Out of the Past

this is strange. . . . but catching is at a premium they just traded for Estrada :lol I think that trade was really a Mota salary dump becasue they'll non-tender Estrada. I've always liked Schneider and Church and think Milledge is overrated. explain Mota is owed around $3 million for '07. The Mets don't want him. The $3 milllion is guaranteed. The Mets trade him to the Brewers for Estrada. Estrada is eligible for arbitration. The Mets dump Estrada by non-tendering him. The end result of all that is the Mets dumped a guaranteed contract for a guy they didn't want.

this is strange. . . . but catching is at a premium they just traded for Estrada :lol I think that trade was really a Mota salary dump becasue they'll non-tender Estrada. I've always liked Schneider and Church and think Milledge is overrated.

If you're trying to prove that owners cut payroll and worthwhile investments below what they can afford to gain undue profits, then you have a hard argument to make. In operating a professional sport team, owners stand to gain more by expanding their revenue sources than cutting payroll. That's one way of doing it. The other way, the painful one for fans, and the one you refuse to understand, is that an owner can increase his profits by simply slashing payroll to minimum levels as was the case with the '06 Marlins. By Loria slashing payroll by $45 million he improved his bottom line from a loss position to a $43 million profit. That is because revenue from operations (and every thing besides revenue sharing transfers) are scant and the team's ability to expand (likewise, shrink) them is extremely limited. This is not the case under favorable lease terms. In a new proftiable situation, the Marlins sell more tickets, more concessions, more parking, more box suites, more advertising, more broadcasts, more everything when the team garners more attention by winning or signing a player. In that situation, a team that cuts payroll may be cutting expenses, but risk losing even more in revenue. I think you may be forgetting that teams with new stadiums are among the bigger recipienst of revenue sharing. I think the Loria business model will continue to apply as long as teams can partially replace the reduction in local revenues (due to firesale like tactics) with increases in revenue sharing revenues. Not that there's anything wrong with that from the owner's perspective. Making money is a good thing. It just sucks for the fans.

I got it.. if you don't at least you don't have to listen to Bryant Gumbel.

In '05 our revenue sharing was $30 million so now it should be much higher than that given that the revenue sharing pie has increased and our percentage share of the pie has also increased. When the '07 profit numbers come out look for Loria to break the $50 million mark. Cool!

If you're trying to prove that owners cut payroll and worthwhile investments below what they can afford to gain undue profits, then you have a hard argument to make. In operating a professional sport team, owners stand to gain more by expanding their revenue sources than cutting payroll. That's one way of doing it. The other way, the painful one for fans, and the one you refuse to understand, is that an owner can increase his profits by simply slashing payroll to minimum levels as was the case with the '06 Marlins. By Loria slashing payroll by $45 million he improved his bottom line from a loss position to a $43 million profit.

I thought the only Marlin candidate for the Hall in the next decade would have been Sheff. We've had that convo here plenty, and his Detroit tenure has pretty much solidified us as his HOF team. As for Nen, I don't think anyone really saw his nomination coming. He'll never get in, but I'm just glad he's getting some deserved recognition for his career. Granted, Chuck Knoblach (sp?) is on the ballot too... Doesn't say much. You do understand the only qualification for a player to be named on the ballot is service time, right? You say it as if performance has no merrit? Let's just go ahead and name Mike Mordecai next year. Mordecai's going to be on the ballot. That was part of the reason we gave him the September roster spot in 2005. Good job keeping a heads up. :thumbup Are you effing serious? IIRC he was added for pension purposes.

The Brewers opened the new stadium in the '01 season. Here are their payroll figures: '00 - $35.8 M '01 - $45.0 M '02 - $50.3 M '03 - $40.6 M '04 - $27.5 M The Pirates opened the new stadium in the '01 season. Here are their payroll figures: '00 - $26.6 M '01 - $57.8 M '02 - $42.3 M '03 - $54.8 M '04 - $32.2 M In the '07 season they were 4th from the bottom in payroll. There are several teams with new stadiums taht are towards the bottom of MLB in total payroll. The widely accepted assumption, even by many Loria haters, is that a new stadium will turn us into mid-level payroll team allowing us to keep the Cabreras and Hanleys. In my opinion that's a ridiculous assumption to make. I rarely dabble in business talk, but can somebody compare media markets of Miami/South Florida to Milwaukee and Pittsburgh. Can we get a general population and TV deal impact where it is very likely the Marlins will become mid-market overnight (as of course, confidence will be restored (or created?) towards baseball to an extent never seen in Miami with a firm commitment to the team to stay here for 30+ years). Right, so Miami probably kills those two cities right away. I do not feel they are analogous even though they received new stadiums and kept payroll "low." Now add in the Marlins have an awesome young core that's a lot better then Milwaukee 00 and Pittsbugh 01, and should be a .500+ team by 09, and could get a hell of a lot better very fast depending on how many of the pitchers develop into reasonable expectations. This satisfies the other part of this town where they only come if you're good. If payroll were to be low, it would be after an initial 3-4 year boom when it isn't new anymore and the team is just flailing. Not right away. I maintain the Field of Dreams stance towards all ballpark news. Hope the City of Miami figures it out one of these days. I'm sure Loria will generate more revenues than some of the other owners with new stadiums but I wouldn't assume the additional revenues will result in additional payroll. I don't trust Loria. ============ In '07 the average team payroll was $82.6 M. The Brewers were 14% below the average. The Reds were 17% below the average. The Padres were 30% below the average. The Pirates were 53% below the average.

