They do not *care*. Not one bit. Every one of them, unless they're braindead, sees a pretty... average-ish franchise go for $680MM and they see dollar signs cha-chinging away. He is personally elevating the value of every other franchise in baseball with that offer. This reeks more of Selig somehow strong-arming them to not approve.
Still waiting for someone to tell me how having five teams in each division is more fair or improves anybody's chances of making it to the playoffs.
I don't know crap about baseball and I'm already making better decisions than its current commissioner. How sad is that.
doesn't seem like a lot of people stepping up to spend $700MM in today's climate on sports franchises. so i don't know if that is really a concern. this isn't the year 2000
what about cuban? does he still have an interest in owning a baseball team? They probably still frown on him though.
i promise you they care about the value of their franchises....which are set in part by relative value of other franchises...which are evidenced by sales price.
and the value of the franchise is related to the viability of the league which is hurt by situations like the mets and dodgers. they don't need another one
You mean... other than the guy who's paying $700MM on a sports franchise? It doesn't mean they get $700MM; but it very likely means they can ask for a whole lot more than they probably realized.
I'm sorry, pgabriel... you're losing me. Are you contending that they don't think he can back that offer; that his books are cooked? If so, that, I guess, has some validity - I have no idea. But assuming his financial ducks are all in a row, I can't fathom them not overwhelmingly voting yes on that deal.
i don't get why some people are so quick to dismiss this guy's issues. you don't want to end up with an owner with problems if you truly love your team
It's a power play by Selig, has leverage against the Stros and wants to take advantage. He wants that extra playoff team and in turn an extra round of playoffs which creates more revenue. The only way the players union approves it is by having two 15 team leagues and the only team he can force to move is the Stros. This is all about leverage, Crane's issues have opened the door for Selig to do this. Is Crane a boy scout, doesn't appear so, but reality is 680 million is WAY overpaying for the Stros and makes the owners investment skyrocket. The only reason he didn't get the Rangers was because of his association to Cuban.
I'm obviously not privy to the goings-ons, but I would be shocked - SHOCKED, I tells ya - if they were delaying this over... 10+ year old, seemingly settled issues. There could be a T-Rex-sized skeleton in his closet... but given that he admitted to them reading him the riot act over his divorce/custody (or whatever) - very personal facts he didn't have to bring to light... I'm guessing there's not much there. McClane bought the Astros for $103MM and they were valued at $474MM this year, prior to the sale. So the $680MM price tag is a significant bump that every owner in baseball should be salivating over.
Crane isn't who I want, but if it were any other issue, they would go ahead and deny him. They likely wouldn't have even let it get to this point. At worst you would hear reports that would have said he needed to kick in an additional amount of cash.
