BigbadB

I'm still confused by that one, as well. You have an everyday dependable guy who can play just about any position, and you essentially replace him with a more expensive RF who you know you can count on for at least 20 games in the outfield. I understand that DeRosa won't be as good as he was last year. However, he was a nice insurance policy in the event Bradley is in the doctor's office more often than he is on the field. Anything close to what DeRosa did last year would have made him a Type A that someone would have given up the picks to sign. That trade is just.......weird.

I still believe the trade will happen. But, I am starting to believe it will be closer to opening day. I have a whole bunch of my own theories that make a little bit of sense about why this is taking so long. 1. Moorad did purchase the team, but he isn't actually going to assume control of the team for 4 years. My theory to this is that Moorad was brought in now because Moores needed shut up money for his wife. She is getting half of his worth when the divorce becomes final. Moorads money essentially buys out her half and Moores gets to keep his half for the next 4 years. This could also explain why the sale went so smoothly and quickly. 2. Season ticket sales. When Peavy gets traded, season ticket sales will drop dramatically. The Hoffman and Greene deals alone don't sound like fire sale in the eyes of Padres fans. Hoffman wasn't nearly as loved as he has been in the past. He's blown a lot of saves over the last few years. Greene wasn't loved so much anymore, either. Peavy and Adrian Gonzalez are the only two guys who Padres fans view as top notch talent. Keeping them gives them a bit of hope. The earlier in the offseason Peavy gets traded, the harder the hit will be to season ticket sales. 3. Moores set an '09 budget of 40m, and Towers had only one objective this offseason, and that was to meet that requirement. I don't think either Towers or Alderson, or even Moores, for that matter, really want to trade Peavy. It's just that they are forced to do so to meet the budget requirement on team payroll. 4. I've been convinced that a deal was in place even as far back as December. I'm sure it wasn't set in stone, but San Diego is forced to satisfy Peavy in where he is willing to be traded, and Chicago is willing to trade the value San Diego wants to make it happen. 5. Everything Hendry has done this offseason appears as though he had Peavy in mind. It's just too coincidental that all these moves were made in hopes that he can renew trade talks with San Diego. I just can't imagine any GM making all these moves unless he already had some sort of agreement with the opposing GM to make a trade for Peavy. It would be a horrible way to do your job.

I included all of that in my post. Although, the luxury boxes was calculated into the average cost of a ticket. Maybe I'm way off on the average cost of a ticket? Clearly, Cubs brass feel like they can afford a $140m salary, so it must workout in the long run. But, I would have to imagine that's at the very top end of what they can afford and still turn a profit.

My point is that at some point, the average fan (family) can't afford to go to games as often, which in turn decreases demand. I'm curious how this team actually turns a profit with the payroll where it is now. I'd be awful nervous to spend 900m for a team during this economic envirnonment. Just doing some quick math, with 40,000 people going through the turnstyles at an average of $40 a ticket for 81 games, I calculate a little more than 129m in revenue. Sure, there are other means of income, and I'm probably not privvy to most, like merchandising. But, there are tons of other expenses in running a major league baseball franchise as well, like staffing, travel, equipment, meds, player per diems, taxes, farm systems, payroll/accounting, insurance, etc.... Is $40 a ticket way below the average price for a ticket to Wrigley? What other means of income do they generate outside of ticket sales? Vending services, parking, rooftops, advertising, merchandising, tv? If $40 a ticket is about the average cost of a ticket, I would hate to have a team payroll that is more than what tickets generate. But, I suppose I had several billion dollars, maybe it wouldn't matter. I would think the ideal situation would be to have a successful team that wins year after year with a median team salary. Being at the very top end of what you can afford makes it hard to go out and get the player you really, really want when he becomes available. Yes, you can just keep raising ticket prices, but at some point, you are alienating the biggest percentage of your fan base, which is the guy who has very little expendable income.

It sounded like the Padres got a bit ridiculous with the demands during the winter meetings, which basically ended the discussion for the time being. Moorad did step up to the plate to purchase the Padres. However, everything I've read stated he won't take complete control of the team for about 4 years. What I speculate from this is that Moorad's money right now is just to make Moores soon-to-be ex-wife go away, and that Moores still wants his payroll to be reduced to 40m. There has to be a lot of pressure on Towers at the moment. Moores isn't the one who gave Peavy the NTC. I'm pretty certain Towers would have been the one to do that. If Towers can't move Peavy, thus failing at reducing payroll to where Moores wants it, his job could be in jeopardy. Everything else I read is just posturing, IMO.

Nice try, but I already warned Bukie that I'm the only one who makes fair trades in this league. :D

I sent him a quick reference PM. Are you able to give him access to this forum, Juan?

I have no problem with that. They can keep raising ticket prices if they keep raising payroll. How many tickets are you purchasing to see a game? Family of 4? 5?

