Larry Dolan, please sell this team before Cleveland baseball returns to the 1960s, '70s and '80s. Please don't make Mark Shapiro this generation's version of Gabe Paul/Phil Seghi.
Please spare us your diatribe about the "financial realities" of baseball. Instead of lecturing us, the FANS, about the "financial realities," let me, for once, give YOUR ASS a lecture, Larry.
The "financial realities" of baseball these days are that, unless you have a billion dollars, YOU DON'T BUY A BASEBALL TEAM.
You profess to be a huge Indians' fan. Bullcrap. What you are is a selfish old man who bought this team, even though you couldn't afford it, and now that you realize this fact, you are going to hang onto it because you have a son who needs a job. Wonderful. When was the last time we heard of a situation like that? Anybody remember Art and David Modell? At least Art always wanted to win. He went into debt trying to make the Browns a winner.
With the moves you've made, I am starting to think that you are more interested in putting the cheapest possible product out there so you can squeeze a few bucks out, regardless of the team's record.
You can tell me all day that Brandon Phillips is the next A-rod, or that Alex Escobar is the next Vladimir Guerrero. My question is -- Why does it matter? If these prospects are indeed that great, you will trade them as soon as they become good because you don't have the money to pay them. It's a vicious cycle. If you had any intention of keeping these prospects, and not simply developing them for the Yankees, Braves or another big market team, it would be a different story. But you have absolutely NO INTENTION of keeping them because you don't have enough money to own a Major League Baseball team. And don't you dare tell us that due to the attendance being down that you have to cut payroll. Boy, what a great businessman you are. That's like the owner of a new car model that's not selling well saying, "Since nobody is buying this car, I am going to make it even worse." If you want the fans to come, Larry, give them Robbie Alomar, Juan Gonzalez, Manny Ramirez and Bartolo Colon…NOT Bill Selby, Chris McGruder and Ricky Gutierrez.
THAT is the financial reality, Larry.
Do us a favor before you turn Cleveland into a national baseball joke again. Sell the team to your older brother. He'll give his nephew a job, won't he?
A Tribe fan
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