I remember reading of how when we had a new stadium in place, Drayton would spend..... Now that we do, he has stuck to his Wal-Mart philosophy and has succeded to some degree and with a whole helluva lot of luck (young pitching that has stepped up big time). This article is a tad old, but really struck a cord with me: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/lopez/1499071 July 18, 2002, 12:53AM Spendthrift ways part of strategy? By JOHN P. LOPEZ Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle It's as if Drayton McLane Jr. has been reading straight from the pages of some kind of Handbook For Slashing and Selling right out of the movie Wall Street. This threatened sale of the Astros appears to be a veritable case study in masking classic corporate brutality and intent to sell -- reducing expenses while building up value -- behind a sympathetic cause. We should have seen this coming two years ago, if not five years ago. In this case, the sympathetic figure hopes to be McLane, who came forward Tuesday for the first time since his last threat to bail from what he has called "all the strife." I suppose strife is another way of saying there's a potential 200 percent return out there on McLane's initial $115 million investment in 1993 (based on Forbes magazine's estimated franchise value of $337 million), not to mention a still-new retractable roof stadium in place. McLane told the Chronicle on Tuesday he would sell the club if an equitable labor agreement is not reached, even repeating the threat when asked again. In the aftermath, McLane backtracked somewhat Wednesday, but the seed already had been planted. The threat of a sale is out there, all right, hovering over this organization and offering McLane a golden parachute if -- when? -- he decides to cash out. We must remember that while the Astros have accomplished much under McLane's watch and many moves have been done with good intentions, a person of McLane's stature and business acumen does not say such a thing off the cuff. He said he would sell and he meant to say it. He played the role of poor baseball pauper yet again, propping himself up with the same thin cane against which all baseball owners are leaning, begging for sympathy and a bit more jingle in the old tin cup. Without a better revenue-sharing plan, without a luxury tax, according to McLane, it just wouldn't be worth it to continue to own this team. It's all about parity, he said, and leveling the field. And of course baseball's financial problems are real. McLane's losses are real, too. To what degree might be open for question, depending on how much of the spreadsheet you want to believe, but no doubt McLane has seen his share of red numbers. The thing to remember, though, is that for much of the past two years, if not the past four or five, this organization has been positioning itself to be more attractive to a potential buyer. We should have been tipped off about McLane's pondering a sale when even after the greatest season in Astros history in 1998, when 50,000 fans regularly turned out to watch Randy Johnson pitch at the Astrodome, McLane began trimming high-priced players like Mike Hampton and Carl Everett. We should have known when after the 1999 season and again after the 2000 and 2001 seasons, after promising to raise payroll going into a new stadium and enjoying huge revenue increases because of the new building, this club instead continued to try to hold the line on payroll and other expenses. This year, McLane even decided to close the doors to much of batting practice, a baseball tradition, for the sake of saving a few bucks in concessionaire expenses. By most accounts, the Astros have not avoided baseball's financial troubles, but do not by any stretch rate among the worst clubs in Major League Baseball in terms of level of debt. If anything, the Astros' cutting and slashing has reached the point that it hardly matters what kind of labor agreement is reached, so long as one eventually is reached. If McLane wants to sell after a labor settlement, no matter the terms of that agreement, this club would be attractive to a potential owner. In fact, even if there is a strike and commissioner Bud Selig gets his wish to contract at least two teams, the so-called, "blood on the streets," as some have said, the Astros still would remain an attractive buy. Consider that the price baseball put on teams it targeted to contract last winter was $250 million. So with fewer teams sharing revenues after contraction, what would be the street value of a franchise like the Astros? Only four players on this club are signed to contracts beyond next season. It also is a team that plays in a new stadium, has a quality farm system, new spring training facilities on the way and is located in a metropolitan area of 4.5 million people. Thus, we should ponder not how much money McLane is or is not making, nor even how progress in labor negotiations will affect his decision to sell. Strike or no strike, equitable labor agreement or not, McLane is in a position to come out of his baseball investment just fine. We should have seen this coming years ago. Certainly, now we should not be fooled into believing that this is just a sad tale of a poor owner with good intentions forced into no option but putting up a for-sale sign. This is a business move -- a premeditated, well thought out plan to opt out and cash in. One Astros insider has said the running joke inside the organization is McLane and his top-level decision makers, "Could hear a nickel hit the snow." Now, the jingle of $300 million or more is ringing in McLane's ears. Since bamboozling this city into building a new stadium, McLane consistently has resisted saying anything close to what he said Tuesday. Sell the club? Never. But now, we might not expect any big moves until after a labor agreement is reached. But, sure, with none of his family members apparently expressing interest in taking over the business, once baseball's financial predicament is settled McLane would sell. It's all so clear now. It appears it's something he has been planning for years.