The Brewers opened the new stadium in the '01 season. Here are their payroll figures: '00 - $35.8 M '01 - $45.0 M '02 - $50.3 M '03 - $40.6 M '04 - $27.5 M The Pirates opened the new stadium in the '01 season. Here are their payroll figures: '00 - $26.6 M '01 - $57.8 M '02 - $42.3 M '03 - $54.8 M '04 - $32.2 M In the '07 season they were 4th from the bottom in payroll. There are several teams with new stadiums taht are towards the bottom of MLB in total payroll. The widely accepted assumption, even by many Loria haters, is that a new stadium will turn us into mid-level payroll team allowing us to keep the Cabreras and Hanleys. In my opinion that's a ridiculous assumption to make.

I don't think the city / county should do a deal without payroll strings. Other teams have cut payroll after getting new stadiums and given Loria's track record I wouldn't be surprised if he did it as well.

Caca, Brazilian Soccer player.

I don't remember seeing Josh Johnson all over prospect lists and yet he turned in a better rookie season than almost any of their top prospects two years ago. I'm almost positive Josh was a top 50 prospect in '06. He was 80th.. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prosp...ures/26660.html

and you guys should remember that it's Mike Berardino coming up with our top 30 for BA it's not guys who watch these players everyday I would pay more attention to their overall list than to each teams indivisdual list. I don't know how Berardino comes up with his list but I would think it's heavily based on discussions with several scouts, some from our team, some from other teams, while taking what our guys say with a grain of salt, and then coming up with his conclusions.

I don't remember seeing Josh Johnson all over prospect lists and yet he turned in a better rookie season than almost any of their top prospects two years ago. I'm almost positive Josh was a top 50 prospect in '06.

On another note, you should stop smoking whatever it is you're smoking. Our minor leaguer pitchers are NOT top prospects. I guess Volstad needed to be 38. Damn. Our highest rated prospect is No. 39. That's not good compared to other teams. We probably have 2 or 3 in the top 100. That's not good compared to other teams. But go ahead believing our system is stacked with can't-miss pitching prospects that will end up as good MLB starters. Who Cares. It's subjective. Who Cares. It's subjective. Don't believe they are can't miss, but I think when you have 18-20 MLB capable arms who are 20-24, and you are about to trade off Cabrera/Willis and probably add some more to that, chances are very good half of them will develop comparative to what they are all doing in their MLB careers so far. And to finish, you really need to look at BA's list and realize guys who turn out to be really good are nowhere on it sometimes and guys rated really high, do nothing. Our pitching depth, is pretty good. Woe is us we don't have a # 1 like Kershaw, and just a collection of ten 2/3/4 types, and another ten relievers who can touch 95!. Woe is us! I like the subjective reference almost as much as the luck ones. I think your chances of making it big if you're widely regarded as a top 50 prospect are MUCH higher than if you're not widely regarded as a top 100. Do you disagree?

and I'm pretty sure this was a fan vote kinda thing I think Volstad, our top guy, was 11th in the Florida State League accordign to BA so he may not even be in their top 50 when their list comes out.

On another note, you should stop smoking whatever it is you're smoking. Our minor leaguer pitchers are NOT top prospects. I guess Volstad needed to be 38. Damn. Our highest rated prospect is No. 39. That's not good compared to other teams. We probably have 2 or 3 in the top 100. That's not good compared to other teams. But go ahead believing our system is stacked with can't-miss pitching prospects that will end up as good MLB starters.

Do you know when 1-30 comes out? I only see 31-50. LaRoche is 33. http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/news/top50/y2008/

I agree that our college and graduate programs are vastly superior to anyone else's. It's precisely this advantage that we should take advantage of. Sure, there are foreign students who stay here after college, but the vast majority go back to their own countries to help foreign companies become more competitive against US companies. I realize that it's somewhat of a radical idea, but desperate times call for radical ideas. Good stuff, pierre. My brother has made the same point but only related to math and sciences for several years now.

The problem with our talent level within our farm system has been frequently brought up. It is mainly for 2 reason. How many drafted or signed as undrafted free agents by the current regime have been brought up and not sucked? Josh Johnson and Jeremy Hermida. I guess you could throw Tank in there but as a reliever his value is diminished. The problem is NOT that our players have been brought up... and the pipeline is not very promising.

so besides Bruce, what's so terrible about these projections? You talkin' to me?

I don't know how he comes up with these projections but the number of ABs he assigned to some of the positions are ridiculous. For example, he assigned over 2200 ABs to the OFs and 810 to the 2B so I have to say his 264 HR team projection is useless.

The level of talent in the farm system might have something to do with everyone worthwhile going onto the big league roster and/or DL. I think it has much to do with the mediocre job Beinfest has done drafting players and signing players not eligible for the draft.

I would love to see Dennis Erickson and ASU somehow sneak in the BCS Championship game. If they blow-out USC on national TV they could jump Ohio State and then if Oklahoma beats the Missouri vs Kansas winner and either LSU or WV stumble then it could happen. It's remote but it could happen. They need to blow-out USC tonight.

Sign him, tell the Dodgers he's a blue-collar Juan Pierre (Colletti will like that) and trade him for Russell Martin.