Royals Owner David Glass yesterday confirmed the club is "operating with a $70 million soft cap for next season's payroll but emphasized 'nothing is set in stone' and reiterated a willingness to fund a deficit to bolster the team's deficiencies," according to Bob Dutton of the K.C. STAR. Glass said, "We don't have a hard number on anything. I would tell you that for us to break even, our payroll has to be in the $70 million range. But as we've discussed before, we will react based on what our opportunities are." Glass also "disputed the notion ... that he has pocketed more than $100 million in operating profit since purchasing the club in 2000." Glass: "From the time we've owned the team until now, accumulatively we've done no better than break even. We've actually subsidized it slightly during that period of time." He added, "I've always said that whatever money the franchise generates, we're willing to put it all back in -- whether it's in amateur bonuses or payroll or scouting. I'm even willing to go further and subsidize it at a time when we've got a chance to win our division or really be competitive. We're at that time" (K.C. STAR, 11/29). Glass said, "I'm not interested that much in us being competitive for one year. I don't want to shoot craps for one year and mortgage the future for us to do it. I want us to be competitive every year and continue to get better" (MLB.com, 11/28). In K.C., Sam Mellinger wrote Glass "should know his credibility is on the line," and that "a decade of promises and six years of changed ways will be proven fraudulent if he continues pulling the false-economy parking brake that diminishes his team's ability to improve at such a crucial point." His "apparent insistence" on capping the team's payroll is "an assault on common sense." If Glass "doesn't step forward now ... then everything he's said about wanting to win is a lie" (K.C. STAR, 11/28).
