Exactly. It makes no sense whatsoever..... I wish someone would investigate this further, but Im sure they play with numbers so it looks like a loss. I wonder how much he pays his accountant?
i remember right after last season he reported that he lost $4 million.... all of the sudden it is 8?!
I'd like to see a link with a direct quote from McLane saying he lost that much. Not saying he didn't, but if I were a journalist bashing someone, I'd use direct quotes if they were available to me.
Here you go..... http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2002/0717/1406552.html "We've got a $64.7 million payroll. And based on that $64.7 million payroll, we're going to lose about $14.5 million this season (after depreciation and amortization are figured, the actual cash loss will be around $5 million).''
That was three years ago. Regardless, with the criticims leveled against McLane, you'd think that the product on the field is comparable to the Royals or Tigers. We've been lucky enough in the past decade to have two seasons where we weren't in the playoffs or in contention for the post-season. His payroll is very comparable to the market size of Houston.
I don't know...I was asking where he specifically said he lost $4 or $8 million this year. Again, to me, this doesn't matter. I seriously doubt he's making a ton of money. If anything, he's probably closer to breaking even on the team. What matters to me is that during the last decade of his tenure as owner, we've been lucky enough to have eight seasons of highly competitive baseball. I just reread that article...is there a more arrogant sportswriter than Richard Justice? My God he's an ass.
Even if McLane's facts are true (which we'll likely never know) one thing is never mentioned... Even if he lost, oh, let's say $10 million each and every year, he'd still come out waaaay ahead in the end based upon the franchise's increase in value since his initial purchase.
But he doesn't see that value until he sells the team. I have a baseball card worth $5k, that doesn't mean I have $5k to blow on something right now.
When will people admit it was through the pure genius of Gerry Hunsicker, who in my opinion was the best sports executive this city has ever had. He got the better end of almost every trade he made - which is not only rare but almost statistically impossible. And now that Hunsicker is no longer here making the "mini" deals that we've taken for granted, the Astros are sinking like a heavy anchor. McLane can point to past history but that's when he had one of the best in the business running the ship. The fact he can't fully appreciate this and recognize it for what it is demonstrates his ignorance.
Like I said before, Drayton is FULL OF ^&*$. The guy is playing accounting games. I've seen others do it, heck I do it. HE IS NOT LOSING MONEY. You can't lose money and increase the value of your company (longterm).
I never said McLane was the only reason we were good, or even that he had a major hand in any of the moves that were made by Hunsicker. The only fact I'm stating is that during the last decade while Drayton's been the owner, we've been highly competitive. Whether he's losing or making money, all I care about as an Astros' fan is that. Once we become the Royals or the Tigers, we'll finally have a reason to b**** and moan.
I was appalled that Boros punked DMc so badly over Beltran. After all, DMc is one of the premier business people in America. Therefore, I wonder if a little collusion was involved. That is, McLane let himself be worked thereby not having to pay the big bucks for CB while looking like he had made the gallant effort. As for Kent, I was, and remain, glad he was not paid 9mil for this season. What a shame that the Astros aren't good enough to be contenders nor bad enough to blow all the way up.
Nope I don't either. But it doesn't bother me that he has to keep the payroll at a certain level. That's the reality of baseball's system. The A's and Marlins have had success despite cutting payroll. What bothers me is the botched decision making. McLane's decisions were pretty stupid this past offseason.
