Thread: The Marlins are Ridiculous... Or Are They? Baseball Econ 101

How do we know if a team's payroll is too high or too low?

AFAIK, teams do not share their financial information with the public. None are publicly held, which would require disclosure. Not only do they not have to disclose the information, they do not have to be honest with what they do disclose.

What we might need to know is how does the payroll affect these...

1. The long-term value of the franchise? News flash... Most of the money made in baseball is made when the franchise is sold. Calvin Griffith cried about losing money most years then retired to his ranch when he sold his burden to poor Carl Pohlad for $44 Million. Poor Carl's $44 Million investment was worth $510 Million the last time Forbes estimated it (which comes to 9.14% annualized for 28 years. The Yankees went from $8.8 Million when Steinbrenner bought them in '73 to $1.85 Billion in 2012, 14.7% annualized for 39 years!).

2. The franchise's short-term profit? Short-term profit might keep investors from having to hire younger, less-expensive yacht staff (which need to be trained) and might help long-term value (see above). Lack of short-term profit does not necessarily kill reason #1 (see above about Calvin).

3. Winning. This is important in so far as it helps the reasons stated above. But winning is not the only path to success. Just look at the Cubs (sold for $21M in 1981 and for $845M in 2009 or 14.1% annualized for 28 years).

As fans we want our teams to win. Ownership just might have a slightly different take on it.

It seems like the Marlins are going to continue to be run like this until they get a new ownership group.

Which is why the Twins should inquire on RIcky Nolasco(Stopgap1 to 2 years). I would offer like a Joe Benson as all Miami may want is salary relief. Outside of that they need a new ownership group.

hi all
nice post.i like this forum very much

You will lose just as many games with a $100 million payroll as a $30 million payroll. Will the Twins actually do better this year with a $75 million payroll?

How come we don't know how much money the staff makes, even coaches. What is Terry Ryan paid, or Dave. St. Peter. What do the minor leagues cost to operate: personnel vs. real estate/equipment. hat is the true operational costs for tickets/sales, advertising, media. How much do the Twins generate in advertising revenue. What percentage comes from corporate sponsorships.

The Marlins could beat the Twins pretty easily.

Originally Posted by Top Gun

The Marlins could beat the Twins pretty easily.

That is just depressing. But i think I would take the 2015 twins over 2015 marlins so there's that.

Originally Posted by Rosterman

How come we don't know how much money the staff makes, even coaches. What is Terry Ryan paid, or Dave. St. Peter. What do the minor leagues cost to operate: personnel vs. real estate/equipment. hat is the true operational costs for tickets/sales, advertising, media. How much do the Twins generate in advertising revenue. What percentage comes from corporate sponsorships.

Because it is a private company.

Originally Posted by Rosterman

How come we don't know how much money the staff makes, even coaches. What is Terry Ryan paid, or Dave. St. Peter. What do the minor leagues cost to operate: personnel vs. real estate/equipment. hat is the true operational costs for tickets/sales, advertising, media. How much do the Twins generate in advertising revenue. What percentage comes from corporate sponsorships.

How much money do you make a year? Why can't the rest of us know?

For the record, I don't really want to know. But as vodkadave said, it's a private company. They don't have to disclose anything at all if they don't want to, just like you don't have to disclose that sort of thing to me or the rest of the TD community.

The minor league costs are a little different, because minor league teams are generally not owned by the MLB team (with a few exceptions). So, there you're asking for financial information from more than one private company.

If you want to look at financial statements for some teams, some of them were leaked a while ago. The Twins were not one of them though. You're not going to get actual numbers for how much the GM made, but you might get an idea of how much they pay the entire front office.

MLB Confidential: The Financial Documents Baseball Doesn't Want You To See, Part 1

Originally Posted by allenmarton

hi all

Allen is on the board with post #1. Hi Allen. Welcome! (I'm trying to pad my numbers - only about 35,000* posts to catch VodkaDave.)



* - Estimate - might be slightly high.

Originally Posted by Top Gun

The Marlins could beat the Twins pretty easily.

Stanton can only hit once in the order so this isn't close to true.

Originally Posted by James

How much money do you make a year? Why can't the rest of us know?

For the record, I don't really want to know. But as vodkadave said, it's a private company. They don't have to disclose anything at all if they don't want to, just like you don't have to disclose that sort of thing to me or the rest of the TD community.

The minor league costs are a little different, because minor league teams are generally not owned by the MLB team (with a few exceptions). So, there you're asking for financial information from more than one private company.

If you want to look at financial statements for some teams, some of them were leaked a while ago. The Twins were not one of them though. You're not going to get actual numbers for how much the GM made, but you might get an idea of how much they pay the entire front office.

MLB Confidential: The Financial Documents Baseball Doesn't Want You To See, Part 1

This isn't obviously directed at you:

But...one thing I find annoying is people constantly complaining about owners wanting to "make" money. Sure, it would be nice if the Pohlads could just throw around money and not care about profits, but at the end of the day it is a business. If someone doesn't like the product, then stop going/watching. Reading thread after thread about how much people think the Twins payroll should be etc gives me some serious tired head.

Then try soaking your head.

Originally Posted by Top Gun

Then try soaking your head.

lol.. Gun... You obviously have a strong negative feeling about our Twins.

I always wonder about the individuals that constantly complain about the Twins regardless of the move or situation. I mean, why even bother putting so much time and effort into a team if you can't enjoy it sometimes?

As someone once said "Just be glad you don't wake up in the morning with the same outlook on life as them."

Twins need to come close to breaking even. They still have some bills from the building of the statium. Payroll will likely be between $80 - $85, plenty if you are rebuilding without saying you are rebuilding. Twins will need to spend extra money in 2- 3 years when hopefully the farm system brings enough talent to be competitive for at least division titles.

What should be added in the original statement is that using their strategy the Marlins won 2 World Championships since the Twins won their last. So, at least their way has been more effective that the Twins' way.
Fact.

Thrylos is back... With extra juice!!!

Originally Posted by thrylos98

What should be added in the original statement is that using their strategy the Marlins won 2 World Championships since the Twins won their last. So, at least their way has been more effective that the Twins' way.
Fact.

Not fact. The current ownership group took over in 2002. The pieces to that 2003 team were already there when they took over. So the current ownership's strategy has won them 87 games in 2009, but other than that, their building has left the organization with a sub .500 record, even with the championship season.