If they sign Reyes and Pujols, do they become the new Dream Team en route to a third-place, 83-win season in 2012?

Fuck you moderation.

Ooooooooh…
/faints

As he should have been.

I agree with the second part of course… not necessarily the first though. The Rays have a ton of young talent… and they’ve been pretty good at re-stocking the farm for awhile now. As soon as their guys reach free agency, they let them go…. and bring up someone from the minors. I know the Rays signed Longoria to an extension, but that was before he reached FA, yes? Which I believe is what teams in markets like Tampa, Miami, Milwaukee, KC, etc. have to do.

Agreed, but it’s counting on a lot of things to go right. First, your draft picks have to work out, which isn’t easy to do. Look at the Red Sox, they’ve gone from tons of homegrown talent (Bucholz, Papelbon, Youk, Pedroia) to middling success (Lars Anderson, Manny Delcarmen).

Then, if you do get some success, you have to get him to sign a relatively “cheap” contract like Longoria, which not every player would consider (ie, Fielder).

Oh, and throughout all this you need to keep him healthy.

Matt Holliday, Mike Young, and Beltre.

Young’s was a 5 year extension, not a FA. I don’t see very many good seasons in the future for Matt Holliday given what they owe him. But I’m biased.

Okay… so 1. How many did SF have last year?

Fair point. Oh and St. Louis had Holliday who got a 7/119, Carpenter who had an AAV of around 14-16, and Pujols playing in his last year of his contract. It’s finding a mix of FAs, opportune trades and homegrown talent to really win the whole thing.

How many big money FA’s did Texas or St. Louis have last year?

Matt Holliday, Mike Young, and Beltre.

Okay… so 1. How many did SF have last year?

Yeah.. that site is a lot closer to the city than Miami Gardens, but it’s in a very poor neighborhood where English is the second language.

How many big money FA’s did Texas or St. Louis have last year?

Texas signed Adrian Beltre…6/90. That’s fairly big.

David Samson says he’s expecting to average 30K plus a game… which is double what they would normally do… but I can’t see that place being full in July/August if they’re out of it.

New stadium + better location + shady sources of revenue = ability to spend on FAs.

Not so sure about this one. Site of the old OB?

Agree… I’m just saying that the key to winning in small markets isn’t overpaying for aging FA’s is all. Brewers started winning because they had a great group of players come up together, not because they signed Heath Bell-esque players to $9MM a year contracts. How many big money FA’s did Texas or St. Louis have last year?

Unless they start winning that division (they’re in one with the Braves and Philllies…so good luck), they’ll go back to drawing 17K a game next year.

I mean for the first season. Did season ticket sales go through the roof or something? I wouldn’t be shocked if they do start selling out that it’ll last a month tops.

Unless they start winning that division (they’re in one with the Braves and Philllies…so good luck), they’ll go back to drawing 17K a game next year.

also, making the playoffs more frequently is also a main driving force of revenue. continued success, even if it’s not a WS, is why teams with deep pockets have those funds.

Very much so. Winning consistently leads to more butts in the seats which leads to more revenue. Except in the case of the Rays. But we have seen this in Texas, Philly, Detroit, Boston, Milwaukee, Seattle back in the early 2000s.