Qs, As with Maury Brown

Many of you are familiar with Maury Brown, founder of the Business of Sports Network (AC links here), mainly because he has been outspoken about Jim Crane for the past several months. In addition to his own site, he is a contributor to Baseball Prospectus, Forbes, and has been referenced for material by the New York Times, Time, USA Today, and a bunch of other publications with which you are already familiar. He also has a tendency to rile up Astros fans, so Maury was good enough to answer a few questions for us...

AC: You were perhaps the most prominent media member outspoken against the ownership of Jim Crane, while most were content to just sit back and let everything play out. What was the motivation behind the exposes on Crane?

MB: Looking at ownership background is something that I've done for over a decade, and doesn't include current owners, but them historically. My look at Crane was only different in the fact that he had been part of several bids (Astros, Cubs, Rangers, and then back to the Astros), and he'd always been portrayed as "unapprovable". I never fully understood that, so I went looking deeper. From there, it became a matter of seeing what had transpired to his businesses and how that fit in with owning an MLB club. I said this for my Forbes piece, but I passionately believe owning a sports club is different than any other business as they are a community asset. The local team instills great emotion in the fans, who have a vested interest. Myself and others, when looking at what had gone on with owners in the past, and now with Frank McCourt, was to say, 'Has baseball, and the fans of the Astros, really addressed everything they need to about who is the steward of the club, or has what has occurred something that can be explained away and was part of the past?' All, I'm sure, are hoping it's the latter.

AC: How would you address the (ad nauseum) comments that, if you're critical of a team, you must certainly hate them?

MB: Blind allegiance is something that's never healthy. Being critical of one aspect does not mean you are critical, as a whole. I've spent many hours researching the history of the Astrodome, the Colt .45s, and the Astros. Judge Hofheinz is one of the most incredible people in the history of, not just baseball, but sports as a whole. So, the "Astros" will continue on in history. Good and bad aspects are parts of all things over time, and that holds true of sports clubs depending on where you look at a snapshot. I certainly don't hate the Astros. If anything, I tend to be more caught up in the moment of what's happening in terms of some of the club's history that's going to be stopped (read: the move out the National League). Fans have a large interest in their local and regional teams. I often write what I do because they matter most.


AC: Who should Astros fans be mad at: Bud Selig, Jim Crane, Drayton McLane, or someone else?

MB: I don't know if "mad" is the right word. In the cold reality of business, there was a seller (McLane) and a buyer (Crane) and there were $680 million reasons for the deal to go through. Mr. McLane has been a perfect member of baseball;s ownership fraternity, and with it, the league surely wanted the sale to work out for all involved. But, I mentioned the situation with McCourt prior and that cast a pale over the owners. If you think about it, owners have run into problems after coming into the league, but few have had the problems Crane had in his background before being approved. McLane had been saying, "Don't trust this guy" after backing out of the sale in 2008, and here he comes saying, "He's great" when the money in the sale is so large. In the end, I'm not going to pass judgement on how Crane runs the Astros. He hasn't had enough time at the helm to be judged one way or the other. But, there are certainly a lot of people paying closer attention to him than some others that have been approved this early on. I believe that's a good thing for the Astros and fans of the team.

AC: On Twitter you said that you wanted to see the Astros get back to being a great franchise. When, do you think, were the "Glory Years" of the Houston Astros?

MB: It's a great question as "glory years" for the Astros comes in a couple of different forms for me. Certainly the creation of the Harris County Domed Stadium, later christened the Astrodome, is something that is one of the greatest feats in the history of sports business. It was full of so many firsts that are now commonplace... roofed facility, luxury suites, in-stadium restaurants, even the colored seating was revolutionary. In terms of the team, I so vividly remember that 18-inning, 7-6 win over the Braves in the postseason of 2005. That team "felt" as if it had all the parts, and the club was riding high. So, it's a little of both. The recent sell-down over the past couple of seasons to get player payroll more manageable for the sale from McLane to Crane was discomforting. It put some front office people in a difficult position, and, as last season clearly showed, it didn't help the Astros in the standings. But, there's a new regional sports network that will infuse the Astros with additional revenues. If the money is used wisely in free agency and wrapping up key talent, while player development is done soundly, there's no reason that the Astros can't be back in the thick of it sooner rather than later.

