With the passing of Giants' Principle Owner Sue Burns earlier this year, is San Francisco Giants' current ownership, led by Bill Neukom, in trouble?
Where there's smoke, there is or at least maybe some fire. The Giants are in a slow motion back peddle on their specific commitment to winning in a specific timeline and how much they can spend...even with contracts off the books of Bengie Molina, Randy Winn, and more.
Now, it's still possible the Giants can pull off a miracle trade for Uggla, etc. Also, there may be offers out there to Nick Johsnon, DeRosa, and LaRoche, but they are just offers.
And, right now, as the team stands, the talent level is clearly lower than what was here just a few months ago. Reasons why this is and why the Giants players payroll will stay at or likely even go below the $90 Million figure:
1. Continued "Mortgage Payments" on ATT Park, including a possible balloon payment this or next year, from sources.
2. Giants ownership are preparing for the Arbitration cases of J. Sanchez, B. Wilson, and the big one...T. Lincecum, where large amounts of $ may be allocated and needed. The Giants cannot make their best offers to free agents until these three are resolved.
3. Any residual payments for Barry Bonds (he's not off their books, yet). This may involve deferred balloon payments against payroll this and/or next year, too.
4. The NL West...nearly every team has its issues and limitations: Dodgers ownership about to go through a divorce; Padres ownership going through the final stages of divorce; Diamondbacks have had debt issues; and Rockies are small market team.
And/or
5. Giants ownership may be in disarray financially, given the passing of Sue Burns. The passing of Sue Burns, the Principle Owner, has put pressure on ownership to not spend, due to legal and/or financial restraints.
On this last point, this could be a growing concern or issue for the Giants organization and fan base. No, I'm not saying they're going to move or anything like that. I'm saying that internally, there are issues to work out naturally given that the Principle Owner spot is likely now under legal and financial transitions. This could take some time, which would be a shame given the great pitching the Giants now have.
So, I pose this question...Do the Giants need additional owner(s) and equity stakes?
Mark Cuban may still be looking for a MLB team to invest in. At least, that's one idea. How about Microsoft, Bill?
If it's not the ownership, maybe, it's the timing of the other four items above coming together now—all at once, at a bad time.
While the Giants are not a public company, the Giants do owe it to their ticketholders to be up front and honest about all this. A closed Press Conference with ticketholders before the start of the 2010 Season seems in order.
There are more questions than answers from what I can see, imho. What do you think?
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