Finally! Official Hot Stove League thread!

[bpj]

And if this year and the next 2-3 we end up saving our payroll and never experience a deep playoff run and never extend any of the young core with a billionaire Owner who cares more about his balance sheet than hoisting a trophy…………………………………………….

You say a billionaire owner, isn't he a bit under a billion? And ohtani, a single player signed for almost half his net worth. Think about it, that seems kinda incredible to me, modern baseball economics. I don't know if it's so much being cheap as being cautious

The thing is the ownership group is a partnership and we don't even know for sure that Stanton has the largest stake in the team. But none of the owners, as far as I know, are so rich that losses from their investment in the team don't matter the same way they don't matter to the wealthiest owners in the game. And I think a few of the owners are relative small fry, where losses and a capital call really would matter.

Having an "ownership group" is exactly what I'd bet our problem is.

There's not one guy that can give a yes or no.

If they need $30M more for payroll, do they have to get each owner to kick in their share as a % of what they own? I can see why that would never work.

None of the majority owners are going to kick in all of the money on their own if it doesn't increase their % of ownership or benefit them in some other way.

It seems like they're in a position where they have to work within the budget that the revenue allows.

[D-train]

The owners stepped up, saved baseball and all that. And they will make plenty of profit whenever the team is sold. But until then I think they view it pretty much as a passive investment. I don't believe they are tapping current profits but they aren't interested in investing anymore of their respective wealth. That could be solved of course by selling the team to a more aggressive owner.

That is why they should SELL!!! If they get more pleasure starring at their financial statements than bringing the city a WS title they should SELL and stare at their glorious financial statements bulging with the proceeds and profits from the sale of the team for 3 hours a day for YEARS!!

[Donn Beach]

You say a billionaire owner, isn't he a bit under a billion? And ohtani, a single player signed for almost half his net worth. Think about it, that seems kinda incredible to me, modern baseball economics. I don't know if it's so much being cheap as being cautious

The thing is the ownership group is a partnership and we don't even know for sure that Stanton has the largest stake in the team. But none of the owners, as far as I know, are so rich that losses from their investment in the team don't matter the same way they don't matter to the wealthiest owners in the game. And I think a few of the owners are relative small fry, where losses and a capital call really would matter.

Having an "ownership group" is exactly what I'd bet our problem is.

There's not one guy that can give a yes or no.

If they need $30M more for payroll, do they have to get each owner to kick in their share as a % of what they own? I can see why that would never work.

None of the majority owners are going to kick in all of the money on their own if it doesn't increase their % of ownership or benefit them in some other way.

It seems like they're in a position where they have to work within the budget that the revenue allows.

Stanton as managing partner gets to run it like his team, him and Dipoto. The pair make all the decisions. Except for the one, a cash call. Owners kicking in additional cash. Remember them needing to do it in the beginning, it wasn't popular. Of course that was more about covering basic operations. It's not Stanton being cheap. He needs to operate the team cash neutral. The owners are there if cash is really needed but they don't want to be asked. So within that limitation the team is run like it has a single owner. That's my guess of the situation.

He could try and sell them on being more aggressive. Supply additional capital to leverage towards a larger fan base. But you're then looking at all the owners to agree on something which probably isn't practical. Again, just guessing about the structure

[D-train]

Why would there be a cash call after being the most profitable team in MLB in 2022 and saving almost $300M in payroll since the start of the rebuild.

[Donn Beach]

They probably have a cash reserve, without being able to see the books who knows what it is. With the consternation over their broadcasting issues I doubt they are rolling in cash

[D-train]

You know what is hilarious. They don't pay the players at all during the off season but they made Jerry dump salary before he could add to it because they wanted to be sure they could dump it and didn't want to take the risk. Also didn't want to take the 3% chance that Teo would accept the QO costing them a draft pick. SELL THE TEAM!

[GL_Storm]

You know what is hilarious. They don't pay the players at all during the off season but they made Jerry dump salary before he could add to it because they wanted to be sure they could dump it and didn't want to take the risk. Also didn't want to take the 3% chance that Teo would accept the QO costing them a draft pick. SELL THE TEAM!

Who should they sell to?

[desbcoach]

I like the Levi Stoudt claim, hope they are able to pass smith thru waivers

[GL_Storm]

I like this move! Stoudt is a kid that they know and can work with and gives the team some upper minors pitching depth that is badly needed. Unfortunately, Canaan Smith-Njigba was DFA'd. Hopefully he makes it through waivers though.

[D-train]

All that positive PR generated by picking a Seahawk's brother flushed in an instant. lol I actually like that they don't care about that nonsense but I wish they would have dumped one of the shitty relievers instead.

btw Stoudt sure got shelled last season but he might be a guy that they can fix. He was good with us.