Latest on Angels sale

[BTH]

48 minutes ago, Revad said:

We’re bloody lucky about this sale in the first place.  There was no way forward with Artie, just an endless loop.  If we’re lucky enough to get investment in all aspects of the organization, a little meddling is no big deal compared to the gain.

Yep.

A new owner is basically a mystery box. The new owner could be better, the same, or worse than Arte (although that might be difficult)

But we know what Arte is, so let’s see how some new owner runs things.

[Taylor]

1 hour ago, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Soon-Shiong

Patrick Soon-Shiong (born July 29, 1952) is a Chinese-South African transplant surgeon, billionaire businessman, bioscientist, and media proprietor. He is the inventor of the drug Abraxane, which became known for its efficacy against lung, breast, and pancreatic cancer. Soon-Shiong is the founder of NantWorks, a network of healthcare, biotech, and artificial intelligence startups;^[1] an adjunct professor of surgery and executive director of the Wireless Health Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles; and a visiting professor at Imperial College London and Dartmouth College.^[

He's definitely an impressive fellow. But often when folks make a ton of a money they seem to think they're able to do anything, like run a newspaper.

[Taylor]

1 hour ago, Second Base said:

It's what no one wants to say out loud because certain people on the board will be outraged if point out the obvious. Evidently the obvious only belongs in the political spin portion of the board, unfortunately.

Huh? It was mentioned in the Politico article that was posted on the first page.

[Docwaukee]

maybe we've been spelling 'sale' wrong the whole time and it's just that Arte is getting a new boat.  

[jsnpritchett]

To be clear, my concerns about PSS as a potential owner have nothing to do with his (or his family's) politics, and everything to do with the fact that he exaggerates (see the New Yorker article I posted), he meddles, and he seems to think a variety of types of businesses are easy to run, therefore he should be involved in a bunch of stuff just because he might have a passing interest in them.

[angelsnationtalk]

I think Patrick would be fun. When the Dodgers went up for sale he teamed up with Steven Cohen to try and buy them. I'd imagine they have the same thoughts on what to do to build a winner. 

Could be a Mets vs Angels financial battle to win.

[angelsnationtalk]

Also, we need some sales news. get this damn deal done already so I can go to Spring Training knowing Arte is gone. 

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

16 minutes ago, Taylor said:

He's definitely an impressive fellow. But often when folks make a ton of a money they seem to think they're able to do anything, like run a newspaper.

like Arte thinking he could run a baseball team

[TempeAngel]

1 hour ago, jsnpritchett said:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/11/01/how-patrick-soon-shiong-made-his-fortune-before-buying-the-la-times

"Few figures in modern medicine have inspired as much controversy as Soon-Shiong. “He gets very enthusiastic, and sometimes he might exaggerate,” Hentz said. “He can embellish a little.” Outcomes for his diabetes treatment were disappointing, and one case ended tragically. While pursuing this therapy, he also began researching chemotherapy. At the center of his fortune is a cancer treatment that costs more than a hundred times as much as another drug, available as a generic, that is prescribed for some of the same conditions. Soon-Shiong has been repeatedly accused of financial misrepresentation, self-dealing, price gouging, and fraud. He has been sued by former investors and business partners; he has been sued by other doctors; he has been sued by his own brother, twice; he has been sued by Cher.

Nevertheless, in recent years, Soon-Shiong has emerged as one of Los Angeles’s most prominent civic leaders. He paid five hundred million dollars for the L.A. Times, along with its sister paper, the San Diego Union-Tribune—double what Jeff Bezos spent to buy the Washington Post, which had three times the number of subscribers. Hoping to turn the Times into a multimedia platform, Soon-Shiong appointed Norman Pearlstine, who had run Time Inc.’s editorial operations, as executive editor. “He made the acquisition with very little due diligence, because he thought that it had to be easier than curing cancer,” Pearlstine told me. “I’m not sure whether he still believes that.”

Also:

"Soon-Shiong has a tendency to wander into areas in which he has no background. The NantStudios soundstage in El Segundo features “the Volume,” a wraparound visual-effects wall that he hopes will replace the green screen. About the size of a baseball infield, it surrounds actors on all sides with L.E.D. backdrops, then uses rendering effects from a video-game engine to create seamless perspectives for the camera. “It’s the next generation of how movies, commercials, and TV production will happen,” Soon-Shiong said. The technology is impressive—but it was developed by Lucasfilm’s visual-effects company, Industrial Light & Magic, and many production companies are building one. In Soon-Shiong’s telling, he and Michele had built the movie studio of the future. In reality, they had joined a crowded field."

