Braves Finished $6M In The Red Last Year Largely To Derek Lowe's Trade To Indians

Braves Owner Liberty Media, in the company's annual report, acknowledged the team "finished $6 million in the red last year -- a loss the company attributed to the October trade" of P Derek Lowe to the Indians, according to Tim Tucker of the ATLANTA CONSTITUTION. The Braves sent the Indians $10M as part of the deal, which is "counted against the Braves' 2011 financial results even though Cleveland will use the money toward Lowe's 2012 salary." Liberty's filing included that the Braves "had revenue of $208 million last year, up 2.5 percent from $203 million in 2010." The team posted revenue of $260M in '09. Braves Chair & CEO Terry McGuirk said that the team "has set a player payroll of $94 million, leaving about $4 million still to spend on acquisitions before or during the season." The $94M figure includes the $10M sent to the Indians for Lowe's salary. Tucker noted Liberty "offered no insight into how long the Colorado-based conglomerate intends to own the team," which it acquired in '07 (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 2/25).