Several MLB teams held their annual fan fests over the weekend, and Dodgers President & CEO Stan Kasten spent his time "deflecting questions about the team's alarming lack of spending this offseason," according to Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. TIMES. Dodgers fans "aren't about to abandon their team over an uninspiring offseason," but they do want the club to "do more and some of them made their voice heard on Saturday." Kasten noted that season-ticket sales "point to the Dodgers leading baseball in attendance again." But Hernandez writes at best, Kasten and Dodgers ownership are "mistaking loyalty for satisfaction." At worst, they are "taking advantage of their customers’ intense devotion." Hernandez: "Why haven’t they spent more this offseason?" Kasten also said, there are a "lot of advantages to being under" the luxury-tax threshold. When asked what those advantages were, Kasten said, "I’m not going to go into that because that’s real inside baseball economic stuff." Kasten said to reporters, "You keep making this stuff up. ... I'm dealing with facts." He added, "You’re inventing a narrative that I don’t agree with because, like I said, I can almost tell you for sure, we’re going to lead the National League in attendance again. You’re inventing a different universe that is not borne out by reality" (L.A. TIMES, 1/27).
ALL IN: In Milwaukee, Tom Haudricourt notes with 21 players signed for about $113M, and another $6M committed to deferred pay and option buyouts, the Brewers figure to open the '19 season with a payroll beyond $120M, "easily a franchise record." To show he was "serious about going for it again this year," Brewers Owner Mark Attanasio gave President of Baseball Operations & GM David Stearns permission to sign C Yasmani Grandal for $18.25M guaranteed on a one-year deal, with a mutual option for '20. Speaking at the Brewers On Deck fan fest yesterday, Attanasio said, "We’re doing everything we can to compete, right here, right now. ... We were not going to sit still" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 1/28).
SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING: In Pittsburgh, John Perrotto wrote Pirates President Frank Coonelly, Exec VP & GM Neal Huntington and manager Clint Hurdle "painted a rosy picture" during a Q&A session with fans during PirateFest on Saturday. All three said that they "believe the Pirates can win on a shoestring budget." The Pirates are on course to have a $71M player payroll on Opening Day. In MLB, that figure ranks ahead of only the Rays, and it marks a 19% decrease from last season that seemingly would "make it tough to compete" in the NL Central. The long drought and low payroll are enough to "make even the most diehard Pirates fans skeptical." None of the fans on Saturday "stepped to the microphone to tell management they were happy with the team cutting spending" (DKPITTSBURGHSPORTS.com, 1/26).
GLASS HALF FULL: In Baltimore, Peter Schmuck notes fans "showed up in decent numbers" for Orioles FanFest on Saturday. The event has always been a "celebration of the future in advance, so it was no surprise Saturday that the mood of the estimated 8,000 fans who showed up was upbeat and positive." This is a "new era of Orioles baseball and it is going to take some time to mold all these bright-eyed young players into a contending team" (BALTIMORE SUN, 1/27). Also in Baltimore, Jon Meoli wrote the "honesty about the present optimism about what it could mean for the future dominated the day" (BALTIMORE SUN, 1/27).
WELCOME HOME: In Chicago, Phil Rosenthal noted the White Sox on Friday welcomed back former manager Ozzie Guillen for the first time in years to SoxFest, where attendees "greeted him with chants of Ozzie! Ozzie! Ozzie!" With the White Sox "firmly committed" to current manager Rick Renteria, the "time was right." Guillen said, "This is something I was looking for for a long time." Guillen "especially wanted to be at SoxFest this year to celebrate" Harold Baines’ HOF selection. Guillen indicated that he "wouldn’t mind being asked to rejoin the Sox organization in some capacity" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/27).