The more I read about Soon-Shiong the less I want him to make a deal with Arte. I know he's the most public possibility right now. Hopefully there are others out there we're not hearing about who are more like Mark Walter, Peter Seidler or Terry McGuirk.

[Warfarin]

25 minutes ago, angelsnationtalk said:

Also, we need some sales news. get this damn deal done already so I can go to Spring Training knowing Arte is gone. 

It actually seems to be going surprisingly fast.  The Nationals were on the "market" earlier than the Angels and there hasn't really been any news on their front.

All signs point to some kind of deal happening in the upcoming months.  Manfred, and now this report, have indicated there is hope a sale will occur by spring training.  No guarantee of any kind, but it seems like perhaps within 2 months, we'll hear some kind of news?

[Warfarin]

28 minutes ago, TempeAngel said:

The more I read about Soon-Shiong the less I want him to make a deal with Arte. I know he's the most public possibility right now. Hopefully there are others out there we're not hearing about who are more like Mark Walter, Peter Seidler or Terry McGuirk.

Well, while PSS has gained the most attention, we know the Angels essentially operate in secrecy.  It is very possible that there are other bidders that we are entirely unaware of.

I'm hoping we'll hear some more rumors and information by the end of this month.  But if not, it seems certainly within the next 2 months?

[Blarg]

Shiong is Chinese, Ohtani Japanese. The two cultures do not get along, never had, so don't think for a moment that the sale gives any guarantees to extending Ohtani's contract. 

[Revad]

7 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Shiong is Chinese, Ohtani Japanese. The two cultures do not get along, never had, so don't think for a moment that the sale gives any guarantees to extending Ohtani's contract. 

Yes but the apparent quick progress and the income potential of Ohtani may well be related.  If I’m buying the Angels I want to have time for my pitch to him and to own the team during spring training while trades are still possible.  I’d pay a higher price the sooner I had control.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Based on how this offseason has gone, I'd say the Mets are going to buy the Angels.

Edited January 2, 2023 by ten ocho recon scout

[Warfarin]

10 minutes ago, Revad said:

Yes but the apparent quick progress and the income potential of Ohtani may well be related.  If I’m buying the Angels I want to have time for my pitch to him and to own the team during spring training while trades are still possible.  I’d pay a higher price the sooner I had control.

So a legitimate question, because a lot of us say how the new ownership group will want to lock up Ohtani as soon as possible - how much value does Ohtani actually bring the team, from a financial perspective?  Let's say the new group has to commit half a billion to Ohtani over the course of 12 years.  What kind of financial return would that provide the ownership group, in terms of "profit"?

[Stradling]

5 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

So a legitimate question, because a lot of us say how the new ownership group will want to lock up Ohtani as soon as possible - how much value does Ohtani actually bring the team, from a financial perspective?  Let's say the new group has to commit half a billion to Ohtani over the course of 12 years.  What kind of financial return would that provide the ownership group, in terms of "profit"?

Zero if they don’t win. 

[Revad]

3 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

So a legitimate question, because a lot of us say how the new ownership group will want to lock up Ohtani as soon as possible - how much value does Ohtani actually bring the team, from a financial perspective?  Let's say the new group has to commit half a billion to Ohtani over the course of 12 years.  What kind of financial return would that provide the ownership group, in terms of "profit"?

The business part of my brain says trade him now or at the deadline.  The fan part says give him his money I want to watch him every game.  But he might be a huge win regardless of salary if he’s healthy for half the contract.

[Docwaukee]

I read an article awhile back that compared PSS to PT Barnum.  

[Revad]

9 minutes ago, Docwaukee said:

I read an article awhile back that compared PSS to PT Barnum.  

PT Barnum got enough done so we recognize his name.  They’re both famous due to effectiveness, and flair.  Flair is easy if you don’t give a shit.

[tdawg87]

7 minutes ago, Revad said:

PT Barnum got enough done so we recognize his name.  They’re both famous due to effectiveness, and flair.  Flair is easy if you don’t give a shit.

[Pancake Bear]

4 hours ago, Trendon said:

My point is that Soon-Shiong’s personality may be conducive to striking a quick deal, like Arte may want.

Other billionaires may be more methodical and calculated than Arte may want.

I don't think Arte has absolute say in it. The commissioner and other owners have a major say in who joins their club. 

See, e.g. : https://www.knbr.com/2022/07/11/john-shea-breaks-down-joe-lacobs-failed-attempt-and-long-standing-offer-to-buy-as/

"Shea quoted Lacob in a piece this weekend as saying, “I had the A’s done. It was taken away from me… I think we would’ve had a stadium a long time ago if I had bought it. That’s just me.”

