Padres Vice Chair & CEO Jeff Moorad Friday offered no substantive update on his still-pending purchase of the Padres from Chair John Moores. The deal has been under league review since a scheduled approval vote was pulled from last month's owners' meetings in Arizona. "The commissioner has the matter under consideration. We certainly respect the process and are excited to move forward at the appropriate time," Moorad said Friday prior to a panel at the Villanova Univ. School of Law (Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal).
FOCUSING ELSEWHERE: Astros GM Jeff Luhnow, when asked recently about the team's payroll, said, "Right now, payroll is not our primary objective. ... The direction I've been given from (owner) Jim (Crane) and (president and CEO) George (Postolos) is if there's an opportunity one way or the other to add or subtract payroll but ultimately helps our strategy out and making this team more competitive within a three-to-five-year time frame, it's something we'll discuss. I don't really feel like (payroll) has been a consideration at this point" (MLB.com, 2/10).
OFFERS KEEP COMING: In L.A., Tom Hoffarth cited documents as indicating that Armital Sports CEO Josh Macciello has "put into escrow a $2.2 billion bid Jan. 18 with the intent to buy the Dodgers and all" of their holdings through his company. Macciello "would own 51 percent" of the team, while the other 49% "would be owned by Eagle Crest LLC, headed up by two of Macciello's financial partners." One partner is South-Korean born businessman Myung-Ho Lee. Macciello was recently informed that he will "have until March 1 to secure his offer." Macciello said, "Why would I over-bid? We need closure to start the healing process. No fan wants to hand over $20 to park and think they're giving [outgoing Owner Frank McCourt] any more of their money. So I want to give him an offer he can't refuse" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 2/12).
LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE: With Mets GM Sandy Alderson poking some fun at the team's current financial state on Twitter, SportsNet N.Y.’s Sal Licata said, "The tweets have been great, very funny, but I just get the feeling that is going to be short-lived." Licata: "Fans can only laugh so much. If you start to lose, then that is going to be a problem. ... You can’t go out there and put a bad team on the field and have fun with the tweets” (“Loud Mouths,” SportsNet N.Y., 2/10). The New York Daily News’ John Harper said, “I don’t think Mets fans are into jokes about money since this team is looking like it is going to be a disaster. Sandy Alderson is a funny guy if you’ve been around him; he has a dry sense of humor. I don’t think Mets fans want to hear that.” But the New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman said, “By the end of May, Mets fans may need to be entertained somehow. So that will be Sandy’s tweeting” ("Daily News Live," SportsNet N.Y., 2/10).
