Tampa Bay fire sale????

[Primo]

Just heard on Mike and MIke......rays plan on cutting 20 million out of their salary due to poor fan attendance etc. They did not sell out for the CC v. Price matchup w/ the two teams basicaly tied for first w/ 20 games left.

bye bye Crawford, Pena and a couple others.....go to the royals

 

[3XC]

O's under Buck have a better shot in 2011 then. Instead of two mercenary squads and the talented Rays, its just the combined 400 million dollar Yankees/Sox duo.

Who am I kidding.

 

[Primo]

yankees are idiots......they should have paid crawford whatever the hell he wanted a couple years ago. imo, he's one of the best int he game and severely under-rated for what he brings. never saw much difference between him and Ichiro but what e v a


just really sucks to see a team do it the right way and can't get the community to get around th team.....granted, times are tough all over but it's just a shame

 

[3XC]

yankees are idiots......they should have paid crawford whatever the hell he wanted a couple years ago. imo, he's one of the best int he game and severely under-rated for what he brings. never saw much difference between him and Ichiro but what e v a


just really sucks to see a team do it the right way and can't get the community to get around th team.....granted, times are tough all over but it's just a shame

Florida in general, but especially west Florida, is inundated with retirees and transplants from the east and midwest who never abandoned their old loyalties. The Rays have fans, but their stadium is a pit. Still, in Baltimore a showdown for first place in mid september would have 50,000 packed in the Yard and 10,000 milling around outside trying to get in.

 

[Primo]

Florida in general, but especially west Florida, is inundated with retirees and transplants from the east and midwest who never abandoned their old loyalties. The Rays have fans, but their stadium is a pit. Still, in Baltimore a showdown for first place in mid september would have 50,000 packed in the Yard and 10,000 milling around outside trying to get in.

and lots of fights, crime and drugs being done.....my kinda place

 

[3XC]

and lots of fights, crime and drugs being done.....my kinda place

Where, Baltimore? Or Florida? Because in terms of drugs and general grimyness, Florida is up there.... parts of Tampa are real bad. Jacksonville is the crack smoking capital of the world.

 

[Primo]

i just got a speeding ticket.......42 in a 30 in a frickin' speed trap. cop said, "i know you were just trying to get around those semi's but i can't let you drive that fast through "MY" town......i lol'd. i said "your town??...are yout he mayor"??? ****ing punk ass nerds who became cops to give good looking jocks like me speeding tickets......

"my" town is right up there w/ "we signed so and so"

 

[doG]

Too bad the Rays cant get the peeps to come out they are an exciting team to watch. I would kill to have a team like that to watch in my area but if the same amount of people are going to come out and watch whether they are good or suck then i guess they gotta do what they gotta do. Crawford to the Giants for prospects

 

[mjross81]

Too bad the Rays cant get the peeps to come out they are an exciting team to watch. I would kill to have a team like that to watch in my area but if the same amount of people are going to come out and watch whether they are good or suck then i guess they gotta do what they gotta do. Crawford to the Giants for prospects

Tampa Bay as a sports market is a friggin' joke...

 

[Mike Brady]

That sucks. They`re actually a really good team too.

 

[SevenBizzos]

Opening day 2010 was almost $73mil. So they're telling you the Rays will open 2011 with a $53mil payroll? That's more like Houston, San Francisco, and Cleveland numbers. All that while playing in the AL East. Good luck!

 

[HE15MAN]

Hope the Braves can nab Carl Crawford for CF

 

[KannonsDad]

I like the sounds of this, my cousin is in TB's farm system, this should help him move up

 

[DaIrishman]

there shouldn't be teams in Florida in general, it is a spring training state. Expansion is a joke out of the 4 teams that are newbies, the Diamondbacks and Rockies are the two that have no issues, if they do they are being really talked about. The Marlins have won 2 World Series and still can't fill the seats. To be honest I think they should move a teams Vegas or the Carolinas or Tennessee. Florida will always be a Spring Training state and nothing else. It is sad to see more Yankee fans at the games then Rays fans. This just proves why there should be a salary cap with a max and a min payroll. Look at Pittsburg and Kansas City, yes the teams suck but they are not having money issues.

 

[Hebrew Hammer]

yankees are idiots......they should have paid crawford whatever the hell he wanted a couple years ago. imo, he's one of the best int he game and severely under-rated for what he brings. never saw much difference between him and Ichiro but what e v a


just really sucks to see a team do it the right way and can't get the community to get around th team.....granted, times are tough all over but it's just a shame

This ^^^. The Cards will gladly take Zobrist, Crawford, Shields, Price and Longoria off their hands

 

[SESC1001]

First off, the Reds & Padres have worst or the same attendance as the Rays. Currently, Hillsborough County has the highest unemployment rate in the state. The ball park is in downtown St. Pete which is a good distance from majority of surrounding areas. Rays haven't offered alot of promotions this year for food & beverage. Once the Red Sox or Yankees come to town, the parking goes from 10.00 to 25.00 dollars, wtf? The Rays need a new stadium in a better location. I am sick of ESPN always calling out the Rays attendance!

 

[obagain]

We will see if the new ranger owners are really serious if they do cut payroll, the rangers still have a ton of talent in the minors, the question is if they will open the wallet to get a player or 2.
Cruz, hamilton and crawford would make a great of.

