I hate the Blues very much. I don't know what that has to do with state borders. I don't think about those very often as I couldn't really care them.
Chicago vs. St. Louis =/= Illinois vs. Missouri
Haha ok. I'm implying my hatred towards the Blues serves as a reminder that we share a border with Missouri, and part of our dislike towards them has to do with geography.
How many people think about the border we share with Kentucky? I would think that would be even less than Missouri. It only takes me about 45 minutes to get over the Kentucky border from SIU. It also takes about an hour I think to get over the Missouri border but there might be shorter routes I'm unaware of.
Anyone see the trade for RA Dickey? Toronto giving up some big time prospects for a 38 year old knuckle baller.
Yeah, it's definitely a lot but based on the last 3 seasons, he is worthy of that kind of return. He needs to give them another 3 years similar to that for it to be a good trade though. They are really going for it. I can't blame them, that rotation is really good now. I can't see how they would miss the playoffs this year. The fact that they are getting him for next year at only 5M definitely inflates his value too.
I wouldn't do it, but I see how it makes sense. If Toronto wants to win, it has to be this year
Pretty much how I feel, and it's not like the prospects they've given up have proven anything.
Just look at deals like the Johan, or Sabathia to MIL deal... looked like the Twins and Injuns got hauls at the time, and I don't think either of them have a single regular on their squad from either deal.
Pretty much how I feel, and it's not like the prospects they've given up have proven anything.
Just look at deals like the Johan, or Sabathia to MIL deal... looked like the Twins and Injuns got hauls at the time, and I don't think either of them have a single regular on their squad from either deal.
Hell look at the Garza trade. Rays didn't get much of anything out of that trade.
Hell look at the Garza trade. Rays didn't get much of anything out of that trade.
Archer had a pretty solid year at AAA last year... but I agree, they haven't gotten a damn thing out of it, and Archer might be a back of the rotation guy at best, if not bull pen duties eventually. Hak Ju Lee has been pretty terrible for them. Chirinos apparently didn't play a single game last year. Guyer barely played last year... and Fuld is a 4th OF at best.
I remember the Cubs getting blasted for that trade, but a couple years later... it actually looks great now. That's the first time in a while I've looked up what the prospects they gave away have actually done, and am pleasantly surprised to see it's not a whole lot.
I wouldn't do it, but I see how it makes sense. If Toronto wants to win, it has to be this year
Agreed. Only a matter of time before Boston returns to form and the AL East becomes a two horse race again. Right now, it's the Yankees and the Blue Jays on top of that division, with Baltimore and Tampa Bay a step down. Very likely that three of those teams will make the playoffs next year just looking at the AL on paper, but if there was a chance for the team to make some major noise, especially in a year when the Leafs aren't playing, it's 2013.
I thought we did well in that deal at the time. I wasn't really a fan of Archer or Lee.
I wasn't a big fan, but more so from the angle that we didn't really need to be trading prospects away for a 27 year old pitcher who may or may not ever live up to that #1 Ace label.
I wasn't a big fan, but more so from the angle that we didn't really need to be trading prospects away for a 27 year old pitcher who may or may not ever live up to that #1 Ace label.
Eh, a shortstop who had a suspect bat and a boom or bust pitcher didn't really hurt me.
Eh, a shortstop who had a suspect bat and a boom or bust pitcher didn't really hurt me.
I valued them a bit more than that at the time, and we took on his contract, although that has been reasonable... but still $20M+ total over the 3 years, if you include 2013.
The only one I valued at all was Archer and my thinking was that Archer, in a best case scenario, probably still wasn't going to be as good as Garza so I loved the deal.
News item: Dodgers are reported to be offered a six billion dollar/25 year contract from Fox Sports to broadcast all of their games. This works out to $240 million a year or nearly 1.5 million bucks per game.
Related: The Texas Rangers and the Angels each have broadcast agreements of $150 million or more a year.
Our Cubs meanwhile make $45 million combined from the WGN and Comcast television deals.
Tom Ricketts is on record saying that he intends to reinvest all the profit from the team back into the team. Let’s look at some of those projected profits. With the premium seats figured in, the average ticket price will be $49.00 next year. If the Cubs draw 3 million in attendance next year then $49 x 3,000,000 totals $147 million. Subtract the estimated payroll of 90 million and you have $57 million remaining from ticket sales alone in 2013. Remember that 57 million.
Then you have maintenance, front office salaries, taxes, minor league expenditures, etc. to pay. The new facility in Mesa is expected to cost $84 million and the Cubs are on the hook for whatever goes over budget and last I saw it is running 1 million under budget, so the cost right now is nada. Those TV deals that total $45 million a year I mentioned earlier are about the cost of 1 premium starting pitcher away from covering the $59 million in taxes the Cubs pay every year. I realize there are quite a few costs associated to running a ball club like minor league expenditures, front office salaries, maintenance, advertising, and those costs combined are considerable, but let’s assume they are offset by concessions, the MLB television contract, signage, the WGN deal, rooftop neighbors and revenue on sales involving the Cubs logo on caps, shirts and whatnot. The baseball academy in La Gina, DR is nearly complete and should be considered paid in full.
Once the WGN TV contract runs out, let’s say it’s at only $5 million per year because it’s always been a sweetheart deal, that will leave $40 million per year income from Comcast, so that leaves 5 years remaining at $200 million expected income, give or take. Remember that $57 million? If the Cubs bank that this year and next, that’s $114 million by 2015 toward a buyout. Now a buyout for an additional $86 million or so suddenly appears to be reasonable. I would think coming up with that amount of cash would be a simple thing for Ricketts and family, especially considering the increase possible with a new TV deal.
I sincerely hope Crane Kenney is working toward a buyout plan as well as an improvement plan for Wrigley. He needs to get a guy with TV startup experience on board, like Reinsdorf did with Eddie Einhorn. Kenney should be able to easily top the $150 million per year that Texas and the Angels currently have, and considering the broad national appeal the Cubs enjoy and with the rising costs of sports, the deal could conceivably begin to approach the $240 million dollar figure the Dodgers appear to have. This is the project that will leave Kenney’s mark on the legacy of the team.
The year 2015 is shaping up to be a banner year for the Cubs and this new deal should put the team way over the top of any of our expectations. Waves of talent from the minors should be ready to help the team if they weren’t there already. Theo and Jed should easily be able to fill any needs with nearly any available free agent and to acquire quality depth in pitching if needed. If the club somehow happens to end up with a huge payroll and a luxury tax the Cubs could simply consider it the price of doing business and laugh all the way to the bank. Ricketts also could easily leverage all that extra money and threaten the city to build a new ball park elsewhere in order to get the landmark status removed from Wrigley and do a good renovation or a total rebuild at Addison and Clark at the team’s expense. The money a new contract could provide should be enough to change the shape of the neighborhood, rerouting streets if necessary and building parking garages or even underground parking beneath Wrigley.
Just saw that Bovada (formerly Bodog) has the Jays as the favorite to win the World Series in 2013 at 8/1 odds. Angels and Dodgers are the runner up, at 17/2, followed by the Nats at 9/1.
That 100/1 is tempting. It's not that far off the team could be a few games over .500 at the deadline and make a Dodgers-Red Sox like trade where we give little up and get back a lot of talent to become a threat overnight. They have money to spend.
