PKBadger

As a finance major, this thread is making my brain bleed. There is virtually nothing associated with ticket sales that is a fixed cost. For example, the Brewers could fire my account executive tomorrow, or they could hire more staff if demand warranted. They could buy less paper to print the tickets on if they found that more people were doing the "print at home" option, or purchase it from a different paper company that offers better prices (Dunder Mifflin?). These are variable costs.

Those extended warranties are almost always backed by third-party insurers (in this case, Assurant Solutions) so there is no need to worry. http://blogs.courant.com/...ty-warranties-backed.html

He is...he's Italian the same way that Mike Piazza was Italian back in '06.

Plenty of Cubs on that list, including Harden (doubt he'll play), Lilly, Marmol and Zambrano. I'm happy about this, given the struggles that pitchers seemed to have last time.

It's a little unfair to classify that as a "mediocre season for a leadoff hitter", considering that if a Brewer put up a .286/.395/.418 season from the #1 spot we would throw a parade.

It would be nice if there was a forum where people who were interested in TRADING money for tickets could POST ads like this.

I'll file that under good news. Well, he can afford to be choosy....after all, he is Braden Looper. Seriously, I can understand when highly coveted guys like Fuentes say things like "I'll only play for teams on the West Coast", but you'd think that a mediocre pitcher would go where the money is. (Not saying the Crew would absolutely have the best offer on the table, but what if they did?)

Sort of puts things in perspective. I flew US Airways on Tuesday and sat in an exit row both times, thinking, "what are the odds that anything is ever going to happen?" I'm a strong guy and would definitely be able to perform the necessary duties, but still...

I think the NFL parity has a lot more to do with the scheduling than the salary cap/player movement. Honestly, has the core of the Packers team changed that dramatically (besides Favre) over the past 5 years? The notable players (Driver, Kampman, Barnett, Al Harris, Clifton) have all been with the team for several years - you probably could have added Javon Walker to that list if he would have just played out his contract. The same can be said for a lot of franchises....Colts with Manning, Harrison, Wayne and Clark; Steelers with Big Ben, Hines Ward, Polamalu. The changes are mainly with the role players and roster filler - guys I used to refer to as "commons" when I collected baseball cards. Same thing happens in baseball...Brewers will have a core group of guys that will be relied upon for 5 years or so (Braun, YoGa, Parra, Fielder, Hardy) and the others will be a revolving door. Just look at how much our bullpen changes from year to year. One thing that I hope DOES NOT happen is a situation like the NBA's salary cap. You constantly hear about "acquiring so-and so's expiring contract" and every trade has to match up perfectly. Dumb. Plus the whole idea of having "max contracts" sickens me.

I am not a proponent of a salary cap, so I do think that addressing the TV contract discrepancy is the best path towards better competition in MLB. My suggestion to the problem that tomwopat outlines is as follows: MLB sets up a commission to appraise the market value of local TV contracts, and the teams use that number as guidance in their negotiations with the cable network. For example, let's say that the Brewers are renegotiating with FSN. The MLB panel goes to the Brewers and says, "based on the size of your market, recent ratings figures for Brewers broadcasts, the # of games being shown, and the % of these broadcasts being shown in high definition, we estimate that the rights should be worth $XX million per year." This is done for all 30 teams, and the combined estimated value is divided equally throughout the league after all contracts have been agreed upon and the money has been pooled by the league. If the league's estimate is lower than what the team is able to negotiate, then the team is able to pocket the difference. Example: Panel tells Brewers they should expect to receive $5 million per year, but FSN pays $6 million - Brewers keep $1 million for themselves. If the estimate is higher than the team's contract, MLB contributes the difference into the revenue pool (they're swimming in cash as it is with their online ventures, this shouldn't be a problem). League rules could state that if a team owns the cable network (i.e. Yankees and YES, Red Sox and NESN), then the contract must be equal to the panel's estimate. This would prevent any overpaying or underpaying designed to cheat the system.