AC: Astros fans are obviously pretty upset about getting moved to the Kids Table, I mean the American League. As you cover the business side of sports, what's the financial impact of the Astros moving to the AL?

MB: I think the move to the AL, financially, is not as bad as it's being portrayed. I've spent hours speaking to those that are involved in television rights deals, and while this deal has a wrinkle (the Rockets and Comcast being partners with the Astros in the RSN), the fact is while having games starting later due to West Coast games can be partially off-set by saying, look at all the day games in the Eastern Timezone that the Cubs play. And while it's never good to say that the visiting team is a large part of the attendance and TV draw, the fact is, the Astros will be seeing more of the Yankees and Red Sox and as much as there is a large quarter that loathes them, television and attendance numbers will likely be up -- way up -- when they come to Houston. The biggest downside is having to pay for a DH, which often comes with a healthy price tag in the free agency space, and yes, having the late start time for games being played on the West Coast. The biggest thing for the fans is the loss of nearly 50 years of NL history. Coupling that with what Bud Adams did to the Oilers name, and it's just "one more thing". The one thing everyone can agree on is, good or bad, well.... 2013 is going to be a very, very different year for the Astros.
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UPDATE: I know many if you are upset with me not asking about the Character issue. Fact is, there were things Maury Brown would discuss, and things he would not. His sources about Crane's character were not open for discussion, and I was okay with that. Sorry to disappoint you with this free service, I sincerely hope that you were not put out too terribly much.

Big thanks to Maury Brown for taking the time to answer these questions.

Maury Brown: Crane will get approved

Maury Brown will get approved by the owners, says Maury Brown, in his latest article.

There’s never been anyone willing to say on or off-record which owners weren’t willing to vote to approve Crane in August. Speculating, it’s possible the Rangers might not have been keen to Crane. After all, Crane was part of a quickly cobbled together partnership with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban that had them in the auction process for the Rangers that eventually saw a group headed by Nolan Ryan and Chuck Greenberg winning. The auction process drove the sale price up higher than expected, which didn’t exactly sit well with the new Rangers ownership group. The odd thing is, that sale likely played into how much Crane’s exceptionally large group is now paying for the Astros.

All that aside, at least 7 owners must have had questions about Crane as the move to approve ownership transfer requires 75 percent of the owners agreeing. Certainly, Drayton McLane is for it, so 75% of 29… you do the math.

Click the link, it's well worth your time.

Tease Alert!

Maury Brown, of the Biz of Baseball, has a little bit of a bomb to drop:

Sampling on Crane: over past 15 yrs, Crane-held companies have been involved in 130 lawsuits at the Federal Court level. Most as defendant.

Of course, it's from a tweet, so call off the grammar/punctuation police. It'll be interesting to see what Brown puts on the Biz of Baseball site. Make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their upright and locked position.

Just because it's done, doesn't necessarily mean it's done done

Maury Brown at the Biz of Baseball says not to get all crazy about this sale, just yet. It can take some time to cross that final "i."

For those thinking that the deal is imminent due to the MLB owners meetings taking place this week, think again. According to a league source, there is nothing on the agenda for the meetings that are tied to the Astros sale.

Jim Crane not a slam-dunk choice for other owners

The Biz of Baseball's Maury Brown has an interesting note on the potential ownership bid by Jim Crane - and it might not be a simple approval process.

Your money quote:
A lot will depend on the vetting process of all those prospective buyers, how Crane fits in in terms of the amount of debt he will carry (there are new rules that have been agreed upon by the league and the MLBPA that will make it harder for owners to carry substantial debt), and how his prior deal of walking away from McLane at the last minute all factors in. I’ll lean toward Crane landing the Astros, but it’s not a clean sweep.

Biz of Baseball on 2011 Attendance

David Simmons took a look at the attendance projections for the Astros, and he disagrees with our attendance thoughts:

The Astros will have a tough time out of the box both on and off the field. The team is home for 22 of its first 37 games while school is still in session. The lone bright spot is that the Red Sox come to town for interleague play. Just like the Pirates, I can’t see the team going anywhere but down at the box office. I forsee the Astros having a 10% drop at the box office in 2011.

Biz of Baseball on the impending sale

Maury Brown has a good take on what has happened since 2008 and last Friday, when it was reported that Jim Crane could be the next owner of the Astros.

