[Giants]

Incompetence?  To the contrary, Fisher will come out of this an even wealthier guy.  

Some rough numbers…

$1.5B for a new stadium (of which 1/3 will come from the state/local gov’t - do not be fooled by the political posturing, that is a typical ploy that politicians feel they must do to demonstrate they are not lackeys for the club owners.  As we learned during the Raiders saga, Nevada will cut a deal once all the garments have been rended).  That means $1.0B out of Fisher’s pocket.

Next, Forbes put the current value of the team at $1.18B.  I think it is a fair assumption that value will increase substantially once the new stadium is completed and the team has settled in their new home.

Heck, if the value only triples (a rather conservative estimate, in my opinion), Fisher will have profited by over $2.5B.   

He may not be the nicest guy in the world but he is nobody’s fool.  He looks at the ball club strictly as an investment and he is doing what is necessary to increase the value of that investment.  

As for Manfred, he has got to be thrilled.  He is one of immense proportions step closer to expansion to 32 franchises which will put a ton of money in the bank accts. of his bosses.  He is on record as having said that once the Oakland/Tampa stadium issues are resolved, it will be time to add a couple new franchises. Oakland is done and Tampa is closer than they have been in quite some time - enough to to give baseball fans in Nashville, Montreal, Portland and Charlotte some real hope.  

In other words, you are wrong, Fisher and Manfred are both in a great spot today.

What new stadium? Where? What part of "they have no stadium deal" (and the A's announced a land purchase as a pressure tactic to pressure Nevada into caving to their demands) is so hard to grasp?

If you were a Nevada decision maker and you saw the shit John Fisher is pulling to pressure you into giving him hundreds of millions of dollars, would you do anything other than let him pound sand?

Here's what should happen:

- Nevada and Las Vegas should tell Fisher they will only entertain the A's with a new owner
- The Mayor of Oakland should tell Manfred they will fast-track a new stadium at the Coliseum site with a new owner and say Joe Lacob's group is ready to buy the A's
- MLB should force Fisher to sell the team because they aren't going to allow the A's to play in the current stadium past 2025, and he is yes, too incompetent, to get one built

Who gives a darn about “should happen”.  This is the real world where most things that “should happen” do not occur for a variety of reasons.  Heck, Russia withdrawing from Ukraine “should happen”, developed nations making a commitment to end worldwide hunger “should happen”, the A’s staying in Oakland “should happen”.  Of those three, odds are short that any “will happen”.  

What will happen is this instance is that the Nevada politicians will moan and groan, then vote to raise the necessary money to allow the A’s to move to NV.  

Also, no owner would ever vote to compel Fisher to sell.  Self-interest in a powerful motivator.  And the interest of the collective ownership group is to encourage Oakland and Tampa to “get it done” regardless what “getting it done” looks like so they can start counting the proceeds coming their way once expansion happens.  

Sports franchises are not charities.  They are for-profit businesses. 

As noted, I don’t like Fisher’s style, but I do think he has the right to run his business in a manner that maximizes his ROI.

[Giants]

Incompetence?  To the contrary, Fisher will come out of this an even wealthier guy.  

Some rough numbers…

$1.5B for a new stadium (of which 1/3 will come from the state/local gov’t - do not be fooled by the political posturing, that is a typical ploy that politicians feel they must do to demonstrate they are not lackeys for the club owners.  As we learned during the Raiders saga, Nevada will cut a deal once all the garments have been rended).  That means $1.0B out of Fisher’s pocket.

Next, Forbes put the current value of the team at $1.18B.  I think it is a fair assumption that value will increase substantially once the new stadium is completed and the team has settled in their new home.

Heck, if the value only triples (a rather conservative estimate, in my opinion), Fisher will have profited by over $2.5B.   

He may not be the nicest guy in the world but he is nobody’s fool.  He looks at the ball club strictly as an investment and he is doing what is necessary to increase the value of that investment.  

As for Manfred, he has got to be thrilled.  He is one of immense proportions step closer to expansion to 32 franchises which will put a ton of money in the bank accts. of his bosses.  He is on record as having said that once the Oakland/Tampa stadium issues are resolved, it will be time to add a couple new franchises. Oakland is done and Tampa is closer than they have been in quite some time - enough to to give baseball fans in Nashville, Montreal, Portland and Charlotte some real hope.  

In other words, you are wrong, Fisher and Manfred are both in a great spot today.

What new stadium? Where? What part of "they have no stadium deal" (and the A's announced a land purchase as a pressure tactic to pressure Nevada into caving to their demands) is so hard to grasp?

If you were a Nevada decision maker and you saw the shit John Fisher is pulling to pressure you into giving him hundreds of millions of dollars, would you do anything other than let him pound sand?

Here's what should happen:

- Nevada and Las Vegas should tell Fisher they will only entertain the A's with a new owner
- The Mayor of Oakland should tell Manfred they will fast-track a new stadium at the Coliseum site with a new owner and say Joe Lacob's group is ready to buy the A's
- MLB should force Fisher to sell the team because they aren't going to allow the A's to play in the current stadium past 2025, and he is yes, too incompetent, to get one built

Who gives a darn about “should happen”.  This is the real world where most things that “should happen” do not occur for a variety of reasons.  Heck, Russia withdrawing from Ukraine “should happen”, developed nations making a commitment to end worldwide hunger “should happen”, the A’s staying in Oakland “should happen”.  Of those three, odds are short that any “will happen”.  

What will happen is this instance is that the Nevada politicians will moan and groan, then vote to raise the necessary money to allow the A’s to move to NV.  

Also, no owner would ever vote to compel Fisher to sell.  Self-interest in a powerful motivator.  And the interest of the collective ownership group is to encourage Oakland and Tampa to “get it done” regardless what “getting it done” looks like so they can start counting the proceeds coming their way once expansion happens.  

Sports franchises are not charities.  They are for-profit businesses. 

As noted, I don’t like Fisher’s style, but I do think he has the right to run his business in a manner that maximizes his ROI.