Astros President of Business Operations Reid Ryan on Sunday said that the scheduled launch of Root Sports Houston later this week will “put the Astros on even ground with other teams.” Ryan: “It's been like going out with one arm tied behind our backs from the fact that we were out of sight, out of mind, that we didn't have any money like the other 29 teams have coming from their local TV deals. The goal will be to get that money to try to employ it to the best of our abilities. We have not set numbers on what's going to happen, but it's going to be good to be able to give [GM Jeff Luhnow] the resources the other general managers have right now” (MLB.com, 11/9).
LARRY THE ABLE GUY: In S.F., Ron Leuty profiles Giants President & CEO Larry Baer, who “moves smoothly between baseball, finance, marketing, people management and community relations.” Giants investor Peter Magowan, who previously held Baer's role within the team ownership group, said that “the final score for Baer isn’t championships but culture.” Magowan: “There is an outstanding team that works well together, and the CEO’s job is to keep them motivated and help them outperform.” Baer said that it “all starts with empowering people to do what they can and tossing the ball to others at key moments” (S.F. BUSINESS TIMES, 11/7 issue).
SMALL BALL: In Miami, Clark Spencer writes, "Don't look for the Marlins to make any major splashes this winter by either signing a big-ticket free agent or landing a high-salaried player in a trade,” with a projected payroll of about $60M. Marlins President of Baseball Operations Michael Hill said, “There’s some (payroll) room to add some reasonable pieces. But it’s not [Tigers P Max] Scherzer or [A’s P Jon] Lester” (MIAMI HERALD, 11/11).
