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Friday, February 20, 2009

Great Moments in Financial Management

Johnny Damon, earning $13 million this season, cannot pay his bills.

Xavier Nady, earning $6.55 million, cannot purchase an apartment in New York.

The Stanford Financial Group scandal extends to Major League Baseball.

The issues facing Damon and Nady — both New York Yankees outfielders and both clients of agent Scott Boras — stem from the alleged $8 billion fraud scheme involving billionaire financier Robert Allen Stanford.

Damon, 35, and Nady, 30, told FOXSports.com on Friday morning that their finances are frozen because of money they have with a Stanford company.

Death in Fremont

Oakland Athletics officials today asked the City of Fremont to halt the planning process required to build a new stadium and move the team there, saying they want to reconsider their options.

The Fremont city clerk's office issued a notice today saying the A's have asked the city to stop the environmental review and notice of preparation processes, which would have paved the way for the team to build a $1.8 billion "ballpark village" next to the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge.

"I think this means the A's aren't going to build this here, at least not at that site," said Fremont Mayor Bob Wasserman. "I think it's terrible. Fremont's lost the best opportunity we've ever had."

Cleveland Rocks

The Cleveland Indians may have found their most valuable statistics this season are coming from the ticket office rather than the playing field.

Using statistical analysis of ticket purchases to understand the preferences and price limits of their fans, the Indians learned that fireworks after a game draw an additional 4,000 fans; every one-degree temperature drop below 70 Fahrenheit costs them 300; and when the New York Yankees come to town, attendance jumps 11,000.

The Major League Baseball club is at the forefront of using statistical analysis to design pricing. The team says its plan will increase ticket revenue 5 percent this season as the U.S. skids into its worst economic decline since the Great Depression.

“The goal was to do a better job figuring out what people were willing to pay for their product,” said Vince Gennaro, 57, a Purchase, New York-based consultant who managed the research project. “Where could we add value to convince them to make the purchase or decrease the price where demand is lower?”

A win for the defense

A federal judge has barred prosecutors from using three positive steroid tests and other key evidence in Barry Bonds' trial next month because of his personal trainer's refusal to testify. The ruling issued late Thursday was expected. The judge had said earlier she was troubled by the admissibility of the test results because prosecutors couldn't conclusively tie them to Bonds. Prosecutors allege that Bonds' trainer, Greg Anderson, collected the urine samples and delivered them for testing to the Bay Area Co-Operative Laboratory in 2000 and 2001. But Anderson has refused to testify. The judge said without his testimony, prosecutors cannot link the tests to Bonds. Federal agents seized the samples when they raided BALCO in 2003.

Bowden is a dead man walking

Bleak humor about the Nats now bounces all around baseball. But this case, as Kasten says ominously, "will have big repercussions." At one level, the FBI and Major League Baseball, both of which are investigating broad allegations of kickbacks to street agents and other improprieties in the Dominican Republic, will sort out the villains. The White Sox already have fired personnel because of the scandal.

However, whether or not anybody in the Nats' front office comes up dirty, heads will probably roll. At least one executive, José Rijo, the team's Dominican head honcho, will almost certainly be fired. The bigger question is whether Bowden, the head dupe in this $1.4 million scam, may be shown the door, too.

Right now, the heat is rising. A central figure in the fraud is Smiley's street agent Basilio Vizcaino, who is a lifelong friend of Rijo. Rijo, in turn, has been close to Bowden for 17 years. Did a chain of scoundrels in the Dominican fool Rijo who, in turn, sold a bill of goods to Bowden who, then, made the pitch to the Lerners and Kasten soon after they'd bought the team, but long before they were up to speed?

Jose Guillen, M.D.

Royals outfielder José Guillen expects to return to full-time drills, perhaps by this weekend, after easing the pain in his right big toe by yanking out a severely ingrown nail. The nail was only a slight irritant Monday when Guillen reported to camp but soon worsened from the pounding caused by various workouts. "The doctor saw me (Wednesday)," Guillen said, "and he said we’ll see how it feels in the morning. If it wasn't any better, he wanted me to have surgery. I thought, 'Whoaaa.' "So I went on my own (Wednesday) to the pharmacy, got some tweezers, came home and pulled it out myself. Let me tell you, I cried. I had one tough hour. But I got it out."

Introducing The Baseball Chronicle

As much as baseball is about statistics, it is about stories. Every fan’s head is filled with numbers, but it’s filled with memories, too. In that spirit we announce The Baseball Chronicle. Every month or two, we choose a theme and publish great stories based, however loosely, on that theme. If you love baseball storytelling, then we think you’ll love the Chronicle, too.

We’re looking for personal stories and essays, interviews and original journalism.

Take ‘hooked’ to mean whatever you like, so long as it’s packaged in a story somehow related to baseball. Step outside the box, as the saying goes, and really use your imagination. Length matters not.

New parks and new attendance

I wonder, though, whether the Yankees and Mets would have built these stadiums if they knew a recession was on the way. Based upon the attendance trends of the other baseball stadiums built this decade, they probably won’t get the short-term revenue boost they could really use.

Today at THT