The WTF are the Dodgers Doing Thread

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I bet they all still call Joe "daddy" when they speak to him.

[davell]

By the way, the most damning thing in that article I posted, is that there is a 175 million dollar payment due in October. Whether they pay it, or finance it seems very likely to affect our 2014 payroll to me.

[Splendid Splinter]

and if the payroll drops that low, then i'll really start to worry about what happens with epstein and hoyer. i'd like to see them here long term, but i assume they didn't come to the cubs to see payroll slashed in half and start operating as a small market team. if they're looking at payrolls in the area of $75-90m for the next 2-3 years, i suspect that epstein and hoyer start looking to make a move out of town as soon as possible.

The Cubs are the most profitable team in basesball if you believe that [expletive] article.

Considering the spokesperson for the Cubs didn't deny it, maybe you should believe it.

Even more reason to be frustrated with the ownership. [expletive] doesn't add up.

 

I don't want to get into a lengthy debate here, but I gotta ask... Do you own a business? If not, then I can see why you think "[expletive] doesn't add up" and being frustrated with the ownership.

[jersey cubs fan]

I mean, how many years is he given a pass because it sure would be fun to own a baseball team?

 

i suppose i'm in the same boat as TT (above). if they're spending like $100-105m and continuing to pour money into the draft, international free agency, upgrading wrigley and other facilities, etc, i'm okay with that.

 

but they aren't really "pouring" money into the draft and intl free agency. It may be more than most other teams are currently spending under the new system, but it isn't a huge amount that makes up for a middling payroll.

 

Upgrading Wrigley is a completely different topic.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I mean, how many years is he given a pass because it sure would be fun to own a baseball team?

 

i suppose i'm in the same boat as TT (above). if they're spending like $100-105m and continuing to pour money into the draft, international free agency, upgrading wrigley and other facilities, etc, i'm okay with that.

 

but they aren't really "pouring" money into the draft and intl free agency. It may be more than most other teams are currently spending under the new system, but it isn't a huge amount that makes up for a middling payroll.

 

Upgrading Wrigley is a completely different topic.

 

Under the new system, we paid about the same this year as we did in 2011, and we'l be paying a ton less next year.

[jersey cubs fan]

I bet they all still call Joe "daddy" when they speak to him.

 

Sounds more like a "Father" to me.

[Guest]

and if the payroll drops that low, then i'll really start to worry about what happens with epstein and hoyer. i'd like to see them here long term, but i assume they didn't come to the cubs to see payroll slashed in half and start operating as a small market team. if they're looking at payrolls in the area of $75-90m for the next 2-3 years, i suspect that epstein and hoyer start looking to make a move out of town as soon as possible.

The Cubs are the most profitable team in basesball if you believe that [expletive] article.

Considering the spokesperson for the Cubs didn't deny it, maybe you should believe it.

Even more reason to be frustrated with the ownership. [expletive] doesn't add up.

 

I don't want to get into a lengthy debate here, but I gotta ask... Do you own a business? If not, then I can see why you think "[expletive] doesn't add up" and being frustrated with the ownership.

Yes I own a very successful and profitable private practice. Profit is what you have left after you pay your bills.

[davell]

I bet they all still call Joe "daddy" when they speak to him.

 

Sounds more like a "Father" to me.

I thought I nailed it with Papa.

[davell]

I mean, how many years is he given a pass because it sure would be fun to own a baseball team?

 

i suppose i'm in the same boat as TT (above). if they're spending like $100-105m and continuing to pour money into the draft, international free agency, upgrading wrigley and other facilities, etc, i'm okay with that.

 

but they aren't really "pouring" money into the draft and intl free agency. It may be more than most other teams are currently spending under the new system, but it isn't a huge amount that makes up for a middling payroll.

 

Upgrading Wrigley is a completely different topic.

Yeah, if you suck, you have a bigger allotment to spend. Basically everyone spends their entire draft budget. We differentiate by spending our overage as well, but the overage and penalty was around a mill total. IFA was different this year, as they added a mill to their pool and then still went 2.5ish over. So that's an extra 6 mill spent this year, but it's not something that can be done but every other year and that's if a draft doesn't screw that up. At any rate, they've spent an extra 7 mill this year but they shredded 13 mill in mid season trades. My hope is we sign a few pop up IFA's to balance those numbers completely out.

