Rays Facing Financial Concerns In Spite Of Postseason Success

Rays Need To Make Tropicana Field A "Hot Ticket" In Future Years To Withstand Economy

INVESTMENT IN THE FUTURE: Rays Exec VP/Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman addressed the issue of increasing the club's payroll after earning its first trip to the World Series. Friedman noted several key players have signed long-term contracts, including 3B Evan Longoria and Ps Scott Kazmir and James Shields. Friedman: “Obviously, a team in our situation competing in the division, we do we always have to have one eye on the present and one eye on the future. … Our long-standing goal was not just to reach this level, but to be poised to be able to sustain it for a number of years and we think we’re well positioned.” AP sports columnist Jim Litke said of the Rays keeping their team intact and increasing payroll, “If you want to keep a winning team together for a long time you’ve got to pay your pitchers. ... That $44(M) payroll, if they want to keep winning, is going to have be doubled within the next five years -- minimal” (“Outside The Lines,” ESPN, 10/20).

FUN AND GAMES: In St. Petersburg, Lane DeGregory profiles Rays VP/Branding & Fan Experience Darcy Raymond, who was hired in January '06 "to rebrand Tampa Bay's struggling baseball team -- and re-energize the few fans it had." Raymond was also tasked to "convert baseball fans to Rays fans and to bring a new crop to the Trop: people who didn't know much about baseball." Raymond: "If we were going to turn this team around, we had to make the fans feel like part of the team." DeGregory notes Raymond has "implemented theme nights: Tuesdays for retirees featured Elvis impersonators," while Sundays "meant kids could run the bases." But as MLB does not allow local branding for the World Series, Raymond spent yesterday "trying to figure a way to have bottle races without the labels and kisses without e-Harmony's endorsement" (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 10/22).

WISH FUL-PHILLED: In N.Y., Tyler Kepner profiles Phillies President & CEO David Montgomery, who earned "$150 a week" when he first started working for the team part-time in '71. Phillies Chair Bill Giles said of Montgomery, "He's very smart, very high morals, and he's got great virtue. I don't think he's ever told a lie in his life." Meanwhile, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said of Montgomery, "Everybody wants to win, and I know what the Phillies mean to David. I can't imagine how he must have felt when Brad Lidge got the last out against the Dodgers. ... David Montgomery is one of those people who care deeply about the game, and his role in what I regard as the renaissance of this sport, the surge in popularity, is really huge." Kepner notes Selig "cited Montgomery for helping create the wild card and the revenue-sharing system." Montgomery "serves on the labor policy committee, the scheduling committee and the enterprises committee," and he will be on the BOD of MLB Network. Selig: "I have the utmost respect for him as a person, and he is very, very smart" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/22).

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