Wood a D'back?

I think Ivy Chat gets upset everytime he hears that. He seems to think the D'backs are a poor struggling franchise that has no money and cant sign anyone. Nevermind the fact they are controlled by some of the wealthiest people in Arizona. $10-20 million these guys blow on giving away to charities. He cites this article.

"The crunch comes a year after the Arizona Diamondbacks suffered similar cash flow problems. Jerry Colangelo, the Diamondbacks managing general partner, convinced four local investors to pump $160 million into the team over the next 10 years in exchange for additional ownership.

The difference between the two franchises, however, is that the Diamondbacks minority ownership team is loaded with wealthy individuals and Valley companies that injected additional capital to make the franchise competitive."

So whats $160 million between 4 people over 10 years? $4 million a year. Chump change. The reason people always make a fuss about the D-backs money problems is because of their wealthy owners who are flinging cash around. There is no diffrence between the way the D-backs owners use their money than the way Steinbrenner uses his money. Its just with the D-backs you have to go thru alot more people, and it tends to get leaked out to the media. If Steiny wants to invest $200 million dollars into A-rod he will, he might not make a profit on his team anymore but thats his choice, and the price he will pay to win a WS. Its the same with the D-backs, except they have about 5-10 Steinbrenner type people loaded with cash and nothing to spend it on. And thats a bad thing?

Plus there is simply no way to tell what the true financial state of any franchise is. If we took the Cubs word we would be making less money than the Whitesox. I am sure the D-backs love that everyone thinks they are this poor little cash strapped franchise weighted in debt, and cant purse FA's. They have a huge TV area, a huge fan base that puts about 37,000 people a night in the stands, 25,000 of which are season ticket holders. Remember Phoenix is what the 8th largest city in the United States?

I am sure i will get some more e-mail from Chuck at Ivy Chat about how reading is a skill, and have i ever put a financial report together for a sports franchise? But he is in the dark just as much as i am and assumes way to much about a team controlled by very rich people.

Where people make their off-season home is a pretty good sign of where they want to play.........

Randy Johnson lives in Scottsdale
Curt Schilling lives in Scottsdale
Matt Williams lives in Scottsdale
Kerry Wood lives in Scottsdale

(actually i think one of them lives in Ahwatukee next to Todd McFarlane, could be Randy. Either way its just like the city of Scottsdale only south.)

Scottsdale and the Phx area are a magnet for professional athletes. They have great weather year around for training, some of the best golf in the world, and they are a short plane trip to skiiing in Aspen and gambling in Vegas. Not to mention a short drive from one of the most stunning places on the planet Sedona, Az. Colangelo knows this and thats why he has been able to land guys like Charles Barkely, Jason Kidd, Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling over the years and keep them. Where as the Cubs will do everythng in their power to make an excuse not to sign a big time player that wants to be part of Chicago and the Cubs, Colangelo will go out of his way to land these type of players. The theory is if you love living there as your off-season home, then your gonna love playing there as your year around home and thus put up even better numbers. Schilling, Johnson, Williams certainly put up career years playing and living year around in the city they love. Maybe Wood is looking to be happy both at the ballpark and at home. Colangelo and the D'backs will certainly bend over backwards to make it happen, the question is will the Cubs?