[SouthSideRyan]

Unfortunately, I think it adds up perfectly. Papa Joe is only putting so much into this and is making his kids "earn" the rest. The debt structure benefits both Zell and Ricketts. The kids sold Papa that it was a solid investment and would eventually pay for itself. Thinking a new TV deal and renovation money would do it. Naively thinking the renovation money would already be in place, in all likelihood. So, for now, we're in limbo. Payroll drops because attendance is dropping and won't change until either A) the team gets good because of young guys coming through earlier than expected or B) we get added revenue from the renovations that can be put back into the on-field product. Until then, Papa Joe counts his money and hopes his kids are enjoying their cool, new toy.

 

All of this.

 

I really hate how much this seems to add up.

 

What doesn't add up is why Theo Epstein would sign up for this [expletive] sandwich

[SouthSideRyan]

I bet they all still call Joe "daddy" when they speak to him.

 

Sounds more like a "Father" to me.

I thought I nailed it with Papa.

 

Nah goony's right, they shed their hillbilly roots, and have gone full-on WASP

[SouthSideRyan]

I mean, how many years is he given a pass because it sure would be fun to own a baseball team?

 

i suppose i'm in the same boat as TT (above). if they're spending like $100-105m and continuing to pour money into the draft, international free agency, upgrading wrigley and other facilities, etc, i'm okay with that.

 

but they aren't really "pouring" money into the draft and intl free agency. It may be more than most other teams are currently spending under the new system, but it isn't a huge amount that makes up for a middling payroll.

 

Upgrading Wrigley is a completely different topic.

Yeah, if you suck, you have a bigger allotment to spend. Basically everyone spends their entire draft budget. We differentiate by spending our overage as well, but the overage and penalty was around a mill total. IFA was different this year, as they added a mill to their pool and then still went 2.5ish over. So that's an extra 6 mill spent this year, but it's not something that can be done but every other year and that's if a draft doesn't screw that up. At any rate, they've spent an extra 7 mill this year but they shredded 13 mill in mid season trades. My hope is we sign a few pop up IFA's to balance those numbers completely out.

 

And we're going to be one of the lower-spending teams in IFA next year because of the penalites from this year.

[davell]

I think Theo misjudged Chicago politics, probably believed Ricketts that the renovations would move quicker. The new CBA definitely caught him by surprise. Add in a big pay bump, a new title, being burnt out in Boston, hating Lucchino, and the allure of breaking another curse- I think it was pretty easy for him to convince himself the monetary issues would work themselves out.

[XZero771679666304]

Unfortunately, I think it adds up perfectly. Papa Joe is only putting so much into this and is making his kids "earn" the rest. The debt structure benefits both Zell and Ricketts. The kids sold Papa that it was a solid investment and would eventually pay for itself. Thinking a new TV deal and renovation money would do it. Naively thinking the renovation money would already be in place, in all likelihood. So, for now, we're in limbo. Payroll drops because attendance is dropping and won't change until either A) the team gets good because of young guys coming through earlier than expected or B) we get added revenue from the renovations that can be put back into the on-field product. Until then, Papa Joe counts his money and hopes his kids are enjoying their cool, new toy.

 

All of this.

 

I really hate how much this seems to add up.

 

What doesn't add up is why Theo Epstein would sign up for this [expletive] sandwich

 

It's quite possible that this isn't what he signed on for (or thought he signed on for).

Edited September 11, 2013 by XZero77

[davell]

We'll still have the same amount of IFA money, just capped at a max of 250,000 per player. I can see them loading up on a ton of 150-250k pitchers. Quantity approach the year after quality approach. With 16 year olds, I'm fine with this.

[jersey cubs fan]

We'll still have the same amount of IFA money, just capped at a max of 250,000 per player. I can see them loading up on a ton of 150-250k pitchers. Quantity approach the year after quality approach. With 16 year olds, I'm fine with this.

 

I think they will try to trade a lot of cap space.

[davell]

We'll still have the same amount of IFA money, just capped at a max of 250,000 per player. I can see them loading up on a ton of 150-250k pitchers. Quantity approach the year after quality approach. With 16 year olds, I'm fine with this.

 

I think they will try to trade a lot of cap space.

Yeah, that's possible too.

[SouthSideRyan]

Maybe we can get Ron Torreyes back

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Unfortunately, I think it adds up perfectly. Papa Joe is only putting so much into this and is making his kids "earn" the rest. The debt structure benefits both Zell and Ricketts. The kids sold Papa that it was a solid investment and would eventually pay for itself. Thinking a new TV deal and renovation money would do it. Naively thinking the renovation money would already be in place, in all likelihood. So, for now, we're in limbo. Payroll drops because attendance is dropping and won't change until either A) the team gets good because of young guys coming through earlier than expected or B) we get added revenue from the renovations that can be put back into the on-field product. Until then, Papa Joe counts his money and hopes his kids are enjoying their cool, new toy.

