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Gilbert buying Indians soon ?

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:chuckles: you guys are going to be so pissed if this happens.

The Indians aren't signing the top free agents in any season.

Not with the way contracts have become. We just cannot throw that kind of money around. I'm looking forward to hopefully watching a competitive team this year. If we crash and burn ala 2008 after a great 2007 I may find a bridge to jump off of.
 
I would be fine with Dan Gilbert as owner but let's be realistic- he isn't going to be dumping his own fortune into the team. You can count on one hand the number of owners in all of pro sports who do this for any significant amount of time. In baseball, there is one- Mike Illitch- and as far as one can tell, he is simplp diverting profits from the Red Wings to cover the Tigers. Let us not forget that Gilbert spent the way he did to retain the LBJ money train, and when LBJ took his talents to South Beach he took an estimated 100m in team value with him. And this does matter, because Dan is still paying off the team (most owners are, fwiw). I have to wonder what he would have as disposable income to dump into the Tribe, and also if there would be a player who would provide a financial boost like LBJ did.

What could play into Gilbert's favor is acquiring STO. He could put both the Tribe and Cavs on the network and multiply the value and revenues of the station- moreso than if, say, the Cavs worked a TV deal now without joint ownership. The Cavs are capped, so unless he wants to pay 30m+ for another lottery pick, he may decide then to take that revenue bump and tack it all into the Tribe. Either way, i would mean the retention of the guys already here than signing a Fielder- at least it should if the team drafts the way they need to.
 
The only thing that would really change is the fan reaction when Dan Gilbert doesn't sign that major free agent.

It would go from:

"Oh typical Dolan were never going to be competitive without being able to sign guys like this"

To

"I know Gilbert didn't get the guy but I know he really trained hard and is committed to winning"

For the first few years at least.

With that said, I'll take Gilbert over Dolan for his ability to keep up with trends and be innovative from a technology standpoint. But the difference in spending would be marginal at best.
 
Nobody here said it would be different.
 
If Gilbert were to buy the Indians (did we ever figure out if he could since he owns a casino?) the added bonus would be that for every person he gets in the stands, he'd be making money for their Indians ticket and their casino spending. So he would have additional incentive and dollars due to the casino being next door.
 
I do think the Dolans should sell even a minority stake in the team for PR reasons.

Payroll went up $20 million this year, but no one is talking about that. I have a feeling if there was a fresh face in their seats, people would say they are suddenly spending.

From my experience - most people think that Jacobs spent tons of money and that the Dolans have extremely low payrolls in comparison - which shows how much perception means to a fans' feelings on the team.
 
I do think the Dolans should sell even a minority stake in the team for PR reasons.

Payroll went up $20 million this year, but no one is talking about that. I have a feeling if there was a fresh face in their seats, people would say they are suddenly spending.

From my experience - most people think that Jacobs spent tons of money and that the Dolans have extremely low payrolls in comparison - which shows how much perception means to a fans' feelings on the team.

only because of arbitration
 
only because of arbitration

But it still went up $20 million. Do you think their revenues will go up $20 million?

I just find it a bit disingenuous to call someone cheap and then blow off $20 million like it doesn't count.
 
But it still went up $20 million. Do you think their revenues will go up $20 million?

I just find it a bit disingenuous to call someone cheap and then blow off $20 million like it doesn't count.

If it didn't go up $20 million due to arbitration do you think he would have allowed the front office to spend $20 million on free agents? I don't.
 
If it didn't go up $20 million due to arbitration do you think he would have allowed the front office to spend $20 million on free agents? I don't.

Considering they offered Beltran more than the $13m/yr he got and Pena more than the $7m/yr he got - I think it would have gone up some.

Here's the thing - no matter how many hypotheticals you want to throw out, the payroll still went up $20 million. That is just a fact.

How much do you think revenue will go up? Because it won't be $20 million. I don't understand this idea that until the Dolans show they are willing to lose money, they are bad owners. Payroll went up - that's what everyone wanted, right? There weren't many FA worth spending money on - and offering a stupid contract for the sake of spending money sure didn't make fans show up when Wood was signed, so what is their motivation for doing so?

I don't even think they are great owners. I think they are average - but working this hard to discredit $20 million is a bit over the top.
 
I'm just trying to say I'm not going to praise someone for spending money that they HAD to spend in order to even have a team this year. I'll be more impressed next year if he spends the same amount as this year with Hafner, "Carmona", Lowe and Grady coming off the books along with everyone else since no contract are guaranteed.
 
I'm just trying to say I'm not going to praise someone for spending money that they HAD to spend in order to even have a team this year. I'll be more impressed next year if he spends the same amount as this year with Hafner, "Carmona", Lowe and Grady coming off the books along with everyone else since no contract are guaranteed.

Next year's payroll will be interesting. I don't know who will be free agents, but the Indians should be somewhat active.

The problem is the length -I doubt they'll want to do any longer deals, and not many guys sign short-term - so I wonder what kind of guys they'll target.
 
Next year's payroll will be interesting. I don't know who will be free agents, but the Indians should be somewhat active.

The problem is the length -I doubt they'll want to do any longer deals, and not many guys sign short-term - so I wonder what kind of guys they'll target.

I would hope so with potentially $30mill coming off the books. Granted a lot of that will go towards higher arbitration salaries.
 
I would hope so with potentially $30mill coming off the books. Granted a lot of that will go towards higher arbitration salaries.

Honestly - it may go towards buying out a few years of free agency for guys like Masterson and Santana.

If you look at the roster, it is set up to contend this year and probably next year - then start over. Guys like Kipnis and Chiz are here through 2017, Santana through 2016 and Masterson I think through 2014.

For once, there are actually some decent prospects in the system (though they are in the lower levels) that should be coming up right around the 2014-2015 season. I wonder if they'll try to hold on to guys like Masterson and Santana as core pieces through the next window (like they attempted to do with Carmona, Grady and Hafner this past time).
 
Gilbert would need different local streams of revenue for this to happen. I have heard from people downtown that Gilbert is buying up property. Not sure how accurate it is, but I feel like he sees the long term potential in this city.

First, Gilbert has the casinos + hotel. Its hard to speculate how much revenue this will generate, but that will probably bump up Gilberts wealth.
Second, the Cavs will turn around. Not sure if they will reach their previous value in the short term, but who knows.
Third, I feel like buying up parking space may be a small source of income. Im not talking just the garage adjacent to the Q, I mean all of them within walking distance of the Q. Instead of going into his pockets they can go into the teams. There are a few pro teams who solely own their parking and use it as a great source of revenue.
Next Gilbert will probably develop other forms of entertainment downtown. New bars, restaurants, etc.
Possibly acquire STO, and use that to broadcast the teams he currently owns. However, does anyone know the current contracts those teams have with their respected networks? The cavs in particular?

Once all of this is done, Gilbert might have the ammunition to buy the team, but its not going to happen anytime soon.
 

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