Tagged: Takeover
The Filibuster
Selig and the owners finally had enough of McCourt and took action, but
what about the franchises that are still technically solvent but just
suck? Why hasn’t the commish done something about the Pirates?
Dan
Ferndale, MI
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Ahhhh yes… once again, the revolving doors of ineptitude bring us back to…
The Pirates.
And
why shouldn’t they? In all of professional sports, one would have quite a
difficult time finding a more moribund team than the lowly Buccos.
While all of the big four US American sports thrive by having a healthy,
parity-laden cycle of teams going from the top of the ranks to the
bottom and everywhere in between, the Pittsburgh Pirates have been stuck
at bad. For 18, long, terrible, horrible, awful, green-pea-spew inducing years.
In a row.
So, indeed, Mr. Dan, you bring up an excellent question: How is it that MLB sees no issue intervening with financially strapped clubs like the current Dodgers or the late Expos de Montréal (pouring out some liquor for my boy, Youppi yo!) but meanwhile sits back and says nothing as the Pirates organization embarrasses itself year after year after year, alienating the five or so fans left in western Pennsylvania in doing so?
That’s easy, Dan. One word:
MONEY!!!
The Pirates may have more issues than Lindsay Lohan on $5 Jaegerbomb night, but, when all is done, the Pirates still MAKE MONEY.
Haven’t you noticed? To the suits picking each other’s noses up in the luxury boxes, it’s not about winning. It’s not about getting better. It’s not about keeping score or the waft of freshly roasted peanuts or the soothing effects of finely cut green grass on the old eyeballs.
It’s about making bank.
And as long as they line their pockets with plenty of paper, MLB ain’t gonna say jack.
Like my loquacious and oft contorted colleague, Mr. Krause recently pointed out, sometimes MLB gets it right. King Bud could not sit back and let one of the league’s most storied franchises fail because of atrocious financial mismanagement. And other times, MLB gets it way wrong… like they did in intervening with the Florida Marlins (a very successful organization in regards to winning) and the way they chose to spend profit sharing funds trickling down from the top*.
But one thing is certain: MLB is a business. MLB is about being a profitable business. As much as romanticized baseball super-nerd-dorks like Mr. Krause and I would like to believe that a certain utopian joy for the game and its purity is at the core of Major League Baseball’s business philosophy, the truth is: it ain’t.
If it were, the Expos would still be alive. The Dodgers would have never left Brooklyn. And someone would have intervened in the gargantuan atrocity also known as the Pirates’ front office.
Hate me. Fine. Just don’t hate me ‘cuz I’m right.
Peace,
Jeff
*For an excellent read on just how wrong MLB was in their handling of the Marlins, check out this article from the Prince of New York.
**Have a topic you want to see us Filibuster? Want a
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The RSBS Podcast, Episode 22: Ryan Braun’s Rumspringa… and Other Stuff
And so in this Podcast brought to you by Lifestyles…
Jeff and Johanna kick the season off by trying to name every Jewish baseballer ever known to man before PodMaster Keith let’s The 8:08 (from harried Undercast fame) into the studio… from there on out the wheels come off in one great big ball of awesomeness that includes Dodger takeovers, Hawkisms galore, goofy games that may or may not include a sexual innuendo (or fifty) and much, much more… all to make you excite!
Holla!
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Subscribe to the RSBS Podcast by clicking *HERE*
Subscribe via iTunes by clicking *HERE*
*Special thanks to our PodMaster Keith Carmack. Make sure you take some time to check out Keith and his crew’s wicked smaaht podcast. The man’s a filmmaker! You can find out more at Undercard Films.
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Recorded Wednesday, April 27, 2011
GM and the Dodgers: A case study
While writing the filibuster the other day, I got to thinking. What’s so bad about MLB taking over the Dodgers? It’s not something they want to do and ideally they’d like to get rid of the franchise as quickly as possible. Both MLB and the Dodgers hope to emerge from this more healthy. The weird thing is that as I considered all the aspects of this move, it began to feel a little like deja vu. I had the distinct feeling that I had read this story before. Then it hit me. This same story happened just recently with a little company called General Motors, and the US Government played the role in which MLB now finds itself.
