or bench players will be making 5 million a year!
nationals are paying lanaan 5 million to play at AAA
Thats already happening. Look at John Lannan
So, umm, if not the players, who SHOULD get those billions of dollars in TV revenue money that’s flowing into that league?
(And, before someone accuses me of bias, I’m a fan of a team that does NOT have a lucrative TV deal).
Obviously if teams make it they will spend it or at least most will but what about the teams that are still way behind the power curve? I just wish baseball was more competitive like Hockey and Football where teams have a fighting chance every year if their management is good not just more money than everyone else! Dont get me wrong there will always be a few teams that never have the revenue as the big dogs and im glad more and more teams are catching up to the Yankees. This isnt woe is my team either since im a Phillies fan this point is based on the love of baseball….
MLB has MORE parity than NFL, NBA, and NHL. All but 4 teams have made the playoffs since 2000, and one of the 4 (Nats) has only been in MLB since 2006. The two lowest valued teams by Forbes have had runs of perennial contention fairly recently (1999-2006 A’s, 2008-present Rays).
The Yankees are a unique case because for a very long time, their payroll was an outlier. That is becoming less and less of a case as more teams get more resources via TV deals and the like. Also—the Yankees’ dynasty doesn’t only exist because of money. It exists because of great scouting, great management, AND money. For every Red Sox or Angels there’s a pre-Madoff Mets or Cubs.
You need a large payroll to maintain a dynasty; you DON’T need a large payroll to make the playoffs.
umm the Nats ARE the EXPOS. Been around much longer than that.
Baseball has actually had more different teams winning the championship than either of those two sports in this century. 2001 – 2011
Never going to happen. MLB Players Union will not allow a hard cap. A luxury tax, yes. Hard Cap no. More likely to be a minimum payroll than a hard salary cap.
WoW come on ppl what someone was getting paid as a starter then demoted to bench relief or AAA is not what im talking about. Saying someone like Valdez making 5 million as a super sub. Or a lefty specialist getting 5 million a year it was a little sarcasm! Salaries are already insane!
The Padres owner needs to shut up and put out a competitive team..
Moores has put out competitive teams in his time at helm of Padres. 4 playoff appearances and a WS in 15 years while he was at helm. Moorad years have been slim pickings, but they were contenders in 2010.
So is that about 50M a year for the Padres? If you include revenue from attendants and others than I can see a 60-65M payroll.
$1.2 billion TV contract for Padres with $200 million upfront and escalator clauses that can make it worth $1.5 billion. Guess the guy in USA today was right on the money even though Moorad and Garfinkel said he was off base.
What is it that House says? “Everybody lies.”
Fernando, the Padres payroll is $60 million this season. Look for the Padres payroll to be exactly where Moorad said it would be from the beginning of his tenure with the team – about $80 million in 2013.