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MLB Owner ReviewByron Clarke
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| MLB Owner Reviews |
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First Thoughts:
Not having done a lot of research, I'll start by categorizing the owners with what I know.
The Good:
Atlanta Braves - AOL Time Warner/Ted Turner. Turner recently turned over the Braves to then AOL Time Warner, which is now Time Warner. However, twelve consecutive division titles says that Turner/Time at least hired the right man (John Schuerholtz) and stuck with him. Through most of the '90s they also gave the team a large enough budget to field a consistent winner, re-sign key free agents, and build a ball club.
New York Yankees - George Steinbrenner. The Boss owns the most successful and profitable franchise in baseball. The Yanks have not always been the profit machine they are now. Steinbrenner isn't the best owner in baseball, but I'll trade him teams.
The Bad:
Montreal Expos - Major League Baseball. The worst ownership situation in baseball is clearly the Expos. The conflict of interest is oozing out of the pores of this triple-A caliber club. Despite hiring excellent baseball men (Omar Minaya as GM, and Frank Robinson as manager), baseball has made a bad situation worse. Beginning with their attempts to contract the Expos (not the worst idea ever), baseball has done everything it possibly can to alienate the city of Montreal. I have heard recently that MLB is making progress towards cobbling together an ownership group for a return to Washington.
Detroit Tigers - Mike Illitch, Pizza man can't run a ballclub worth a darn. He should sell to Papa John.
The Evil:
Milwaukee Brewers - Bud Selig, I don't like him. His teams (uh, excuse me, his trust's teams) have been bad. He may have lied about ballclub finances to get public funding for a stadium. Heck, he is a used car dealer.
Florida Marlins - Jeffrey Loria. Began running the Expos into the ground, and then traded for the Marlins. Despite winning a World Series in his first year (probably more of a reflection on current Red Sox owner John Henry), Loria has continued threatening to leave if the state of Florida, and Miami won't publicly finance a new stadium.
The Conflicted:
San Francisco Giants - Peter McGowan. McGowan built a fantastic ball park with private money. This speaks of an owner with a long term interest in his ball club, however letting Dusty Baker go, and running out of money which caused his near World Series champion ball club to break up reflects poorly on his regime.
Mariners - The Nintendo guy. The Mariners have reinvented themselves and turned one of the worst baseball markets into one of the best. Thing is, I've heard this owner has never come to watch his team play.
Minnesota Twins - Carl Pohlad. Evil jerk, tried to let his team get contracted. On the flip side, Pohlad has done a good job of hiring baseball people, and keeping them around even when struggling. Streak of three straight playoff trips bumps him onto the Conflicted list from the evil list.
Texas Rangers - Tom Hicks. Seems like he is trying hard, but incompetence may simply be his fate. On the otherhand, post A-Rod success for the Rangers may turn this situation around.
Too Little Time to tell:
Angels - Arte Moreno. Despite throwing millions of dollars at his new franchise, Moreno's six months or so of ownership are too soon to tell. Props to him for making the Angels more fan friendly.
Dodgers - Frank McCourt. Now in his third month of ownership, McCourt didn't get control of the Dodgers early enough to do anything more than change general managers. We will watch his development with great interest.
Forbes Franchise Values (MLB)
Information from ESPN.com
Franchise Values.
February 6th, 2004
| New York Yankees | MLB | George Steinbrenner | $730 million |
| New York Mets | MLB | Fred Wilpon | $482 million |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | MLB | News Corp. | $435 million |
| Boston Red Sox | MLB | John Henry | $426 million |
| Atlanta Braves | MLB | AOL/Time Warner | $424 million |
| Seattle Mariners | MLB | Hiroshi Yamaguchi | $373 million |
| Cleveland Indians | MLB | Larry Dolan | $360 million |
| Texas Rangers | MLB | Tom Hicks | $356 million |
| San Francisco Giants | MLB | Peter Magowan | $355 million |
| Colorado Rockies | MLB | Jerry McMorris | $347 million |
| Houston Astros | MLB | Drayton McLane | $337 million |
| Baltimore Orioles | MLB | Peter Angelos | $319 million |
| Chicago Cubs | MLB | Tribune Co. | $287 million |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | MLB | Jerry Colangelo | $280 million |
| St. Louis Cardinals | MLB | B. DeWitt/F. Hanser | $271 million |
| Detroit Tigers | MLB | Michael Ilitch | $262 million |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | MLB | Kevin McClatchy | $242 million |
| Milwaukee Brewers | MLB | Bud Selig Trust | $238 million |
| Philadelphia Phillies | MLB | B. Giles/D. Montgomery | $231 million |
| Chicago White Sox | MLB | Jerry Reinsdorf | $223 million |
| San Diego Padres | MLB | John Moores | $207 million |
| Cincinnati Reds | MLB | Carl Lindner | $204 million |
| Anaheim Angels | MLB | Walt Disney Co. | $195 million |
| Toronto Blue Jays | MLB | Rogers Communications | $182 million |
| Oakland Athletics | MLB | S. Schott/K. Hofman | $157 million |
| Kansas City Royals | MLB | David Glass | $152 million |
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays | MLB | Vincent Naimoli | $142 million |
| Florida Marlins | MLB | Jeffrey Loria | $137 million |
| Minnesota Twins | MLB | Carl Pohlad | $127 million |
| Montreal Expos | MLB | Major League Baseball | $108 million |
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