Just like today’s Dodgers, GM found itself in trouble because of profligate spending, terrible management and an inability to provide the consumer what they demanded. As it became clear that GM could no longer support its obligations and refused to make the changes needed to resolve its issues, the government stepped in.
Just like with MLB’s decision to take over the Dodgers, the government’s decision with GM had its share of detractors. Although I don’t think anyone outside of San Francisco truly wants to see the Dodgers fail as a franchise, a fair amount of the fringe right and left wing in the US were more than happy to watch GM collapse. While refusing to see what impact GM’s dissolution would have on an already fragile economy, these people decided that the moral obligation was to let GM collapse as an example to other firms. Obviously this was not an option for the government, just like McCourt’s continued ineptitude with one of baseball’s storied franchises was not an option for MLB and the commissioner.
The real moral of this story comes in the aftermath. GM quickly emerged from its bankruptcy and government receivership. More importantly, not only did it emerge more streamlined and healthy after government managers got rid of deadweight makes and models, it also set a record with its IPO. MLB is hoping for a similar outcome and looks to be using an important tool that the government also utilized with GM: get rid of the management who got you into this problem in the first place.
Since GM rose phoenix-like from its own ashes, those who criticized the initial move have become much more subdued in their comments. Although the level of criticism hasn’t been quite as great with MLB and the Dodgers, I have a feeling that even those who have decried Selig’s actions will end up eating their words once the Dodgers are resold. Takeovers are always painful but they aren’t always bad.
-A
The Filibuster
Now that the Dodgers are controlled by MLB, is the situation there going to be as ugly as their throwbacks?
Jenny
Hammond, IN
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Before I address the Dodgers’ situation, I want to take care of the second part of your question. I’m not completely sure why you find the new throwbacks (an oxymoron if there ever was one) so horrific. Maybe it’s the color, maybe it’s because it says Brooklyn even though the Dodgers have had nothing to do with that borough for decades. I don’t know as though sky blue would be my first choice but if you really want to talk ugly, let’s talk Astros, Pirates or Nuggets. Those, my friend, are some truly ugly uniforms.
MLB taking over the Dodgers? That’s not ugly. That’s just business. McCourt’s running of the Dodgers is to ownership what those old Pirates’ hats were to MLB headware. A disgrace, plain and simple. Let’s take it step by step.
First, when McCourt bought the Dodgers, he leveraged the buyout. In layman’s terms, it’s kind of like he took a mortgage on the franchise in order to buy the franchise. That’s not a problem in and of itself but when he bought the Dodgers, they weren’t a brand-new, top-of-the-line model. They were a fixer-upper. Instead of making the repairs, though, he took any money he made to pad his own lifestyle.
Second, when McCourt’s life started to fall pieces, he used the franchise as his personal piggy bank. Need to pay the lawyers? Add a couple bucks to each beer. Mrs. McCourt won’t settle for less than financial ruin? Bleed it out of the season ticket holders.
Third, despite everything, McCourt still doesn’t see any error in what he’s done. His statement in response to Selig’s action obviates further discussion: “Major League Baseball sets strict financial guidelines which all 30
teams must follow. The Dodgers are in compliance with these guidelines.” He simply doesn’t get it.
Here’s the deal. Like it or not, for MLB to work, the teams in the big markets have to be healthy. This specifically means New York, Chicago and LA. On top of that, the Dodgers are one of MLB’s standard bearers. Jackie Robinson was a Dodger. Kirk Gibson fist-pumped his way around the bases as a Dodger. But when the owner of the Dodgers has to take a massive loan just to cover the monthly payroll, something has gone horribly wrong.
I don’t like Selig. I think he’s done a pretty awful job at managing MLB and some of his decisions will continue to haunt the game for a long time. However, he made the right call this time. The courts will most likely take the same view which is heartening to baseball fans and definitely good news for Dodgers fans. Sure, Selig’s last adventure in takeover didn’t go all that well but that was a different era and Montreal is not LA.
As long as McCourt doesn’t drag this out too long, the situation should be resolved relatively quickly. MLB wants a healthy Dodgers organization and will work quickly to get the club out of its own hands and into those of an owner who actually cares about the team. In addition, if Selig is smart he’s already looking ahead and realizing he’s going to have bigger fish to fry with the impending implosion of the Mets. As for Dodgers fans, they can go back to wondering about the throwback jersey.
-A
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