We should buy the 'Stros like Green Bay bought the Packers. Or maybe FD Khan and his brother can spring for it instead of their new sports cars.
Drayton HAS increased the payroll. The payroll increases have gone to keep Bags and Bidge in town instead of going after every Tom, Dick and Jason Giambi that comes around. The payroll is somewhere in the $65M range. The Yankees have a payroll twice that. Sounds about right given that the Yankees revenues are roughly double the Astros revenues. I hear a lot of Drayton hate out there. Please stop it until you've REALLY analyzed the relative numbers.
Here here, Refman. What a lot of people don't realize is that Drayton raised the payroll significantly in the last season of the ASTRODOME. He did it a year early because he figured he would be compensated with the increased revenue from the new park. This was the year we traded for Randy Johnson. As I recall, the payroll then was around 55 million, and now it is near 65 million, I believe. That is a good enough increase for me to not call Drayton a liar over his claim to increase spending.
"a veritable case study in masking classic corporate brutality" and "If anything, the Astros' cutting and slashing has reached the point that it hardly matters what kind of labor agreement is reached, so long as one eventually is reached." Ol' Johnny boy sure likes his hyperbole. I thought this column was a little more even-handed. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/justice/1502516 Labor situation same as it ever was By Richard Justice July 20, 2002 Drayton McLane Jr. hung a large "kick me" sign on his back last week with his vague, perhaps disingenuous remarks about selling the Astros. Citing his financial losses in baseball for about the hundredth time, he proved once more that even after almost 10 years in charge, he still doesn't get it. Billionaire baseball owners are not now and never will be objects of sympathy. He's the owner, first and foremost, of a private business. Presumably, he got into the industry with his eyes wide open. If the Astros were supposed to be something more than an expensive, high-profile hobby, he didn't do his homework. And if the financial losses have been as bad as he says, he should put the club on the market, return to Temple and wait for the phone to ring. Here's betting there would be a buyer for a franchise with a relatively low payroll, a terrific ballpark, a tremendous core group of players and perhaps the best player development staff in the game. Here's also betting McLane does not want to sell, that he never wanted to sell and that in his zeal to rally sympathy for his plight, his mouth wrote checks he had no intention of cashing. He may not like losing money, but he clearly loves the celebrity that goes with being a baseball owner. More than one of his peers has noticed he has positioned himself in a seat at Minute Maid Park designed for maximum television exposure. Let's also be fair about McLane's nine years as owner. He has been tremendous for baseball in Houston, possibly the best sports owner this city has ever had. He's the reason we have one of the best ballparks in baseball. Yes, public funding played a large role in its construction, but it was McLane's tireless lobbying that got the money. Without McLane, there would be no Minute Maid Park, and without Minute Maid Park, there might be no Astros. There would be no Jeff Bagwell, no Milo Hamilton, no nothing. For the average sportswriter, this wouldn't be a problem, because most of us could leave sports on a Monday and be pulling down millions in medicine, law or technology by the end of the week. It's the radio talk show guys who would be hurt. Let's face it; they're not capable of doing much else. McLane is also the guy who hired brilliant general manager Gerry Hunsicker. Ask people inside the industry what makes the Astros special, and they begin by praising Hunsicker and the staff he constructed, from David Lakey and Tim Purpura to Paul Ricciarini, Pat Murphy and many others. They, quite simply, are the best and the brightest. It's because of them that the Astros have one of the game's most productive minor-league systems, the reason they have Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt, the reason they stay competitive despite being forced to do their free-agent shopping in baseball's bargain basement bin. McLane frequently frustrates and annoys his employees with his penchant for long meetings and cliché-filled pep talks, but no matter how long the meetings go or how silly the talks, one of his enduring legacies as an owner will be the hiring of Hunsicker. So while he's being ridiculed for his whining about money, let's not forget that those four division championship flags wouldn't be hanging in left field without Drayton McLane. Sure, he's an easy and inviting target. His constant complaining about financial losses is a tired, tired act, especially since he's unwilling to offer anything more than vague proof. If his finances are as desperate as he says they are, he should open the books once and for all. And if he feels he has to constantly plead for a new collective bargaining agreement, at least back up those pleas with some facts. Last week, when I asked him how the revenue-sharing