Your money quote:
Maybe time healed the wounds, but a betting man would say it’s about Drayton wishing to get out of the baseball business, and having the value of the club increase due to not only the Rangers auction, but the capacity to leverage being part owner in a regional sports network, the newly formed CSN Houston.

News flash: Baseball doesn't trust bloggers

The highly-esteemed Maury Brown published a report by UT Doctoral Candidate (and part-time Express scribe) Avery Holton that shows baseball doesn't necessarily trust bloggers.

Maury Brown:
Baseball front offices are starting to harness the power of social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, and they agree that independent bloggers are important to future coverage, but they have been slow to embrace independent bloggers. According to Holton, there is a perception that independent bloggers are mere fans who don't need a press pass to do their job.

Holton:
"Independent bloggers wanting more access to teams need to continue to advance their credibility through trust and by moving themselves out of the fan category and into the social media arena. Bloggers may be able to achieve this by delivering original, newsworthy content, beefing up their site to reflect the most current in digital media, tracking and reporting increases in their daily site traffic and interacting with baseball front offices on Facebook and Twitter."

This is interesting. There are a few things that we at Astros County won't do. Among them:

1. Push for more followers on Twitter
2. Talk about our site traffic (except for the time we were pretty excited about reaching 100,000 visitors).

So, while we are always trying to deliver original and newsworthy content, we're not interested in pimping ourselves to achieve a press pass. In the same regard, it would be great to make enough money (or even any money, at all) to quit our jobs and pursue Astros County full time. But The Constable is in Nashville, so he's kind of screwed - unless the Astros move the Triple-A franchise to Nashville. If that happens, Houston Chronicle, you'll be getting an email. The rest of us like what we do in real life, and just like to talk about the Astros.

No, we tend to follow the Will Leitch Philosophy of blogging. We do this for fun, and there's a difference between being willing to sell, and being willing to sell out.

Roy's chances of getting traded to the Rangers just took a hit

We're not ones to root for the financial stability of the in-state rival Rangers, but this kind of sucks.

Maury Brown, who dominates this sort of thing at the Biz of Baseball (link above), sums it up as such:

The bankruptcy judge in the voluntary bankruptcy case of the Texas Rangers may have dealt a blow to the prospective ownership group led by Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan by ruling that secured creditors of the Texas Rangers are “impaired” and therefore are allowed to vote whether to accept or reject a “prepackaged plan” designed by the Rangers to exit the club from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and complete the sale. The creditors have said repeatedly that they would reject the prepackaged plan. In doing so, the bidding could be opened back up to allow Houston businessman Jim Crane to bid on the club. Major League Baseball has said that they are focused solely on the Greenberg/Ryan bid.

The way Tom Hicks ran the Rangers into the ground should bring us delight, but not so fast. Because this likely means the Rangers won't be sold before the trade deadline, it significantly hampers the Rangers' ability to add payroll. And in order to add Roy, they need to get their ownership's money in place, which doesn't look like it will be happening any time soon.

Buster Olney said this (continued here):
(One) club exec said: "The Rangers can forget about Roy Oswalt, and maybe just about any other major player." Rivals don't want them spending dollars at a time when they owe MLB a lot of money.

The Biz of Baseball: Stop looking at service time for arbitration comparisons

The Biz of Baseball has a lesson in comparing arbitration-eligible players: Service time comparisons are useless. And writer Joe Tetreault uses Hunter Pence as a comparison:

A multi-year deal for Hunter Pence is absolutely the prudent course of action. But...Pence's starting point is significantly higher than that of either Denard Span or Arizona's Mark Reynolds who just signed a long term contract as well.

Because neither would be arbitration eligible until after the season Span and Reynolds are more comparable...

...Constructing a reasonable contract for Pence needs to be based on his service time, his performance and comparable players. Luckily, we can project Pence’s progression with a similar player who is one year ahead of Pence in the arbitration process. The Dodgers Andre Ethier provides a near ideal roadmap for what lies ahead.

(Ed. Note: Ethier-as-roadmap was something we examined on January 15)

...Using Ethier as a guide, if Pence maintains his current rate of production, he should expect no less than $6.5 million in 2011 (Ethier is getting $6 million next season and Pence has a higher starting point) and better than $10 million in 2012 (Ethier is getting $9.25 million). To buy out the balance of his arbitration eligibility will likely cost Houston close to $30 million over three seasons on top of the $3.5 Pence will earn this year.

So chalk this up to "Maybe Ed Wade Knows What He's Doing."