 

All of this.

 

I really hate how much this seems to add up.

 

What doesn't add up is why Theo Epstein would sign up for this [expletive] sandwich

 

It's quite possible that this isn't what he signed on for (or thought he signed on for).

 

Or he was enticed by a promise that he could finally try building a team with only home-grown players.

[Clem Fandango]

I think Theo misjudged Chicago politics, probably believed Ricketts that the renovations would move quicker. The new CBA definitely caught him by surprise. Add in a big pay bump, a new title, being burnt out in Boston, hating Lucchino, and the allure of breaking another curse- I think it was pretty easy for him to convince himself the monetary issues would work themselves out.

 

He also mentioned how he always thought it would be great to build a championship team from completely homegrown talent in Boston, and I think he saw the opportunity to do that in Chicago with a team that desperately needed a rebuilding process. The CBA made things more difficult for him. And the financial situation is probably a stick in the bicycle spokes of their budgetary desires, but honestly I think he loves the challenge.

[Guest]

Unfortunately, I think it adds up perfectly. Papa Joe is only putting so much into this and is making his kids "earn" the rest. The debt structure benefits both Zell and Ricketts. The kids sold Papa that it was a solid investment and would eventually pay for itself. Thinking a new TV deal and renovation money would do it. Naively thinking the renovation money would already be in place, in all likelihood. So, for now, we're in limbo. Payroll drops because attendance is dropping and won't change until either A) the team gets good because of young guys coming through earlier than expected or B) we get added revenue from the renovations that can be put back into the on-field product. Until then, Papa Joe counts his money and hopes his kids are enjoying their cool, new toy.

 

All of this.

 

I really hate how much this seems to add up.

 

What doesn't add up is why Theo Epstein would sign up for this [expletive] sandwich

 

instead of crying about the dodgers, he probably realized that the cubs still have an above average payroll, and he'd be getting almost a completely clean slate to fill it out with players he wants to.

[TruffleShuffle]

I think Theo misjudged Chicago politics, probably believed Ricketts that the renovations would move quicker. The new CBA definitely caught him by surprise. Add in a big pay bump, a new title, being burnt out in Boston, hating Lucchino, and the allure of breaking another curse- I think it was pretty easy for him to convince himself the monetary issues would work themselves out.

 

He also mentioned how he always thought it would be great to build a championship team from completely homegrown talent in Boston, and I think he saw the opportunity to do that in Chicago with a team that desperately needed a rebuilding process. The CBA made things more difficult for him. And the financial situation is probably a stick in the bicycle spokes of their budgetary desires, but honestly I think he loves the challenge.

 

theo is a bright guy; i'm sure he knows that no team wins purely on homegrown talent. even if most of the core is homegrown, there are bound to be some good players and complementary players who are brought in as free agents.

 

i'm not going to bother wringing my hands about a $75m payroll until it actually happens. if it does, hopefully the chicago media will turn on ricketts and rake him over the coals.

[SouthSideRyan]

Unfortunately, I think it adds up perfectly. Papa Joe is only putting so much into this and is making his kids "earn" the rest. The debt structure benefits both Zell and Ricketts. The kids sold Papa that it was a solid investment and would eventually pay for itself. Thinking a new TV deal and renovation money would do it. Naively thinking the renovation money would already be in place, in all likelihood. So, for now, we're in limbo. Payroll drops because attendance is dropping and won't change until either A) the team gets good because of young guys coming through earlier than expected or B) we get added revenue from the renovations that can be put back into the on-field product. Until then, Papa Joe counts his money and hopes his kids are enjoying their cool, new toy.

 

All of this.

 

I really hate how much this seems to add up.

 

What doesn't add up is why Theo Epstein would sign up for this [expletive] sandwich

 

instead of crying about the dodgers, he probably realized that the cubs still have an above average payroll, and he'd be getting almost a completely clean slate to fill it out with players he wants to.

 

I mean...I guess 14th in MLB is above average.

[jersey cubs fan]

I mean...I guess 14th in MLB is above average.

 

Not necessarily.

[Guest]

I mean...I guess 14th in MLB is above average.

 

Not necessarily.

It's above median, though!