David Rubenstein in the Booth, Opening Day

[Sports Guy]

2 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I took it to mean not spend irresponsibly.  Like, I don't think Elias would ever think the Javy Baez deal would be something he'd do, for example.  

I still believe Elias believes in what Houston normally does. Build through your system, keep your own players and don’t spend poorly in free agency.

Thats the recipe all teams should have imo. It’s the clear best way to win and sustain winning.

I don’t know that JA would have done that. I think DR will.

But don’t expect 9 figure FA deals…Elias isn’t likely for those deals.

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, clapdiddy said:

Right.   Smart things to do would be to lock up Adley, Gunnar, and Holliday for the foreseeable future.   I mentioned before that those three, plus Basallo if he continues to progress this season, would be a nice core of guys to have locked up for a while.

That's what I'd like to see him do.  

Not opposed to spending 100+ million on someone in free agency but it has to make sense.  Fortunately for us, DR seems to be the type to let baseball people make baseball decisions and we've got some of the best baseball people in the business.

Really, the best thing he could do is give Elias and Sig (and Eve, @Roy Firestone!) blank checks.  

[interloper]

No one (by which I mean the press) has really put the spending question directly to him as of yet. Which is understandable, it's day 1 and we're just happy he's here. I did notice they asked him about the positive fan reaction and he said something like, it's nice but I worry I'm not as good as they say. And he has said other things like "I'm not sure how much I can help yet" (paraphrasing). So... I think he's subtlety setting some expectations, or just doesn't actually know yet what his spending power is going to look like. 

I think he's also laser focused on his priorities of ground lease, stadium upgrades, and MASN. 

Edited March 29 by interloper

[doctorbj]

I wonder if they would give Mike a very minor share to lock him up for the future?

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:

I still believe Elias believes in what Houston normally does. Build through your system, keep your own players and don’t spend poorly in free agency.

Thats the recipe all teams should have imo. It’s the clear best way to win and sustain winning.

I don’t know that JA would have done that. I think DR will.

But don’t expect 9 figure FA deals…Elias isn’t likely for those deals.

I think so.  And I'm not sure if it's part of what Houston normally does, but trade some prospect capital for the piece or two you think you need to get over the top.

I don't expect 9 figure FA deals, but if they made one, I would give them the benefit of the doubt.  As long as that 9 figure starts with a 1 and not with a 2, that's most likely okay.  

I will be super interested to see what they do about Corbin Burnes, especially if Burnes keeps dealing like he did yesterday.  

[Hank Scorpio]

7 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I think so.  And I'm not sure if it's part of what Houston normally does, but trade some prospect capital for the piece or two you think you need to get over the top.

I don't expect 9 figure FA deals, but if they made one, I would give them the benefit of the doubt.  As long as that 9 figure starts with a 1 and not with a 2, that's most likely okay.  

I will be super interested to see what they do about Corbin Burnes, especially if Burnes keeps dealing like he did yesterday.  

Would much rather see money thrown at Holliday/Henderson vs. Burnes. Not 100% sure how Burnes will age.

[spleen1015]

I've tried to find it this morning and have been unsuccessful. In one of the interviews I've read or seen, DR mentions that he's had brief conversations with ME about the future, but now that transactrion is complete, they'll start discussing what ME thinks should happen and he's going to support what ME wants to do.

I don't think he's going to go full Cohen, but I do think he's going to put money into player contracts in some way. All of the new owners are saying the team is good and they want to win the WS. They can't do that without committing more money to everything, especially players. So, I think it's going to happen in some way.

[Just Regular]

Rubenstein enumerated "adequately compensated" on his podcast with the Ripkens.     Now that was Wednesday, and maybe fair to wonder if by Thursday in the broadcast booth he was already refining the talking points of his basic message to the fandom.

Ordinarily I'd figure Ezequiel Tovar and Will Smith as the finale of offseason extension season, but I think the precise timing of MLB approval give the Orioles another couple few honeymoon weeks to complete a not quite technically during the offseason extension.     Good vibes are surely at a local peak if there's enough momentum to close with anybody.

Edited March 29 by Just Regular

[Frobby]

There’s spending, and there’s spending.  I expect DR will approve payrolls that leave the team at break even or with a very modest profit.  I don’t expect him and his fellow owners to subsidize the team.   And I expect the organization to be run with sustainability in mind.  In other words, if your payroll is at a level where you could afford a top free agent for the next season, but it’s going to hamper your ability to handle arbitration raises or extensions that are 2-3 years away, I think the payroll will be managed for the long term view.   

We are well under the break even number now, according to public estimates.   There’s plenty of room for the team to spend more without the owners digging into their own pockets.
 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

There’s spending, and there’s spending.  I expect DR will approve payrolls that leave the team at break even or with a very modest profit.  I don’t expect him and his fellow owners to subsidize the team.   And I expect the organization to be run with sustainability in mind.  In other words, if your payroll is at a level where you could afford a top free agent for the next season, but it’s going to hamper your ability to handle arbitration raises or extensions that are 2-3 years away, I think the payroll will be managed for the long term view.   

We are well under the break even number now, according to public estimates.   There’s plenty of room for the team to spend more without the owners digging into their own pockets.
 

I'm expecting around 20th.

[Just Regular]

Roster Resource's numbers suggest 20th would be a +$30M over today.

https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/breakdowns/payroll

Mullins and Hays next year perhaps earn about the same as Santander and McCann this year.

Burnes and Kimbrel expire almost another $30M, so that perhaps gives Elias $60M with which to tender one of the Ryans if he wants, and play for short-term deals with other Arms.

[justD]

15 hours ago, thegardner said:

This is so great, thanks for posting, can you post the other segments?  I could only get The Angels broadcast.

Almost too good to be true, I agree, this is one of the greatest most unimaginable turnarounds I've ever witnessed.  

As promised, the first and third of the three segments are now on the OP. 

There were several people in the game thread that seemed to be listening to the radio broadcast or having to watch the Angels feed, hence my digging around to see what I could do to post. Glad it helped!

[justD]

2 hours ago, spleen1015 said:

I've tried to find it this morning and have been unsuccessful. In one of the interviews I've read or seen, DR mentions that he's had brief conversations with ME about the future, but now that transactrion is complete, they'll start discussing what ME thinks should happen and he's going to support what ME wants to do.

I don't think he's going to go full Cohen, but I do think he's going to put money into player contracts in some way. All of the new owners are saying the team is good and they want to win the WS. They can't do that without committing more money to everything, especially players. So, I think it's going to happen in some way.

He sort of alluded to this in the booth yesterday, check at about 2:30 in Part 1 

Here's what he said:

"Yeah, well my expertise in baseball is limited. I know something about finance and other kinds of business things, but I don’t know baseball that well. But, um, you know, you’ve got the best General Manager in the American League, maybe the best General Manager in baseball, why would you not let him make these decisions? So I’m not gonna be telling him what to do. I’ll kinda follow his recommendations. "

[One eyed Bird]

so nice to have an owner who’s not a bumbling idiot when speaking to the media, very intelligent, well thought out , appreciative of his roots, humble and seems like a true fan of the team, plus driven to win. Just give ME a top 15 MLB budget and let him roll

[Bemorewins]

3 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

Ohhhh, I can't wait.  It's gonna be interesting when the honeymoon is over.

He’s in a very unique situation where he inherited an org with so much potential. Yet the bar for him to be better than his predecessor is so low that he could trip over it. 

If he just shows interest and puts in average effort it will be such a vast improvement that the fan’s may appreciate him for a long time.