Throwdown over local TV rights starts in Houston

Here's an excellent, in-depth article from the Biz of Baseball regarding the impending showdown between Fox Sports Net and Comcast.

Minor League Baseball to test for HGH

Linking to a New York Times report, Philly.com is reporting that Minor League Baseball will be using a test that busted a rugby player for HGH.

The newspaper, citing an unidentified baseball official with direct knowledge of the matter, reported on its Web site last night that MLB will implement blood tests that can reveal HGH use.

This is good news for purists, and bad news for players. An HGH test was previously thought impossible, but with that poor rugby bastard testing positive, we may be seeing the number of ADHD baseball players increase dramatically in the minors.

The Biz of Baseball's Maury Brown has some reaction here and here:
(There's) no reliable test (for HGH). With blood testing and Survey Test debacle, MLB players will cite privacy concerns...If there were a reason for minor league players to unionize, maybe this will be catalyst.

The Biz also has this report of additional changes to what will be tested in the upcoming season. There are 12 PEDs and 30 stimulants, so I won't list them all.

Biz of Baseball Breaks down the Wandy case

Bernardo Fallas did something similar yesterday, and the Biz of Baseball comes through on an in-depth breakdown of Wandy's arbitration case (which was, apparently, professional).

I won't pull too much, because it is completely worth a thorough read, but:

Salary arbitration is tricky to predict given the “selling the deal” aspect by the sides presenting. But, based on Rodriguez spike in July, his asking salary, and the Astros recent history in salary arbitration hearings, we’re going to side with the Astros winning the case.

How this arbitration hearing will work

The Biz of Baseball has an excellent breakdown of how Wandy's arbitration case will likely proceed. Read the whole thing, but let's pull this:

-The club and player representatives exchange their “exhibits”, usually in binder form. This allows each side to prepare for any rebuttals in the process. While players often attend salary arbitration hearings, it is not mandatory.
-The hearings start with a one-hour argument for the player making the case for the asking figure they are seeking.
-After arguments for the player, management then has an hour to make their case for their offering figure.
-The one-hour arguments are then followed by 30 min. rebuttals for each side (player goes first, then club).
-The panel of three arbitrators then rule, normally within 48 hours, as to which salary figure (player, or club) that the player will earn during the upcoming season. There is no middle ground.

Maury Brown: Get used to the idea of the Astros' sale

The Biz of Baseball's Maury Brown has a note about the on-again-off-again sale of the Astros:

Astros do not own some or all of a regional sports network, and Minute Maid Park, the home of the club, is owned by the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority. The Astros have a 30-year lease that began in 2000 and runs till 2029, with annual payments of $7.1 million. According to Forbes’ most recent report from last year, there was still $55 million in outstanding debt on the facility. The magazine’s annual valuation report for the 30 clubs in Major League Baseball ranked the Astros 12th in the league at $445 million, down 4 percent from $463 million in their 2008 publication. Based on Forbes most recent report from April of 2009, the operating income for the Astros, a measure of profitability, was $17 million.

Based upon McLane’s lofty asking price, and the club’s current valuation, it’s very possible that the Astros will remain on the market for some time.

Biz of Baseball's End of Year Salary Totals

An excellent article by the Biz of Baseball breaks down the End of Year salary totals from 1999-2009. What do we learn about our Houston Astros?

-The Astros' ranking in payroll in 2008: #12
-Payroll ranking in 2009: #11

Total salary paid, 1999-2009: $889,549,247
NL Ranking: #7 (behind the Mets, Dodgers, Cubs, Braves, Cardinals, and Phillies)

Astros spent a lot of money, didn't win

Over at the Biz of Baseball, they break down the cost of each marginal win for every team in the League. What do we learn about the Astros? They spent a lot of money, and didn't win a lot of games.



What does this tell us? Basically, the Astros spent the most dollars/win in the NL Central. Only the Mets and Nationals spent more per marginal win in the National League.

What's a marginal win? Click the link for the hard math...

Biz of Baseball on Einertson

A piece from the Biz of Baseball as they spell out what, exactly, MLB considers a "drug of abuse":

Drugs of abuse are classified as:

1. Cocaine
2. LSD
3. Marijuana
4. Opiates (e.g., Heroin, Codeine, Morphine)
5. MDMA (“Ecstasy”)
6. GHB; and
7. Phencyclidine (“PCP”)