Bay Watch: Rays Owner Stuart Sternberg Profiled On "E:60"
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| Sternberg Leading Rays' Turnaround |
Rays Owner Stuart Sternberg was profiled on ESPN's "E:60" by Lisa Salters, who noted since buying the team in '04, Sternberg has decided to "just turn around this team, not overnight (but) over the last three years.” When asked why he decided to purchase the downtrodden Rays, Sternberg said, “I’m sort of attracted to messy opportunities, a fixer-upper so to speak, and I try to find opportunities where others might not see them.” Sternberg’s first move as owner was naming then 29-year-old Matt Silverman, who has "zero baseball experience," Rays President. Silverman then brought in Exec VP/Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman, "another then 29-year-old Wall Streeter to be the team’s de factor General Manager.” Sternberg said he is a “big believer in giving youth the opportunity.” Salters: “With Friedman and Silverman in place in the front office, the Rays began overhauling their on-field personnel using some of their old tricks from finance, like positive arbitrage.” St. Petersburg Times Rays beat writer Marc Topkin said the front office uses a “hybrid of the old school and the new school, and they’ll fill specific needs. I think it’s really a result -- as simple as it sounds -- of taking a business approach that’s worked and applying it to baseball."
DEVIL IN THE DETAILS: Salters noted after 10 losing seasons, “clearly some rebranding was needed to appeal to fans who may have been wary of the Rays' losing tradition.” The club in November '07 dropped "Devil" from its nickname and began offering fans free parking at Tropicana Field. Silverman said of the name change, “We wanted to distance ourselves from the past and really establish that the organization was different and sometimes it takes very visible changes -- uniforms and caps and even a name change -- to show everyone a lot has changed.” Topkin: “It really had almost like a white-washing affect and allowed them to put those past ten years behind them and go forward” ("E:60," ESPN, 8/26).
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