[lex24]

The Giants are a privately-held for-profit company.  The investors expect a return on their share.  Therefore, it is necessary to function within a budget.  Since no one outside the highest levels of the organization are privy to the numbers, anything anyone says is merely a guess.  

I read the Baggerly article and agree with much of what he said. It is interesting that his focus was less on on-field performance than the marketing shortfalls.  In essence, I think his message was never take your clientele for granted.  They need to be constantly reassured that you care about them.

Payroll is not a guess.  Overall budget, yes.  I’m sure the investors are doing just fine.  There are, I believe, tax benefits on top of everything else. 

As for OF, I don’t think there is any real question of who sets the budget - the owners.  It’s their money.  Zaidi runs the baseball operations.  I don’t think that includes setting the budget. I mean, why would Zaidi want a mid-level budget?  He’s competing against an organization that has a payroll that is $100,000,000 higher. I can’t conceive of a reason Zaidi wouldn’t want that type of budget.

[lex24]

The Giants are a privately-held for-profit company.  The investors expect a return on their share.  Therefore, it is necessary to function within a budget.  Since no one outside the highest levels of the organization are privy to the numbers, anything anyone says is merely a guess.  

I read the Baggerly article and agree with much of what he said. It is interesting that his focus was less on on-field performance than the marketing shortfalls.  In essence, I think his message was never take your clientele for granted.  They need to be constantly reassured that you care about them.

Payroll is not a guess.  Overall budget, yes.  I’m sure the investors are doing just fine.  There are, I believe, tax benefits on top of everything else. 

As for OF, I don’t think there is any real question of who sets the budget - the owners.  It’s their money.  Zaidi runs the baseball operations.  I don’t think that includes setting the budget. I mean, why would Zaidi want a mid-level budget?  He’s competing against an organization that has a payroll that is $100,000,000 higher. I can’t conceive of a reason Zaidi wouldn’t want that type of budget.