 

[Brooks]

I agree with the owner. Baseball just isn't important enough in Tampa Bay. It's good to sit at home and watch in front of the HD 60" or at your favorite watering hole, but to go deal with the Trop in south St Pete, traffic, and $9 beers is where it becomes an unworthy cause except maybe one a month on weekends. That's Tampa Bay fans' attitudes towards the Rays. TV ratings are top 3 in the nation, but attendance is in the bottom third of the league. If Stu slashes payroll and turns them into a .500 or less club, fans will simply tune them out and wait for football season. Not a good scenario for a baseball owner! The next question is where do you move the Rays to get the fan support you need to spend the money to keep them playoff competitive? Some say Las Vegas, Charlotte, or Nashville. Look at their economies and tell me that

 

[chillywilly777]

Whatever, you shouldn't need a 100 million plus payroll to consistently compete anyway, but back to reality where you do.

 

[cyber2nd]

One of the things mentioned about attendance at the Trop.

Most Major league clubs sell two thirds of their season tickets to businesses/corporations and one third to individuals. The Rays only sell one third of their season tickets to businesses/corporations.

 

[Schu]

The Rays have been planning this for years now. It's not a fire sale by any means. Sure, they'll lose Carl Crawford because they won't pay him. They shouldn't pay him anyway. He's now past his peak and the odds of him living up to whatever exorbitant contract he gets out of the Yankees or Red Sox is small. The Rays have Desmond Jennings waiting in AAA and while there will be some growing pains, by all measures they will be fine.

As for Pena, well, they picked him up off the scrap heap. I'm sure they can find a replacement batter that hits .201 with 27 homers

 

[STOMPKIN]

i just got a speeding ticket.......42 in a 30 in a frickin' speed trap. cop said, "i know you were just trying to get around those semi's but i can't let you drive that fast through "MY" town......i lol'd. i said "your town??...are yout he mayor"??? ****ing punk ass nerds who became cops to give good looking jocks like me speeding tickets......

"my" town is right up there w/ "we signed so and so"

 

[rb30]

They need a new stadium, and it needs to be built in Tampa by the Hardrock, I75/I4 interchange. That would hopefully get more people from Lakeland and Orlando area to come to the games, because relying on St Pete and the smaller cities around it is not cutting it. The Rays are going to lose CC, Pena and Soriano, which will free up about $27mil. Good thing Jennings is waiting to take over for CC, and Dan Johnson has proven to be a decent replacement at 1B.

 

[hrdchrgin13]

The Rays can send the Braves Price, Crawford, and Longoria and I will happily let them have Kawasaki, McCoulth, and Diaz.

 

[3XC]

Whatever, you shouldn't need a 100 million plus payroll to consistently compete anyway, but back to reality where you do.

You do in the AL East.

If they restrucured the divisions and put your favorite team in with the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, and Dodgers you would be awfully butthurt. Doesn't matter if some of those teams suck in 2010 - the ability to spend your way out of mistakes made by your GM gives you unlimited flexibility. Tampa is an anomaly, a team that struck gold in amateur drafting. Its a testament to their scouts but yeah, there is an element of luck involved. The Yankees don't have to get lucky when there are 29 other teams who scout guys and 29 other teams willing to develop pitchers right to the cusp of their prime that can then be bought at auction.

 

[12345]

First off, the Reds & Padres have worst or the same attendance as the Rays. Currently, Hillsborough County has the highest unemployment rate in the state. The ball park is in downtown St. Pete which is a good distance from majority of surrounding areas. Rays haven't offered alot of promotions this year for food & beverage. Once the Red Sox or Yankees come to town, the parking goes from 10.00 to 25.00 dollars, wtf? The Rays need a new stadium in a better location. I am sick of ESPN always calling out the Rays attendance!

This is true because the Reds cannot half fill the stadium either and they have been great lately. I have still been getting tickets easily for less than half the face value right down on the field. Its pathetic there isn't more fan support.

 

[Brooks]

Other than the "big 5" baseball cities (NY, LA, Bstn, Chi, St Louis) overall national interest is declining. There are many stories of winning teams with lack of fan support. Stu can threaten to move the team if he gets mad enough, but where

 

[12345]

First off, the Reds & Padres have worst or the same attendance as the Rays.

Just looked it up and the Rays actually do have slightly worst attendance:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance

But Cincinnati is up about 4K fans over last year.

 

[3XC]

Other than the "big 5" baseball cities (NY, LA, Bstn, Chi, St Louis) overall national interest is declining. There are many stories of winning teams with lack of fan support. Stu can threaten to move the team if he gets mad enough, but where

Baseball did this to themselves. They couldn't have become a regional sport any faster if they did it by design. Just as you mentioned, its a few metropolitan areas and the rest is NFL football, college football, and college basketball. In Canada its hockey. Baseball fans are also skewed to be older, whiter, wealthier, and more urban than football fans. What does this mean in terms of the health of these competing leagues? The NFL will grow and continue to see revenues rise. Baseball is at the start of a long, slow, gradual decline.

Really there doesn't need to be 30 MLB teams. 20 or 22 is plenty.

 

[rb30]

A salary cap could've helped with this.....on the other hand, it disgusts me to know that Hellickson is not in the starting rotation because the Rays fear he'll get enough innings to qualify as a rookie, which will reduce their rights to pay him minimum wage by a year.