He was denied the opportunity to buy the team because of then MLB Commissioner Bud Selig wanting to scratch the back of a friend, Lewis Wolff, a fraternity brother of Selig at the University of Wisconsin.

According to Shea, Selig didn’t know Lacob, so pushed for a group with Wolff, who sold his ownership shares to John Fisher in 2016. 

Lacob’s failed attempt to buy the A’s led him on his path to buy the Warriors. Shea said he learned a “valuable lesson” about the internal politics of professional sports executives.

So Lacob resolved to get involved and let people know who he was by entering a minority stake with the Boston Celtics. That got him in with the NBA, allowed him to develop connections, so that when the Warriors were for sale, he was able to capitalize on that goodwill.

“He gets to know everybody…” Shea said. “So a few years later, when the Warriors come up, instead of buying the A’s for $180 million, he buys the Warriors for $450 million. Now they’re worth $5.6 billion. Joe Lacob, what a transparent man, a creative guy, and a good-deed doer. The A’s wish John Fisher was any of the above. And he hasn’t been…”"

Steve Cohen had similar trouble getting in. If you don't know anyone or have any connections in baseball, unless you massively outbid the field, you will have a hard time getting approval, regardless of whether the former owner wants to sell to you.

That's why I'd think that whoever owns minority shares in the Dodgers would have an inside track. If that is Guber, him and Lacob may have the inside track this time, fwiw. 

[Pancake Bear]

33 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

So a legitimate question, because a lot of us say how the new ownership group will want to lock up Ohtani as soon as possible - how much value does Ohtani actually bring the team, from a financial perspective?  Let's say the new group has to commit half a billion to Ohtani over the course of 12 years.  What kind of financial return would that provide the ownership group, in terms of "profit"?

I've seen discussion of this in the past, but I don't have a number. That would be a better question for @Jeff Fletcher. I doubt he could give you anything precise, but he might have a better rough estimate than anyone on here. The reality is that due to the Japanese market, Ohtani is potentially worth a lot more to an owner than most stars. 

[ukyah]

i would like to follow a team of an owner i actually liked as a person. so far, my clear preference would be lacob. i don't want LAT owner and i have no knowledge of anybody else. also, i'm totally convinced lacob knows how to successfully operate a winning franchise.

[Second Base]

41 minutes ago, Pancake Bear said:

I don't think Arte has absolute say in it. The commissioner and other owners have a major say in who joins their club. 

See, e.g. : https://www.knbr.com/2022/07/11/john-shea-breaks-down-joe-lacobs-failed-attempt-and-long-standing-offer-to-buy-as/

"Shea quoted Lacob in a piece this weekend as saying, “I had the A’s done. It was taken away from me… I think we would’ve had a stadium a long time ago if I had bought it. That’s just me.”

He was denied the opportunity to buy the team because of then MLB Commissioner Bud Selig wanting to scratch the back of a friend, Lewis Wolff, a fraternity brother of Selig at the University of Wisconsin.

According to Shea, Selig didn’t know Lacob, so pushed for a group with Wolff, who sold his ownership shares to John Fisher in 2016. 

Lacob’s failed attempt to buy the A’s led him on his path to buy the Warriors. Shea said he learned a “valuable lesson” about the internal politics of professional sports executives.

So Lacob resolved to get involved and let people know who he was by entering a minority stake with the Boston Celtics. That got him in with the NBA, allowed him to develop connections, so that when the Warriors were for sale, he was able to capitalize on that goodwill.

“He gets to know everybody…” Shea said. “So a few years later, when the Warriors come up, instead of buying the A’s for $180 million, he buys the Warriors for $450 million. Now they’re worth $5.6 billion. Joe Lacob, what a transparent man, a creative guy, and a good-deed doer. The A’s wish John Fisher was any of the above. And he hasn’t been…”"

Steve Cohen had similar trouble getting in. If you don't know anyone or have any connections in baseball, unless you massively outbid the field, you will have a hard time getting approval, regardless of whether the former owner wants to sell to you.

That's why I'd think that whoever owns minority shares in the Dodgers would have an inside track. If that is Guber, him and Lacob may have the inside track this time, fwiw. 

If that's the case then Manfred is thrilled that Arte is selling. Among owners, I hear that Arte isn't exactly the most popular fellow. 

[Pancake Bear]

21 minutes ago, Second Base said:

If that's the case then Manfred is thrilled that Arte is selling. Among owners, I hear that Arte isn't exactly the most popular fellow. 

He was one of the few who voted against Manfred becoming commissioner.