Diamonds to Dust - Cash Flow Squeezing Owners?

All World All Sports

-Digger's Daily-

Diamonds to dust. Our economy has begun to take it's toll on Major League Baseball. As expected, attendance figures are down (roughly 5%). Rumors are swirling claiming at least two teams are facing financial downturns, Texas Rangers and New York Mets.

Rumors suggest Texas was unable to meet it's payroll obligations. Major League Baseball stepped in with a $15,000,000 loan. Team owner Tom Hicks financial situation has been a subject of bloggers for years. Nothing has been confirmed relating to his personal finances. His company has sold its' shares in various ventures. Now, he's trying to sell the Rangers ballclub. When he first took over Hicks spent wildly on free agents. He made headlines and turned baseball's free agent markets on its' head when rewarding Alex Rodriguez with the games richest contract valued over $250M. If he's unable to sell, and if future payroll concerns aren't remedied, then it's my guess MLB will step in and take control of Texas. Neither MLB or Rangers has publicly commented one way or the other on any of these rumors. Speculation suggests these claims cay contain truths... especially since there have been no denials.

In New York, there's definitely a situation brewing even though Mets staff deny problems. Various unconfirmed reports state team owner Fred Wilpon lost $300M in the famous Madoff scandal. 2009 was supposed to bring pennant fever back to Flushing after two consecutive September chokes. The Mets star players have dropped like flies. Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, John Maine, Oliver Perez have missed time. Perez returns this weekend, the others are out until at least mid to late August. Normally, Wilpon would have made a deal to help ride the tide. Especially with top producing players sidelined for extended periods. Not this year. Mets appear to be cash strapped. No moves were made and GM stated don't expect any. Mets are fading fast in the standings. They can't hit or field these days. Their death spiral continues. They've lost 4 straight, 7 of 10, shutout in consecutive games, 3 runs in last 36 innings. Their starting lineup is filled with unproven rookies or journeymen clearly not up to the task. Lack of moves suggests big trouble brewing. Only unconfirmed rumors. Fans can sense something is clearly wrong.

The trading deadline will offer insight into how deeply econimic woes have touched baseball. It's usually when losing teams start unloading high salaried players. Teams in pennant races try doing whatever it takes to win. 2009 could be very different. I'd bet most teams are not willing to take on additional payroll restraints. A few teams will make trades. Missing will be the mad scrambles or counter moves when division rivals stock up. If a flurry of moves do take place then it will most likely contain mid-level salaried players.

Time will tell if all is well or if diamonds are turning to dust.

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