Will Tigers be for sale? There have been hints

 

Team is still spending, for example, and a big 2005 could lure a buyer based on earnings outlook

By Lynn Henning / The Detroit News

 

 

Off-season items as the Tigers shop for help beyond Troy Percival:

 

The Tigers look like a team on the block: Look deeply at the Tigers and you see a mingling of events that suggest this team could be sold within a year or two:

 

* Mike Ilitch turned 75 last summer and now has son Chris Ilitch poised as the next commander-in-chief of Ilitch Holdings. Because he is camera- and interview-shy, Chris Ilitch has thoughts that are difficult to read, but he is known to have little (as in zero) interest in baseball, which can make the Tigers an unattractive business proposition as Little Caesars and the Red Wings' owners plot business strategy.

 

* Comerica Park's debt isn't going away. Ilitch borrowed close to $200 million to finance the ballpark and is still a long way from hitting the 2.5 million (or so) attendance level that has always been regarded as break-even on the Tigers' fiscal sheet. All that debt service (11 percent) is a financial millstone that makes the past year's attendance gains (1.3 million to 1.9 million) a Band-Aid on a blood-gushing gash more in need of stitches.

 

* The Tigers are still spending. Hmmmm ... Why is a team in the red going deeper in debt on payroll? The Tigers could jump from the $50 million range to $70 million by the time their off-season shopping -- and pay raises for 2004 players -- falls in place ahead of 2005. More is at work here than a possible run at the winnable Central Division title. The Tigers had a big gain in victories, tickets sold and concession revenue in 2004 -- just the sort of stuff that could take another big jump in 2005, and in the process make a big-league ballclub and its earnings potential attractive to a deep-pocketed buyer.

 

* How much are the Tigers worth, and who could buy them? Forbes magazine last spring pegged the Tigers' sale price at $235 million, with 85 percent of that figure tied to debt on Comerica Park. You can now boost the sticker price to $250 million or slightly higher.

 

Most likely, anyone taking a run at the Tigers won't be a local entity. The team would be too expensive for, say, an Edsel Ford, who was interested back in the day when Ilitch bought the Tigers for $82 million. This much is certain: Any new ownership would be rich enough to write a check for the Comerica Park loan and not be overly bothered by residual Tigers overhead.

 

* Why not take on a business partner? It's an option, perhaps the best one, for a business that mostly needs to take a whack at that monster-sized ballpark loan. But what evidence exists for the Ilitch clan's taking on partners? Family is family. Note that the Fords, likewise, haven't invited Al Taubman to join hands in any high-profile ventures.

 

There is way too much smoke here for a fire not to flicker at some point in the next couple of years. If it weren't for Mike, the Ilitches would have sold this cash-gulping Tigers entity long ago. The bet here is that sale day will come fairly soon.

 

How others are sizing up the suddenly startling Tigers: Peter Gammons made interesting comments on ESPN.com last week as he talked about the free-agent terrain and hunting parties chasing some of baseball's bigger names: "The Tigers have had to overpay, but Dave Dombrowski is close to having one of the game's best baseball cities back in the high life, again. Detroit's attendance rose from 1.37 million (second-worst) in 2003, to 1.92 million in 2004. While the farm system is being reconstructed and Dombrowski has struck gold with signings (Pudge Rodriguez), trades (Carlos Guillen, Jeremy Bonderman) and Rule V thefts (Chris Shelton, Wilfredo Ledezma), for the Tigers to get to the 2.5 million fans requires a few more name-player acquisitions."

 

Dombrowski achieved a major coup last month, luring scouting director David Chadd from Boston. Chadd is one of the game's best talent evaluators, and not only is he further empowered in Detroit, he also was attracted by the loyalty that most Dombrowski employees feel toward their boss.

 

Those 119 losses are out of view in the rearview mirror.

 

Gammons' words were potent, but by no means solitary. Jayson Stark of ESPN.com said much the same thing a week earlier when he picked the Tigers as one team that could make a blockbuster free-agent signing (by implication, Adrian Beltre, Carlos Beltran or Carl Pavano). In any event, it's interesting feedback from seasoned analysts with coast-to-coast perspective.

 

Chris Shelton excels in Arizona: The Tigers happen to own the Arizona Instructional League's Most Valuable Player for 2004, and don't take this award, or Shelton's hitting numbers, lightly: He was terrific during fall competition that included more than 190 of baseball's best young prospects divided among six teams.

 

Shelton played in 31 games and led the Arizona league in five hitting categories: batting (.404), hits (46), RBI (33), on-base percentage (.470), and slugging percentage (.667). He was tied for third in home runs with six.

 

The Tigers aren't quite sure where Shelton will play for them -- probably after he serves a warm-up stretch at Toledo -- but they needn't worry overly about positioning Shelton when they have a full-time designated hitter here who looks like the second coming of Edgar Martinez.

 

You can reach Lynn Henning at (313) 222-2472 or lhenning@detnews.com.

Don't believe it.

 

Illitch is signing guys to field a competitive team. He was embarassed by the recent turn of events and realized he was spending too much money on the Red Wings.

 

Anyways, I believe the Tigers will change ownership after Illitch kicks the bucket, or if they win the pennant.

Not to start another thread but Nintendo now has 67% control of the Seattle Mariners.

Not to start another thread but Nintendo now has 67% control of the Seattle Mariners.

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Mariners keep sliding down into uselessness after the start of the season.

I dont think Tigers are gonna be sold. Management in Detroit looks like they're looking to compete and win.