While the Arizona Republic reported last week that the
D'Backs had to borrow $20M (see THE DAILY, 8/15) "to meet
their payroll," the Rockies are also "expected to seek a
loan to remain solvent, and the Devil Rays are losing
millions, too," according to sources of Bill Madden of the
N.Y. DAILY NEWS. Madden, on the three teams: "They are all
recent expansion clubs that paid exorbitant amounts of money
for a franchise, then turned around and invested many
millions more in free agents while projecting full-house fan
support to pay for it all. In all three cases, they
overspent on free agents and overestimated their attendance"
(N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 8/20). ESPN.com's Peter Gammons wrote
that the reports about the D'Backs' loans "may be
exaggerated, but [MLB] is worried about the ratio of debt
vs. assets down the line because of all the deferred money."
But Gammons wrote "most feel" that D'Backs Managing General
Partner Jerry Colangelo "will work his way through this"
(ESPN.com, 8/19). FSN's Keith Olbermann called yesterday's
Cubs-D'Backs game at Bank One Ballpark "interest-free loan
day" ("The Keith Olbermann Evening News," 8/20).
TEAMS POINT TO THE EXAMPLE? In S.F., John Shea wrote
that the Giants "insist their financial situation is
stable," though they borrowed $35M to help buy the team from
Bob Lurie and millions more to build Pac Bell Park. Giants
Managing General Partner Peter Magowan: "You pay your bills
as they come in. We're paying off our debt. That $35
million loan will be down to $22 million at the end of the
year" (S.F. EXAMINER, 8/20)....In Pittsburgh, Sam Ross Jr.
writes that though it "was unpopular" when Pirates Owner
Kevin McClatchy "stripped the roster of salaries his first
season," he "has given" the team a "taste of profitable
seasons." McClatchy has said: "There's nothing wrong with
running a Major League Baseball team like a business. What
bothers me is when people start to run these things without
any concern for the business, because what they do affects
all of us. ... There's some insanity out there; well-
documented insanity on some of these larger clubs that are
losing money. ... It's tough for me to bust a violin string
over people who are foolishly wasting money that they don't
need to waste" (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 8/21).
