The league would request that he drop his interest in the Golden Nugget first. Doubt Tillman would be willing.
Sheesh...Let me be way more specific than was necessary. I thought it would have been obvious that something as complex as selling a major league baseball team would involve lawyers, accountants, MLB, etc. etc. No one outside those involved with the potential deal knew and there were no leaks at the time. It would have remained private had Drayton not gone public with it. It's quite clear he's looking for a way to sell the team without actually hanging a "For Sale" sign on the Union Station offices. Same with this deal. Whether it goes any further or not isn't important. Drayton has sent the signals that he's much more willing to listen to offers for the team than he did before.
Again, the evidence doesn't fit your contention. There are hundreds of people who would have known about the potential deal, and all it takes is one person to mention it around a reporter for it to become public, intentionally or just by accident. There's nothing here to suggest that it was Drayton that went public here. (there's nothing to suggest otherwise either)
Regardless of the good years the Astros had in the first 10 years of his ownership, it is plain the Drayton has been a disinterested owner in recent years, only focused on ticket sales. That he's courting offers confirms it. And that's fine. It's for the best that he sell if we're going to continue down this path. That said, there's no promise at all that the new ownership will be any better, and they could be worse. "NY Investor" isn't music to my ears.
Why is it clear that he's been disinterested? I think the fact that he (foolishly) refuses to accept rebuilding is a sign of the opposite. He wants to win pretty badly in my mind.
And still, to my knowledge, sitting behind homeplate nearly every game; I must admit I am confused by the disinterested statement.
No, Drayton's top priority has been selling tickets and the monetary appreciation of our franchise. When he's forced into making a high dollar move he will, but only if he feels like he has no other choice. In the meantime Drayton whines about how much money he's losing.When HUN finally broke his chains and escaped, Drayton was done. He had refused to grow the organization organically through the signing of draft picks. I mean, if DM is going to try to hold the line by dealing all our prospects at least sign our picks. It was very predictable that he would hand over the husk when satiated. Adios Mr.PR - You do a lot of good out there in the community, but at the end of the day, you're a businessman(an incredible one)....with a big ego..who can't keep his fingers out of the pie. If you would have let Hunsicker do his job his way we would have probably been to several WS AND had more to work with now.
You're right, there was nothing to suggest that Drayton went public...well, except this little article in a small local newspaper... McLane admits he nearly sold Astros in 2008 It went over a year before there was any general public knowledge. If someone was going to talk, it likely would have happened before this article.
It's so entertaining when people speak so dogmatically and factually about things concerning which they have no clue.
Alright a buddy of mine here at work heard on the radio this morning that Marc Cuban was interested in the Astros? I'm assuming because he lost out in the Cubs franchise. I wouldn't be so against Cuban owning the Astros.. Cuban would and will spend if he gets a chance at the right pieces.. What do you guys think?
Cuban would be awesome but I don't think theres anyway he becomes the owner of a baseball franchise. Every other owner in the league would vote against him. The typical Baseball owner is much different than a basketball owner.
It's just my opinion. I think his refusal to rebuild has more to do with his unwillingness to sell his big names. I think he trusts in a 'stars sell tickets' philosophy and doesn't give a damn about the actual results on the field (so long as he's turning an acceptable profit). It's fine when it leads to the Clemens/Petite era. It's ruinous when it leads to holding on to the Berkman/Lee era too long and bringing in Tejada on top of it. It's the polar opposite of what we're seeing with the Morey Rockets. And the fact that he's courting buyers cements that he's more concerned about cashing out than he is about operating a baseball team.
Well God forbid to try to turn a profit. It is, after all, a business. If the Yankees did not have all that cash from the YES deal, they wouldn't be spending like a drunken sailor either. Even the Yankees have stated that they are at their payroll limit. There are real world concerns at play, and most of them are dollars. He ALWAYS has a choice. Your entire premise here is flawed. I don't think there is any doubt that he lost money when this team was in the Dome. You have also offered no evidence that he is making a ton of money now. Payroll for this team was a record $107M last year. That hardly seems cheap. He made a deal with Selig to not pay "above slot" for drafted players. While dumb, he proved to be a man of his word. Character assassination with NO PROOF. What is your problem? Did Drayton's kid beat you up or something? If you were writing those kinds of checks, you'd have your fingers in the pie too.
the guy is a BILLIONAIRE. call me crazy, but there is something innately wrong with you if you are a billionaire and own a professional sports franchise with investment as your #1 priority, eschewing the hundreds of thousands of die hard fans love of the team for your own selfish concerns of seeing a small uptick in your fortune.
You are crazy. You do not get to be a billionaire by operating your businesses at a loss. None of the team owners in the league will agree to operate at a loss. This just in...they are all wealthy. They could all afford to lose some money on that venture. They do not do so because it would be STUPID to do so. If you honestly believe that a team owner should lose money on a team to have a winner, you should probably get in touch with this little place called reality. A baseball team is a business like any other to these guys. You should no more expect them to lose money on that venture than you would for them to lose money on any other business interest they own.