If I were one of the bar owners I would be asking: what law am I breaking? This is equivalent to the police telling someone they can't advertise a lawnmowing service because people in the neighborhood don't like the noise. A business owner should be able to promote services that their clients demand. I suppose that the community leaders could go all political and revoke their liquor licenses, but that's when I'd be calling the ACLU lawyers. The whole thing is ridiculous.

Weird. I have Comcast in the Chicago area and I get the channel. You'd think it would be standard across their entire platform, regardless of region.

So are the Cubs going to carry 6 OF on their roster? Soriano Johnson Fukudome Gathright Bradley Hoffpauir (can play 1B) or do they plan to keep Hoffpauir in AAA again as insurance?

This idea is pretty much a pipe dream...however, if Sabathia was considered a "special case" because he would increase ticket sales and legitimize the Milwaukee Brewers franchise, I don't see how you can argue that Manny Ramirez isn't that exact same "special case".

I watch "It's A Wonderful Life" and envision Mark Attanasio as George Bailey and George/Hank Steinbrenner as Mr. Potter.

My suggestion to the Braves? Leave JP alone and promote your AAA radio announcer....Tony Schiavone?! I suppose that after putting up with Bobby Heenan and having to constantly avoid being power-bombed through a table by Kevin Nash, the leisurely pace of Braves baseball would be a nice change of pace. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

The native of Vancouver, British Columbia pitched for Team Canada in the 2008 Olympics. ...and apparently in 2009 as well. Melvin and Ash strike again!

"No thanks" to an .800 OPS? Okay....http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/eyes.gif He's only 28 years old, and there's a good chance that last year was an anomaly. Looking at his 2006 and 2007 seasons and saying that he "doesn't hit well enough to play a corner OF spot" is laughable. He may have hit .219, but he walked 82 times....somehow I don't see Bill Hall doing that.

I have a source within the wedding party who overheard Doug say that his arm is "cashed".

Sort of fitting that he'll be walking down the aisle. (Yeah, I kinda wish he would have thrown more strikes.)

My theory is that Doug Melvin, in a drunken haze at 3 a.m., thought he was acquiring Willis McGahee in the MLB GM fantasy football league. Fun fact: Billy Beane has never won a championship in this league either, and furiously shattered a coffee mug against his office wall last year after Brian Westbrook stopped at the 1-yard line to run out the clock.

For what it's worth, over the summer I read Buster Olney's "Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty" and came away with a completely different opinion of Buck Showalter than what most in this thread are expressing. He comes off a bit obsessive-compulsive (always arranged the team media guides in his office alphabetically, stuff like that) but also was extremely prepared for every game, loved poring over statistics (I would prefer a guy like this to someone who "trusts his gut") and was a big believer in team chemistry (ran Mel Hall out of town for being a selfish jerk). The book also talks about how part of Jimmy Key's decision to sign with the Yankees was the change he saw in the team from the Blue Jays' dugout after Showalter became manager.

I'm terrible at estimating what a guy will get in the FA market - any idea what kind of contract he'll get? Assuming we can't re-sign Sabathia, I think Lowe would be the next best option - nobody else really knocks my socks off (maybe Dempster or Garland). He's 36 years old, but he's never gone on the DL and has made at least 32 starts/year for the last 7 years. Plus his stats have been very consistent with the Dodgers. Would a 3-year contract be enough or would some other team give him 4? I'm guessing that a 2-year offer would be laughed at. http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lowede01.shtml

My ticket rep informed me that they did not charge any customers for the World Series, so you shouldn't expect to see a transaction posted. I think this was a jinx, and might be the REAL reason we didn't advance to the LCS. (BTW jhart, sorry for not finding you in sec. 202 last weekend, totally slipped my mind.)

The thing I find most disturbing when reading Ennder's post is that only 1 player exceeded expectations (Hardy), and most fell considerably short of them. Ah well...only a couple years til Lawrie gets here... http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/frown.gif