The Tampa Bay Times' Marc Topkin reports from Port Charlotte that new MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred called on "local government to provide assistance in resolving the situation."
"You have to
conclude that the stadium issue is the key issue because the Rays have
put a great product on the field consistently for a really long period
of time,'' Manfred said during a visit to Rays camp this morning. "It's
not a situation where you can blame a lack of support on the fact you
don't have a good product. (Baseball operations president) Matt
(Silverman), (principal owner) Stu (Sternberg), the whole Rays team has
done a fantastic job in really difficult circumstances putting a
competitive product on the field.''
...
"From our perspective it is very difficult to get a new
stadium done without cooperation, help, assistance from local
government,'' Manfred said. "We're hoping - we're hoping - that Stuart
gets that kind of help so that they can get a facility that will keep
the Rays and keep them competitive for the long term.''
...
Manfred says the Athletics and Rays stadium issues are "1 and 1-A, they're a single entry in my mind.''
Actually, I give a lot of credit to Manfred for his transparency; he admits
Bud Selig's Boogeymen are quite the asset in
threatening local governments into offering stadium subsidies:
Asked
in general about the other viable markets seeking a team, Manfred said,
"obviously having a market that wants baseball, that could support a
team, provides leverage to a team that's trying to get something done
somewhere.''
Manfred must have been born in 2008 if he thinks six seasons is a "really long period of time."
ReplyDeleteThings to brush under the rug: a decade of incompetence and absolute garbage baseball
Who says the current ownership won't flip the team to a new owner worse than Naimoli once a stadium handout pumps up their value? What would prevent them from doing that? Then we are stuck again with the "Hit Show" and $38 chicken finger baskets. What do we do, take them at their word? Take the Rays and MLB at their word about this town building another stadium?
To "provide assistance" is to help an elderly person cross the road or rescue a cat from a tree. It is not the right term for handing $700M to multimillionaires.
MLB should find a way to finance these stadiums themselves. Figure it out. Create an entity, issue debt. Stand on your own two feet. For the good of every community in this country. Say no to this business culture of dependency. Say yes to personal responsibility.