WTEM 980 interview with Jerry Crasnick about the O’s

[Frobby]

1.   Doesn’t think DD or BS gets fired in the year.  

2.   Relationship between them isn’t particularly warm but professional and not necessarily a problem.    

3.   Brady is a factor.    Very passionate about enhancing player performance.   But hard to mix being close to players and being in management.   

4.   Thinks O’s will tear down as much as they can, but it’s too late (viz. last year) to maximize value.    Even Schoop and Gausman not performing well.

5.    Some guys lost focus last year when they thought they’d be traded, but weren’t.    

6.    Blames ownership for being indecisive over starting a rebuild.    

7.    Thinks the Angelos family may consider a sale, but MASN a problem.   The family is not communicative about it’s intentions.   

https://www.theteam980.com/the-morning-blitz-with-al-galdi/.  

10th clip down as of now.

[NashLumber]

Interesting. Thanks for this. So much to comment on, but the Brady part kind of sticks out. And what proof does he have that he’s been a success at enhancing performance? He can likely enhance how fast someone runs / sprints up a hill or how much he lifts, but does it translate into baseball success?

[Santandah]

My guess is that if there is a sale it will be to a group that has experience and/or interest in buying and selling media companies vs one that has experience/and or interest in buying sports franchises. 

[spiritof66]

1 minute ago, Santandah said:

My guess is that if there is a sale it will be to a group that has experience and/or interest in buying and selling media companies vs one that has experience/and or interest in buying sports franchises. 

Why do you think that's the case?

[Santandah]

2 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

Why do you think that's the case?

Because MASN is the actual asset here that can make money, not the O's itself. Also, it will be a very complicated sale, as Frobby quotes Crasnick as saying. 

[spiritof66]

9 minutes ago, Santandah said:

Because MASN is the actual asset here that can make money, not the O's itself. Also, it will be a very complicated sale, as Frobby quotes Crasnick as saying. 

MASN's ability to make money is within the control of MLB's Revenue Sharing Definitions Committee, which so far appears to be the same as being within the control of the Commissioner. I don't know that anyone would buy or invest in MASN unless that is changed. 

Recent MLB sales have been to individuals or groups who think they can make a profit by running the team, think they can realize a significant gain when they go to sell the team, and/or want to be members of the MLB owners' club even if they can't make money at it. I don't see why the Orioles should be any different. The only unusual features of a near-term Orioles' sale I can think of are these:

(a) the owners may be compelled to sell because MLB owners do not consent (or there's a risk they won't consent if asked) to a transfer to John and Lou Angelos;

(b) the lousy and worsening competitive situation the Orioles are in and the absence of any prospect MLB will make changes that would improve that situation;

(c) the Orioles' poor financial prospects from factors including the Nats' arrival and success, damage to the Orioles brand from poor management and on-field performance, the absence of population and economic growth prospects in Baltimore, and the need to make substantial investments in resources like scouting and in building a Latin American infrastructure;

(d) the uncertainty of the rights fees MASN will be compelled to pay the Nats and the Orioles and the desirability  of resolving at least part of that uncertainty before the sale is finalized; and 

(e) the possibility that the sellers will try to require as a term of the sale that the buyers keep the team in Baltimore for some period.

These factors are likely to limit the prospective buyers and drive down the price, but I don't see why they would alter the nature of prospective buyers.

 

 

[wildcard]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

1.   Doesn’t think DD or BS gets fired in the year.  

2.   Relationship between them isn’t particularly warm but professional and not necessarily a problem.    

3.   Brady is a factor.    Very passionate about enhancing player performance.   But hard to mix being close to players and being in management.   

4.   Thinks O’s will tear down as much as they can, but it’s too late (viz. last year) to maximize value.    Even Schoop and Gausman not performing well.

5.    Some guys lost focus last year when they thought they’d be traded, but weren’t.    

6.    Blames ownership for being indecisive over starting a rebuild.    

7.    Thinks the Angelos family may consider a sale, but MASN a problem.   The family is not communicative about it’s intentions.   

https://www.theteam980.com/the-morning-blitz-with-al-galdi/.  

