The Atlanta Braves

#25,528
#25,528
GAVol said:
I didn't like the Markakis move in light of what we thought the budget was. At the same time, can't you explain some of this as a byproduct of having so many young, cheap players?
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It's not that they haven't signed anybody. If Anthopolos had said "We haven't found any agreement that we think offers good value" or even "The budget is not as high this year as we expected," then I'd merely be garden-variety angry. (And unsurprised.) What has me in a lather is McGuirk's cheerful description of this as a long-term project to jack up profitability first, and then eventually put that money back into the team. When the window is open NOW.

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Liberty reported significant revenue increases for 2018. Fans see that and expectedly want you to invest in players.

McGuirk: The last thing you can do is follow our bouncing ball of economics, with debt. It costs a lot to build this edifice.

I totally get that this is a business. But when you have a team, stadium and commercial real estate ventures so intertwined, isn’t there a danger of the baseball product being tied to loans and a development’s bottom line?

McGuirk: It’s all designed to produce profitability that will go into our team, over and above, as we pay off the debt and pay off the principal. I wouldn’t be doing it unless I thought it was going to jettison us from that small middle-market team to high middle-market team to even potentially something bigger. I think it’s terrific for the Atlanta Braves. I couldn’t be more optimistic.
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"It costs a lot to build this edifice." GMAFB. You left a fully paid-for stadium!

Really wish one of them would have asked that SOB why it's more important to pay the debt off early than it is to find a good outfielder for 2019.
 
#25,530
#25,530
So an angle to this I hadn’t thought about:

The Braves just cleaned out their scouting staff. Any chance they want to let the new guys see what we have in the system before making any deals?

I’m grasping for straws here.
 
#25,531
#25,531
Vercingetorix said:
It's not that they haven't signed anybody. If Anthopolos had said "We haven't found any agreement that we think offers good value" or even "The budget is not as high this year as we expected," then I'd merely be garden-variety angry. (And unsurprised.) What has me in a lather is McGuirk's cheerful description of this as a long-term project to jack up profitability first, and then eventually put that money back into the team. When the window is open NOW.



"It costs a lot to build this edifice." GMAFB. You left a fully paid-for stadium!

Really wish one of them would have asked that SOB why it's more important to pay the debt off early than it is to find a good outfielder for 2019.
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I thought Shultz and O'Brien did a good job except for not pushing on that question. Why in the age of cheap money and inreased revenue is it so important to clear debt off the books? Are they about to be for sale?
 
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#25,532
#25,532
GAVol said:
I thought Shultz and O'Brien did a good job except for not pushing on that question. Why in the age of cheap money and inreased revenue is it so important to clear debt off the books? Are they about to be for sale?
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That's the only thing that makes sense, right? Liberty's thinking about selling, or at least wants the flexibility to, and therefore they want to clear as much debt as possible. Which would be great!! except that the championship window is opening right now, and who knows where it would be by the time a new owner came in. Unfortunately that seems to be something that management isn't thinking about at all.
 
#25,537
#25,537
Didn't he say that the team would indeed be "Very Active" or something like that about this time last year?

When asked about the team spending going into this off season free agent market knowing there would be big names available? The the team would have money to spend?

 
#25,539
#25,539
From a corporate position, I imagine higher payroll in the face of a strike is increased risk. Got to pay off that debt somehow.
 
#25,545
#25,545
CagleMtnVol said:
Can anyone here with an Athletic subscription summarize?

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Braves claim they’re willing to spend money if it makes sense, but right now they’re happy with the team as is. Focused on paying down stadium debt (!) and making the Battery profitable. Eventually after profitability goes up payroll might increase significantly. There’s nothing to worry about because Terry McGuirk is a master of business.
 
#25,546
#25,546
Vercingetorix said:
Braves claim they’re willing to spend money if it makes sense, but right now they’re happy with the team as is. Focused on paying down stadium debt (!) and making the Battery profitable. Eventually after profitability goes up payroll might increase significantly. There’s nothing to worry about because Terry McGuirk is a master of business.
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Honestly don’t think they ever intended to spent a lot of money this offseason. I believe the original plan was to pay off the debt. What screw them was the team being a year or two ahead of schedule, I think AA saying we’ll have money to spend was to satisfy the fans but thinking the team would faulter down the stretch but the opposite happened.
 
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