Find me an owner or potential owner who doesn't have the same thing tattooed on their forehead. No kidding. Here is a quote that Wrigley Rat found on the Padres signing of Henry Blanco. Granted, this is a GM talking instead of an owner, but how can you honestly say something like this with a straight face? I mean, that's great. If Blanco can still be playing ball in his mid 40's when the Padres might once again be a playoff caliber team, I guess this is a great signing.

It really isn't about throwing money at the team year in and year out. From a realistic standpoint, increasing payroll every year could end up being the organization's downfall. The fans are the ones who absorb team salary. Ricketts is going to be in a tough place. How many years will it take for him to see a profit on his investment if nearly all the money he receives from ticket sales goes directly to the roster? Where this team needs to get better is in player drafting, signing and development. Fine, win with a 150m payroll this year once you add Peavy and maybe make a deadline trade, but somewhere down the road, they should be able to field a strong team with a payroll around 100-125m while the owner actually makes a decent profit. A win/win situation for everyone.

It's become a very respectable site, and there is potential for them to be even better.

It never stops being funny, even though the joke is now more than a year old. It would probably be even funnier if you responded to every one of my posts with that exact same post. Keep up the good work!

Yeah, that guy sure pulled the wool over on us poor NSBB people. This multipage thread that was just started a few hours ago has been super busy spreading this glorified gossip columnists satire all over the world sure fell right into the author's master plan. Oh wait, it's a one page thread with a small handful of posts and it's more than 10 days old? ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ I applaud the outstanding effort, however. Pulitzer prize winner, indeed. May I be the first to stand up and =D> Afterall, we just got Punk'd.

So a small portion of the audience (people who pay very close attention to the Cubs, and are therefore far more likely to be interested in watching an ASG in the first place) had an increased interest in watching this year. But that doesn't mean having home field advantage determined by this game has increased interest in the game. It's a stupid gimmick game that draws little interest and should have no baring on anything. i agree that it's a terrible way to determine HFA. but to suggest that a "small portion of the audience" had an increased interest seems silly. think about it. fans of every team in contention at the ASB (which is probably 75% of the teams) have a vested interest in seeing one league win. would i have watched all 13 innings (or whatever it was) last year if the end result meant nothing? no. but knowing that it was going to hopefully have an effect on the cubs, i stayed up watching. i think a lot of people did the same thing. certainly enough to say that there was increased interest. Others said the Cubs being in the race made it more interesting to people on this board, people who already spend an inordinate amount of time following baseball and the Cubs. That's a small minority of the overall television viewing audience. But the HFA story is years old. Why would it suddenly increase interest this year? I explained it already. Geovany Soto. Did Josh Hamilton's HR barrage in the derby generate the increased audience?

Geovany Soto

i'm sure it's nice, but i'm just as sure that it's not a top 3 golf course in florida....for $79 a round it may be top 3 in it's price range, but not overall. btw, what did you shoot? Well I guess the guy we were playing with lied then, but It was a steal with only paying $79 to play. I shot 93 I think...I'm not a good golfer, but I love playing...See I had to learn to hit righty cause I used handy-me-downs when I was younger instead of hitting lefty which I'm naturally left handed hitting...and I've just never gotten much better than I am right now because of that. Phil Mickelson says hang in there! He's actually a righty that plays golf left handed.

I've already forgotten. What team drafted Veal?

Some of us can still play, it was 72 here yesterday. It's been in the '80's the last few weeks here. I went out on December 28th, January 12th (Valley Vista Country Club), January 15th (Salt Creek), playing Maderas (yeeeehaaaaw) next month, and many more dates scheduled. Oh, and I've DVR'd all 72 holes of the first two tournaments in Hawaii and am programmed to record all 5 days of the Bob Hope Classic. :thumbsup:

i didn't know he was from dunedin high...quite close to where i live I worked at the Winn-Dixie on Drew between Clearwater and Dunedin several years ago. Cubs scouts never noticed me. There really are Winn-Dixies? I assumed they were fictional. Winn-Dixie is more real than North Dakota. Fact.

i didn't know he was from dunedin high...quite close to where i live I worked at the Winn-Dixie on Drew between Clearwater and Dunedin several years ago. Cubs scouts never noticed me. They like players with tools, not people who are tools. Oh yeah. I forgot.

So am I. I thought the Cubs were going with somebody else because of cost. I would have loved having Hank back for that price. Guess he didn't like the lack of playing time.

i didn't know he was from dunedin high...quite close to where i live I worked at the Winn-Dixie on Drew between Clearwater and Dunedin several years ago. Cubs scouts never noticed me.

Nice to know the Padres plan on competing this year. That postseason experience will really come in handy. http://www.sbrforum.com/Headlines/MLB/73136.aspx That's rather hilarious.

Guys I'd like to see breakout: Andrew Cashner Josh Vitters Tyler Colvin Mark Pawelek Grant Johnson Ryan Harvey

Hope to see him at one of the local bars. I'd love to buy him a beer.