Things to Remember About the Mets, the Twins, and the 28 Other Owners

[RandBalls Stu]

I have some thoughts on Carlos Correa, Steve Cohen, and the site founder's craft beer outlays for you to read while the weather tries to kill us to death.

Image courtesy of Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

 

Steve Cohen, the Mets owner, is stupid rich. He can afford to sign Carlos Correa as an afterthought.

All the other owners are also stupid rich. They could also afford to sign Carlos Correa as an afterthought. They opted out.

The Giants and Twins may end up being completely vindicated in exercising restraint. That plate in Correa’s leg may start malfunctioning like the one in Cousin Eddie’s head from Christmas Vacation. If he pees his pants rounding second because someone at Citi Field is microwaving salmon in the break room, the Mets can’t say they weren’t warned.

If Correa flames out, guess what? The Mets can still afford it. And they can afford to replace him with another generational talent at another astronomical price point.

This gets at the problem for the Twins, Giants, and everyone else, even the Pirates: They can all afford this, too. See above about being stupid rich. Their wealth is unimaginable. You really have no idea.

It’s not your money.

“We’ll lose (some number and a word that rhymes with Jillian) this season! We can't compete with New York!” Great. That’s a rounding error for them and a number they finessed to within an inch of straight up lying. If they want to impress me with real losses, invest in crypto.

If they decide that losing a fraction of their wealth on a professional sports team is not for them, the Phoenix Suns just sold for $4 billion. Buddy, there’s the door.

You don’t get points for not taking on risk. You don’t get games in hand for fiscal responsibility. You do get a reputation as a team that will do exactly this much to improve your roster, but not that much.

It’s not your money.

Every “small market” team is in a giant city with skyscrapers and bridges. The people who own that team own the skyscrapers and the bridges are named after the great-grandparent who got the money in the first place by inventing child labor or selling bayonets to a guy nicknamed “The God-Tyrant of the Eurasian Steppe” or something.

“The owners didn’t become rich by wasting money.” No, they became rich by being born into obscene wealth. Glad we cleared this up.

“The Pohlads are cheap” is inaccurate. “Most of the owners are content with the status quo” is accurate. The problem is, Steve Cohen is making the status quo look cheap. So I may have to revisit that “inaccurate” thing.

It’s not your money. It really, really isn’t.

The concessions at Target Field will be expensive regardless of who they sign this winter. Let’s say they decide to say "Bleep it" and start the rebuild now. You will still spend John Bonnes’ weekly craft beer budget on a hot dog and popcorn in 2023.

None of this is Carlos Correa’s fault. Anyone mad at him for taking the best deal (twice) instead of staying in Minnesota is a tiny baby. Yes, our lakes and amenities are nice, but I assure you that San Francisco and New York have water and restaurants too.

In conclusion, they should probably trade for some pitching. 

 

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[Mark G]

Thanks for that 7:00 am pep talk on a stupid, freezing cold Friday morning.  I needed that.  ??

[DJL44]

Quote

No, they became rich by being born into obscene wealth.

Add in a winner-take-all economic and political system that concentrates wealth with people who already have it.

[Craig Arko]

Perhaps your best work to date.

[DJL44]

Cohen isn't even a particularly rich billionaire. He's #134 on the Forbes list. He's going to spend a bunch of money and at the end of it all his net worth is going to grow faster than he can spend the money on the Mets payroll.

[dex8425]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

Add in a winner-take-all economic and political system that concentrates wealth with people who already have it.

Well, except for the people that weren't born into wealth and actually worked hard to make themselves wealthy.  Your narrative creates a sense of entitlement and people looking for handouts. There's no "pick yourself up by the bootstraps" mentality anymore. 

[DJL44]

53 minutes ago, dex8425 said:

Well, except for the people that weren't born into wealth and actually worked hard to make themselves wealthy.  Your narrative creates a sense of entitlement and people looking for handouts. There's no "pick yourself up by the bootstraps" mentality anymore. 

Can't tell if this is sarcasm because of the internet. Did you realize picking yourself up off by your own bootstraps is impossible and the phrase was intended as a sarcastic rejoinder? Nobody is a billionaire solely by "hard work".

[Fire Dan Gladden]

You all are a bunch of wimps... -11 degrees with -35 degree windchill?   Come talk to me when it is -30/-50.  I didn't even zip up my coat...

There is a reason rich people are rich.  It doesn't happen by throwing money out the window.  That is why it is such big deal when one decides to make it rain. 

[bustedstuff88]

1 hour ago, dex8425 said:

Well, except for the people that weren't born into wealth and actually worked hard to make themselves wealthy.  Your narrative creates a sense of entitlement and people looking for handouts. There's no "pick yourself up by the bootstraps" mentality anymore. 

Actually, That dram died sometime in the very early 1970's. You dont get mega rich by pulling at your bootstraps anymore. 

 

An argument could be made you never actually could and that was just a carrot on a stick illusion even half a century ago created by the mega rich to get the poor to work harder for them in their factories. 

[mikelink45]

I believe owning sports teams is a hobby for the ultra rich - it is the bauble they carry around to their exclusive meetings and everyone has been happy to polish their "I own buttons" for each power lunch.  But someone forgot to tell Cohen that it is not about winning.  They did not tell him that sharing the wealth was a bad idea.  Just think if those rich guys would say I have enough, how about if I give all my employees a real raise that will cut my annual millions (billions) down a little?  But the money goes to the employees that give them bragging rights.  Until now it was just the "I own Mike Trout" syndrome - now someone has caught the Steinbrenner bug and Cohen is actually laughing at the pittance he is paying.

Don't look at the total package - look at the annual salaries, by the time Correa gets $300,000 Cohen will have a few more billions.  And the poor Pohlads will be spinning their small marker LP as long as they can.  

[nicksaviking]

1 hour ago, dex8425 said:

Your narrative creates a sense of entitlement and people looking for handouts. There's no "pick yourself up by the bootstraps" mentality anymore. 

You're talking about the wealthy correct? Tax payer funded stadiums, obscene tax breaks and getting everything hand delivered  to their doorstep on a silver platter?

Or are you saying the entitlement and handouts should ONLY be reserved for the wealthy?

[ashbury]

This piece is a tour-de-force, containing a full quota of quotable quotes.  Quoth ashbury, "kudos."

[sampleSizeOfOne]

This guy should own a major league club:

 

 

[sampleSizeOfOne]

19 minutes ago, ashbury said:

This piece is a tour-de-force, containing a full quota of quotable quotes.  Quoth ashbury, "kudos."

Wait. There's a quota? How short am i?

[davidborton]

Loved, loved, loved it.

Will spend my $5 game price in Arizona for two months, watching Div I ball and women's softball tourneys and then hopping in car and watching the best HS ball in the state for...free. 

See, there is a benny to being as old as Methuselah.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Well done Stu!

[mnfireman]

[dex8425]

On 12/23/2022 at 10:19 AM, bustedstuff88 said:

Actually, That dram died sometime in the very early 1970's. You dont get mega rich by pulling at your bootstraps anymore. 

 

An argument could be made you never actually could and that was just a carrot on a stick illusion even half a century ago created by the mega rich to get the poor to work harder for them in their factories. 

Most rich people I know didn't/don't have rich parents or come from family money. All of them are smart and driven though!