Awesome Tim Sullivan article

[HollywoodLeo]

this ought to spark some good debate

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniont...5sullivan.html

The bottom line is that John Moores will spend what he wants to spend.

Baseball is business, not philanthropy. Owners operate their teams to make money, not friends. They seek public subsidies for the purpose of profit, not as a means to mollify their customers with a better ballclub.

To assume otherwise is to be disappointed. To expect more is naive. If you think yourself shortchanged by the Padres' payroll, perhaps you should think again. . .

[padrefanforever]

also from this article.......

"Industry calculations more conservative than the Padres' own numbers show a 46 percent increase in the club's payroll between the 1998 stadium vote and last season, from $45.4 to $66.3 million.

Of the 15 clubs that spent more than the Padres on 2005 player salaries, none occupies a smaller Nielsen market than San Diego (26th).

“He is in a much smaller market than average, and he's giving you an average payroll,” said economist Andrew Zimbalist, author of In The Best Interests Of Baseball? “I don't think it's appropriate to say he's chintzing us..."

The Padres have spent more than they were in the past, the thing is most of us expected them to spend substantially more...... and that will just never be the case here......they will increase payroll once more when the cable contract is renegotiated, since Cox isn't exactly paying very much.

For me I would think that this team could be competitive and make the occasional run for around 80M each season......I think that's very reasonable considering the business, market & profits. I don't think that spending in the low 70's is going to get it done.....not without our farm system kicking out the next Pujols and ARod as well as another Peavy.... all of which we then lock up for life.....