That's all true... but the key is that they've never lost money at the operating level before. The fact that Steinbrenner hasn't won since 2000, with the motto of signing every big FA that's out there is definitely changing the way they do business. This year, they decided to finally hold on to some of their prospects, and give them a chance out there... instead of trading them away for marginal role players (albeit, they still picked up Matt Lawton). I still feel that they don't have the starting pitching depth to make a serious run... but at least they finally realize that their "dynasty" probably had more to do with spectacular home-grown talent, and the addition of a few key (not neccesarily big-name, minus Clemens) free agents... not just simply "buying" a championship.
No, it's not that easy. The investor bases in the two entities are not identical, and as such, would not allow for that type of loss allocation. Plus, the two entities have to be audited each year for the benefit of their lenders, so this type of stuff would never be signed off on.
Yeah, he inked Wagner to that deal, then had buyer's remorse and didn't want to pay it. He didn't want to take the budget over $72mm that offseason (because he was frugal) and Wagner's contract was a way to free up money. He traded him for Astacio (sucks), Duckworth (sucks) and Bucholtz (hasn't even seen the pro's). That was a salary dumping move, even someone like you could agree with that. Dumped salary. Period. That's why Drayton was so focused on not including a no-trade clause in Beltran's contract. He was willing to sign him, but not willing to keep the whole contract. That way, it creates the appearance to the fans that he's willing to pay the full contract, only to pull out and make a salary-dumping trade a year or two later. Boras called his bluff and clowned him. The only people that can't recognize this move is a Drayton-homer like yourself. You are naive. Wagner criticized McLane for being cheap (why would he do that???? duh) which pissed McLane off and he traded him. Of course, if Drayton weren't cheap, maybe he would have taken on some salary from the Phillies in that trade. Oops. Kinda flies in your face doesn't it? Yup.
Cross two more names of the list Timmy. Reggie Sanders is going sign with the Kansas City Royals and Rondell White with the Twins. http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5189218 http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5188214
If you believe that Wagner would've been traded had he not made those comments, you are the one that's clueless. He was a fan favorite and there had been no rumors of any salary-cutting moves that offseason. When Wagner opened his mouth and railed on the franchise, Drayton had no choice. Who we got is irrelevant. He was moved for making disparaging remarks about the franchise, pure and simple. If you were a boss and one of your employees trashed the organization and the boss, would you keep them around? Well, I'm guessing you'd have to or you wouldn't have any employees.
Damn, that sucks about White. Didn't mind Sanders. Obviously, no one really wanted him because he ended up signing with possibly the worst team in the league. What's the word on Dunn? Is he staying in Cincy now that Casey is gone? Any rumors on that front?
The YES network turns a profit over and above what it pays to the Yanks for TC rights. The Yankees have a new stadium on the horizon which will result in increased revenue. The team is currently valued at 950 million, which means that they've netted 940 mil in value since Steinbrenner purchased them 30 years ago. I don't believe that the team loses money, regardless of their inflated spending levels.
For the price, I'd rather have Chris Burke or Mike Lamb in LF than either of those guys. How often would they be healthy?
Well, if Bagwell is expected back as that other article indicates, then cross people like Rondell White off the list. That puts Berkman in LF. So if you're going to improve RF, it better be someone better than Lane, and White isn't. I think we're looking at a substantial upgrade (Abreu, Manny, etc) or maybe none at all, unfortunately. There's not a lot that I know of that's available in that "star, but not superstar" range.
That's a good point. The Bagwell factor is really playing into a lot of this and it's something that many are missing when b****ing about the lack of moves. The comments made by McLane the last couple of days have really hinted at us either adding a superstar or no one at all. If they knew Bagwell was done, I'm guessing White or Nomar would be an Astro right now. I'm frustrated just because I have such low expectations for Bagwell. I'm normally very optimistic about these kinds of things, so maybe I'm just trying not to get my hopes up too high for seeing my favorite player ever be productive for one more go round.
No rumors? Dude, you are clueless. Why do you think Wagner made those remarks in the first place??? There were *rampant* rumors about trying to free up money that offseason and Wagner and Hidalgo were prime candidates for being shipped out. You must have forgotten all about that. Oops. Hidalgo's contract was another contract that Drayton shipped out before paying in full. The lack of a no-trade clause is Drayton's secret PR weapon against naive fans like yourself. Look like you aren't cheap, then dump their salary a year or two later. That Wagner trade has been a total flop thus far. Think we could have used an extra reliever like Wagner against the Cardinals in 2004? Uh, yeah. How about another arm in this year's postseason? Yes. Remind me who lost Game 3 of the WS? Oh yeah, Astacio. But we saved money!
Well yeah, we did but we were very lucky that one of them signed for a huge hometown discount and then the other reversed his decision to go into retirement. It was widely believed that the plan was to reduce salary and rebuild that off season but when there was a chance to get Pettite all that changed. I honestly believe that Wagner would have been traded even if he had not made those comments. His comments were made as they reflected an insider's well informed opinion that the Astros had no major desire/plans to pay the price to acquire the talented players needed to get to the next level. This was true at the time however when Pettite/Clemens fell into our laps McLane acted like he was planning to build a championship team all along. People are re-writing history a little bit I think!
I don't have high hopes for him, and if he comes back and sucks, we're going to be screwed. That said, if he comes back and is even the 2004 Bagwell (his worst full season), that's a huge upgrade in the lineup. You'd be replacing Burke with Bagwell, essentially - or, if you move Burke to SS, you'd be replacing Everett with Bagwell. That's as big a move as Lane -> Manny or Abreu. You'd basically be getting a big extra bat at $0 additional cost. Of course, this assumes he's able to perform at his 2004 level, which is a huge questionmark at this point.
Of course, that's everyone's opinion every year with Scrooge McLane, and it never turns out to be true. In the last 10 years, we've never had a rebuilding year on this team. Except that it wasn't ever true. Wagner was complaining that we never added big players because that one year (2003), we didn't get anyone at the deadline because no bats were available and we missed the playoffs by a game or two (never mind that he blew a save or two during the last week of the season). It ignores that every other year, we did get someone as needed. He was widely called an idiot when he made those remarks. In fact, just a year earlier, we had gone out and gotten Jeff Kent. Everyone else on the team accepted that they had the players and just didn't do their jobs.
Exactly. Good luck convincing the apologists, though. Drayton could trade the entire team for the West U little league all-stars and you'd still have the apologists saying that it's better than Larry Bigbie and Matt Lawton.
The thing I like about Bagwell being back is that, despite his physical limitations now, pitchers still treat him like the huge power threat that he once was. That coupled with Bagwell's excellent patience at the plate means that even if Bagwell can't get close to what he once was, he will at the least provide some base traffic, which will still help. He may not be our #3 hitter anymore...or even 4 or 5 for that matter, but he can still be productive. It was nice seeing a guy other than Berkman or Ensberg draw walks last season when Bagwell made it back and could PH.
