Zelig says payroll cheques will be bouncy.

[Cho Da]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/news/2002/07/10/labor_negotiations_ap/

[egg]

The Tigers. Brand new stadium, which Illitch paid for, with no one coming to watch this awful team. They were dumping salary when they traded Weaver. Higginson will be next.

[MountainHawk]

Arizona Diamondbacks. MLB made several loans to the Dbacks last year to help them make payroll, so I'm guessing MLB is going to refuse to help them out.

[Drzy]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2002/0710/1404343.html

Run-down: A "highly-placed source" has said one of the teams is the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Zelig has said one of the teams will surprise you (there's two in trouble)... I'm guessing this is not the surprising one. But maybe it is?

Furthermore, the article says Detroit says "not us."

[Dr T Non-Fan]

That's why rich people and corporations own baseball teams. Perhaps someone needs to check the financial backgrounds.

Do any of these owners think that a baseball team is always independently viable?

What a load of crap. Selig says this, but doesn't back it up. Assuming it's true, I'm guessing Tigers and Pirates. Two new places, not selling as well as they should, and interest payments must be made.

[Abducens]

In other news, 32 NFL teams are raring to go in 2 months. Also, LA wants a 33rd. Yup, baseball is America's Game.

[Kid Rock]

I heard Arizona and T.B. were the 2 teams. I guess Selig would consider ti surprising that the World Champions could not make payroll (if it is Arizona).

[Guerilla poster]

Wait until the accounting scandals hit the paper from this mess.

[Aaron Brachowitz]

What accounting scandal? This is about real money.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

I too was wondering what Bud would consider the surprising team.

D-Backs might be surprising, but they've had cash flow problems already. Maybe Bud thinks we'd be surprised, shows how little he respects the interested fans. They should have pulled a Marlins if they were only in it for the one trophy.
Whoever buys them (no, they're not for sale, but if they can't meet payroll, perhaps someone needs to buy the franchise -- at a nice discounted rate, heh-heh) should look at the deferred salaries. Paying off the World Champion's season 10 years from now might be difficult to swallow.

Expos would be surprising, since we expect their payroll will be paid by MLB. Unless of course that's what MLB wants. And of course it is.

Others I consider surprising: Yankees, Mariners, Dodgers, Angels, Red Sox, Cubs, Astros, Rangers (Rangers folding? That would be sweet. How much of A-Rod's salary is guaranteed even in bankruptcy?), Indians, Mets, Cardinals, Reds.
Not surprising: Twins, Devil Rays, Marlins, Padres (are they drawing at all?), A's, Giants (big debt load -- not a seat can be empty).

If a team can't pay its payroll, then MLB takes over and auctions it off to the highest financially qualified bidder.

[whisper]

The team that I think is in trouble is the Florida Marlins. They've been in fire-sale mode before the season even began (trading away Alfonseca and Clement to the Cubs). Then, there is the large trade of Floyd and Dempster to the Expos.

[sb_jim]

Hey, the Padres are drawing just fine this year. They had the record crowd for a major league game anywhere this year with over 60,000 in attendance. It helped to have the Yankees in town for a weekend and the BoSox before that. Why on earth do they want to move to a smaller stadium?

But, they do have the cash drain of building a new stadium and the majority owner (Moores) is involved in an Andersen type scandal with one of his companies called Peregrine something. The stock was de-listed. Not much payroll here to make so the problem is probably elsewhere.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

Smaller stadium:
1. Higher ticket prices.
2. Which should keep out the rowdy types.
3. Worse seats are better (though not true for new Comisky).
4. Upgrade all facilities. More vendors and more bathrooms.
5. No sharing with differently sized sports team, which causes sight-line problems.

Isn't there going to be a free area beyond the fences in the new San Diego park?

[Old Timer]

Heard on a radio talk show that Bud Selig regretted bailing out the teams that MLB did in the last couple of years, the Diamondbacks included. I think this is an indication that Bud would not bail anyone out right now.