10th clip down as of now.

Doesn't sound very insightful.  

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, wildcard said:

Doesn't sound very insightful.  

It wasn’t.  

[Santandah]

4 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

MASN's ability to make money is within the control of MLB's Revenue Sharing Definitions Committee, which so far appears to be the same as being within the control of the Commissioner. I don't know that anyone would buy or invest in MASN unless that is changed. 

I believe that this is only a portion of MASN's profits, that which comes from MLB's deal to license and air games. Also, MLB does not take 100 percent of the profits to redistribute to every team. It takes a portion. Otherwise the Yankees would not be exponentially richer than every other baseball team because of the profits it makes off of the YES network. The gross worth of MASN is up to MASN, its ad revenue, its subscribers. It's a regional sports network that can be grown, expanded, sold, all to the profit of the owners of the network. 

The Orioles' profits are incredibly reliant on MASN. It is part of the Orioles total package at this point. 

18 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

(d) the uncertainty of the rights fees MASN will be compelled to pay the Nats and the Orioles and the desirability  of resolving at least part of that uncertainty before the sale is finalized; and 

This is essentially why a sale would be complicated and would take a new ownership team that understands media/telecom.

The Sun actually wrote about this a few weeks ago here.

 

Quote

Analysts say the dispute would make it harder to sell MASN or the Orioles, if the owners wanted. With so much money in dispute, and future revenues up in the air, it’s difficult to assess the value of either.

“It makes it more complex,” said Lee H. Berke, head of the New York consulting firm LHB Sports, Entertainment & Media.

Nevertheless, he said, there are “potentially any number of buyers out there” for MASN, and that “I’ve seen in other instances where litigation is quite often packaged together [with a sale].”

 

[25 Nuggets]

5 hours ago, Frobby said:

3.   Brady is a factor.    Very passionate about enhancing player performance.   But hard to mix being close to players and being in management.   

I don't like seeing the phrase "performance enhancement" associated with Brady's training.

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, 25 Nuggets said:

I don't like seeing the phrase "performance enhancement" associated with Brady's training.

Afraid he's going to start doing Viagra spots?

[25 Nuggets]

5 hours ago, Frobby said:

5.    Some guys lost focus last year when they thought they’d be traded, but weren’t.   

Even the players on the team are more forward thinking than the front office.

(sorry don't know how to multiquote these days)

[Frobby]

On 7/14/2018 at 6:30 PM, 25 Nuggets said:

I don't like seeing the phrase "performance enhancement" associated with Brady's training.

I was paraphrasing, but nothing Crasnick said was pointed in that direction.   

[Tony-OH]

On 7/14/2018 at 1:26 PM, Frobby said:

1.   Doesn’t think DD or BS gets fired in the year.  

2.   Relationship between them isn’t particularly warm but professional and not necessarily a problem.    

3.   Brady is a factor.    Very passionate about enhancing player performance.   But hard to mix being close to players and being in management.   

4.   Thinks O’s will tear down as much as they can, but it’s too late (viz. last year) to maximize value.    Even Schoop and Gausman not performing well.

5.    Some guys lost focus last year when they thought they’d be traded, but weren’t.    

6.    Blames ownership for being indecisive over starting a rebuild.    

7.    Thinks the Angelos family may consider a sale, but MASN a problem.   The family is not communicative about it’s intentions.   

https://www.theteam980.com/the-morning-blitz-with-al-galdi/.  

10th clip down as of now.

So basically everything we already know!    Still, thanks for the recap.

[wildbillhiccup]

The Angelos' are not selling the team. If you want to hope for something, hope that the sons are better than their father. 

On a somewhat related note I've been watching "Succession" on HBO and it's hitting way too close to home. 

"The series follows the powerful Roy family, led by patriarch Logan (Brian Cox), a Rupert Murdoch, media baron-type who controls an international conglomerate. But from the very beginning, the show sets up the complicated power dynamics between Logan and his children, all of whom seek power and respect, and have very deep-rooted daddy issues."