plan the owners have proposed would impact the Astros, his answer was a stammering: "Uh, I don't know." Excuse me? You preach for months about the unfairness of the system, you say you've got a plan that would fix everything, and then you don't even know the details? Yet amid the constant reminders that he's a man of "integrity" and the hokey country-boy routine, McLane has been the right person to lead the Astros. Besides, who's to say the country boy routine lacks sincerity? Sure, he has a private jet and a suite at the Four Seasons, but maybe he serves beans and cornbread on flights. Don't be too hard on McLane, who wasn't the only one to spend part of the week trying to pry his foot from his mouth. Commissioner Bud Selig recently lifted a gag order from owners because he wanted a stream of headlines about the coming financial Armageddon. He wanted them to each articulate how those fat-cat players had ruined this wonderful game and how the commissioner had a plan to fix all of it. Instead, Selig got chaos. Former Astros manager Larry Dierker once said his job was "like herding a bunch of housecats." So it is with the owners. Selig lifts the gag owner, and Cleveland Indians owner Larry Dolan blasts Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, saying he's the reason things got so screwed up. Dolan apparently didn't get the memo about blaming the players. (Funny, but Dolan didn't complain two years ago when Steinbrenner agreed to take David Justice's $7 million contract off his hands.) See why owners have a credibility problem? At least last week, they had company. In the most incredible comments of the week, Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra said he had to support the union because he had a little brother who might want to play in the big leagues someday and he didn't want the poor kid to be treated unfairly. What's he worried about? That more revenue sharing will lead to sweatshop conditions? As the rhetoric gets a bit hotter and a likely work stoppage a bit closer, these guys are becoming more and more entertaining. Last week, we were reminded how much they deserve one another. Same as it ever was -- the owners can't get their facts straight, and the players don't live in the real world. All in all, it was pretty entertaining stuff. If they didn't exist, we'd have to make 'em up, and think how long that would take.
McLane is full of crap. First Bud Adams complains about how sorry the Astrodome is and Drayton says...."It is a great place to play" then 2 years after the Oilers leave, Drayton has the same complaint about the Astrodome. Open up the books Drayton, let's see how much income you get that is not directly baseball related. How much do you get from renting out Minute maid stadium, or parking or other ancillary income that is not on the books of the Astros. The players are certainly greedy, but no more then the owners. Drayton is full of **** DaDakota
Amen DaDakota. I'm not so concerned with payroll, as much as improving the team, which usually goes hand in hand with a higher payroll. Did you know that the last better than average free agent the Astros have signed over the last 10 years was Doug Drabek and Greg Swindell? I will not count Caminiti from 99. I really loved it how Drayton slashed payroll right before we moved into Enron Field (Everett and Hampton trades). Who was the last starting pitcher we've resigned? Shane Reynolds... We let Kile, Johnson, and Hampton walk, yet we re-sign the least talented of them all/cheapest in Reynolds (Hampton at the time was a better pitcher). I'm sick and tired of Drayton's penny pinching ways.
I really loved it how Drayton slashed payroll right before we moved into Enron Field (Everett and Hampton trades). Of course, you ignore the fact that he rocketed up payroll the 2 years previous to that, knowing that the team would move into Enron... Who was the last starting pitcher we've resigned? Shane Reynolds... Jose Lima. We let Kile, Johnson, and Hampton walk, yet we re-sign the least talented of them all/cheapest in Reynolds (Hampton at the time was a better pitcher). No, we got Dotel out of Hampton. We traded him at the peak of his career. All things considered, that move worked out quite well.
D@mmit Major! You just don't get it do you. Think of how awesome the 'Stros would be if they had Hampton anchoring the rotation, Moises & Carl E. in the OF, and Castilla at 3rd.
No Buck...apparently YOU don't get it. Hampton is having a crappy year. Carl Everett hasn't been worth a damn since he left Houston, and Alou is hitting .230 or less. Oh yeah...GREAT lineup. As for Kile...we made a VERY competitive offer to him. The Rockies made a deal that was $1M a year better and he signed it without allowing us to counter. Randy Johnson was going to Phoenix regardless. He made that known from the get go. We made him a decent offer of $11M a year, but he wanted to be in Phoenix in his offseason home, living with his wife and kids rather than in apartments during homestands. BOTH of those were competitive offers that just didn't work out. That was NOT penny pinching. either you haven't REALLY paid attention and are jumping to conclusions or you're just out for any reason to twist the facts and bash Drayton. Which is it?
