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Friday, May 18, 2007
Braves need an owner that cares
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Bud Selig, who never met a situation he couldn’t misread, believes the Braves will benefit from being owned by Liberty Media for the next 4 1/2 years at minimum. Bud is, as ever, wrong.
The Braves would benefit from Liberty Media, a Colorado conglomerate that by its own admission has no interest in baseball save as a tax dodge, selling as soon as possible to someone who does care about Atlanta, baseball and the Braves. Someone like Arthur Blank, who tried to buy the team but was given unaccountably short shrift by Time Warner, which shouldn’t expect Blank to renew subscriptions to any of its magazines anytime soon.
The hope here was that Liberty Media would bank its write-offs and, quick like a bunny, pass the Braves along to someone who was going to do more than count snowflakes in the Rockies. Bud and his MLB cohorts have dashed that hope by getting Liberty to agree to hold the team through 2011.
Stability is nice in theory, but sometimes reality warrants change. The Braves have spent too long trying to limbo under Time Warner’s budget ceiling. Although Liberty Media says it will allow management to be more flexible with spending, will such flexibility extend to keeping Andruw Jones and still being able to buy a big-ticket pitcher like Mark Buehrle?
Liberty Media isn’t in this to win pennants. It might not know what a pennant is. As odious as it is for the Yankees to burn $18 million on the part-timer Roger Clemens, it isn’t odious to Yankee fans. See, they want to win. Their owner wants to win. Ergo, they like their owner even though he’s a raging jerk.
For a fan, raw commitment matters every bit as nuanced expertise. The Braves have gotten pretty good at maximizing value, but they haven’t played in a World Series since 1999 and haven’t lasted beyond the division series since 2001. No, payroll doesn’t necessarily equal championships — if it did, the Yankees would win the Series every time — but it always plays well with the constituency. And the Braves’ 2007 payroll ranks 15th among 30 teams.
The Mets are outspending the Braves by roughly $30 million. Is it reasonable to think the cheaper team will be able to keep up over 162 games? Is it reasonable to expect Liberty Media to pour fix-it money into its tax write-off? And what about next year and beyond? What happens when Jeff Francoeur becomes a free agent? Will Liberty Media pony up to buy new stars when John Smoltz and Chipper Jones step aside, or must the Braves pin all long-term hopes on Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Anthony Lerew?
Arthur Blank, it can be safely assumed, would have spent more than Liberty Media will. (Not at much as Steinbrenner: Blank is competitive but not crazy.) He’s constrained by a salary cap with the Falcons, but baseball doesn’t have one. He wouldn’t buy a second team just for the sake of owning it. He wanted to do big things with the Braves but didn’t get the chance this time. He won’t get another until at least 2011.
In 2011, Blank will turn 69. Will he still feel the same about Atlanta, baseball and the Braves? Will the travails of his quarterback have soured him on sports altogether? Will he wait in line as Terry McGuirk tries to put together a group and exercise his Liberty-given right of first negotiation? And, after the failure of Atlanta Spirit LLC, do we want the Braves to be owned by a similar cobbled-together entity?
Liberty Media, sad to say, will never be much more than a continuation of Time Warner. The Braves didn’t need 4 1/2 more years of status quo. They needed a new and aggressive owner. They’ll have to wait until 2011 for that.
Thanks, Bud.
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