MLB Team Notes: Colangelo Shares Financials With Players
D'Backs Managing General Partner Jerry Colangelo, "in an effort to bridge the canyon of distrust between players and owners," recently gave the team's financial summary to "a few key players," according to Dan Bickley of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. Colangelo: "I have relationships. I happen to believe you can work things out." D'Backs P Curt Schilling said, "I'm not questioning Jerry's ethics. You know he's honest. But there's a lot more to those numbers than what they are. There are a million questions that come with looking at numbers. ... There are real losses and there are paper losses, and obviously, there's a huge discrepancy between the two and what they mean to the game. The problem the players have, first off, is that most owners think we're dumb jocks, and that's unfortunate." Meanwhile, Bickley cites a spokesperson for MLB Commissioner Bud Selig as saying that Colangelo "would not be penalized" for saying recently players have been "totally uncooperative" in CBA negotiations (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 5/1).
ALL-TIME LOW: In Toronto, Larry Millson notes the announced crowd of 12,571 for Rangers-Blue Jays last night was the "smallest crowd the Blue Jays ever had for a game" at the SkyDome. The team's previous low was 13,514 for an April '00 game against the Royals (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 5/1). The Blue Jays lost 10-3 for their sixth consecutive defeat, and one "disgruntled patron ... was heard to mutter, 'What a waste of money.'" In Toronto, Richard Griffin writes the "actual body count included only about 4,000 actual bodies," as the Maple Leafs defeated the Islanders at in Game Seven at Air Canada Centre (TORONTO STAR, 5/1).
FULL DISCLOSURE? In Minneapolis, Randy Furst reports the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission asked Hennepin County District Judge Harry Crump yesterday to order MLB and the Twins to "produce all documents relating to disbanding the team along with bank loan papers within 24 hours." Twins attorneys showed the Commission about 22,000 documents last week but have "not produced any notes or papers relating to eliminating teams" (STAR TRIBUNE, 5/1).
 | David Samson | OUTREACH: Marlins President David Samson "began his day of reaching out to the Hispanic community by serving Cuban coffee at Little Havana's Versailles restaurant." Samson ended his effort last night by signing autographs "after hosting a community meeting for Marlins fans at Miami Senior High School." In Ft. Lauderdale, Christy Cabrera: "For the most part, Samson's efforts were rewarded with applause, cheering and a sense of optimism." Fans who "challenged Samson with questions on a new ballpark or a competitive lineup received a hostile reaction from the crowd of about 100 fans" (Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL, 5/1).
ROCKY TIMES IN CO: In Denver, Woody Paige writes, "We can't demand that the Monforts and [Chair Jerry] McMorris sell [the Rockies]. But they ought to." The ownership is "playing with scared money, and you will always lose in stud poker and professional sports. Frankly, McMorris and the Monforts aren't willing to gamble that they will end up with a $25[M] deficit any year." They "have to consider selling at least 50[%] of the Rockies, if not the entire ownership, to a TV-radio-newspaper-magazine-type syndicate or to a Phil Anschutz" (DENVER POST, 5/1).
FALL GUY: ESPN's Michael Wilbon, on whether Cubs manager Don Baylor should be fired: "You want to change something with the Cubs? They change managers every year. Change the damn ownership because the Cubs have been under the same general ownership for years and years and years and years and years, and they stink" ("PTI," ESPN, 4/30).
CELLAR DWELLERS: ESPN.com's Sean McAdam wrote, "In some sections of the AL basement, it's just plain ugly. ... Lump all the really bad teams in the [AL] into one group — Tampa, Baltimore, Detroit and Kansas City — and the Royals' Mike Sweeney and Carlos Beltran might be the only players out of the 100 on their combined rosters to qualify as bonafide stars." One AL exec: "There's no getting around it — there are some flat-out bad teams in our league. And they're not just bad; they're dull" (ESPN.com, 4/30).
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