The Nats are...For Sale?!?

[Smithian]

Leonsis with Rubenstein financial backing has my positive attention.

[nfotiu]

Can you imagine what would happen on the TV rights side of things for the Nationals if the latter happened?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-24/who-will-buy-the-washington-nationals-david-rubenstein-ted-leonsis-weigh-bid

“Ted Leonsis’s Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Carlyle Group Inc. co-founder David Rubenstein are weighing a bid for Major League Baseball’s Washington Nationals.

“The pair has also told key backers of the Baltimore Orioles that they would consider buying the team if it comes up for sale, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.“

Are you saying it would be better or worse?

There's no really no way for it to be worse than the current situation.

[Smithian]

I'd actually be sad to lose Bob Carpenter and Kevin Frandsen.

I had issues with Carp in the 2000's when he was finding his footing, but from the early 2010's to now I've really liked him. And Frandsen is great.

[Five Banners]

Are you saying it would be better or worse?

There's no really no way for it to be worse than the current situation.

I think it could be worse if somebody with leverage in this market already who didn’t get control of the Nationals suddenly got control of the Orioles and exploited the TV market issue.

[Elvir Ovcina]

I'd actually be sad to lose Bob Carpenter and Kevin Frandsen.

I had issues with Carp in the 2000's when he was finding his footing, but from the early 2010's to now I've really liked him. And Frandsen is great.

I like Frandsen.

Carpenter should be put on a one-way flight back Tulsa.  Or failing that, the sun.

[HalfSmokes]

I don't pay attention to the NBA at all. Why are the Wizards so consistently bad? Can they not attract star players? Is Ted cheap? Bad luck?

They refuse to bottom out

[UMDNats]

Ted and Rubes offer a really safe floor as an ownership group, and are now best-equipped to get us finally out of the MASN dispute. There's a lot of risk that Ted would fall into his McPhee-era comfort of just being content with a team that makes the playoffs, but I think he's had a taste of a title and knows how important it can be to simply "go for it." He is hands-off with the Caps because they are one of the best-run teams in the league, so turning us into that is possible. He could also just keep Rizzo around and let us wallow in mediocrity disguised as a competitor who loses in the wild card round every year. There's also a risk he doesn't understand MLB like he fundamentally misunderstands the NBA.

But the floor is there. He's not as exciting as the unknown (like The Godfather), and he'd never likely spend like Cohen or the Dodgers, but it'd be fine probably.

[Natsinpwc]

They refuse to bottom out

[nfotiu]

Ted and Rubes offer a really safe floor as an ownership group, and are now best-equipped to get us finally out of the MASN dispute. There's a lot of risk that Ted would fall into his McPhee-era comfort of just being content with a team that makes the playoffs, but I think he's had a taste of a title and knows how important it can be to simply "go for it." He is hands-off with the Caps because they are one of the best-run teams in the league, so turning us into that is possible. He could also just keep Rizzo around and let us wallow in mediocrity disguised as a competitor who loses in the wild card round every year. There's also a risk he doesn't understand MLB like he fundamentally misunderstands the NBA.

But the floor is there. He's not as exciting as the unknown (like The Godfather), and he'd never likely spend like Cohen or the Dodgers, but it'd be fine probably.

I still think making the playoffs most years gives you the best odds of winning a World Series.   If you have the Dodgers 300 million dollar tv deal, then you can maybe buy yourself a super team, but for everyone else, contending every year is probably the best bet vs trying to go all in with a small window team relying on some expensive stars to all be healthy and good in October.

[UMDNats]

I still think making the playoffs most years gives you the best odds of winning a World Series.   If you have the Dodgers 300 million dollar tv deal, then you can maybe buy yourself a super team, but for everyone else, contending every year is probably the best bet vs trying to go all in with a small window team relying on some expensive stars to all be healthy and good in October.

This is absolutely true, but Ted's problem was being comfortable with McPhee running it back with little to no changes every year. Same team, same flaws, just hoping for a different result. Rizzo operated on a similar mandate from 2012-2019 but every year he was hyper aggressive in fixing holes and getting creative. I'm hopeful a Leonsis-run Nats looks more like current Caps (an elite organization now) than 2010 Caps where it was a "hope we figure it out" rather than "let's fix our holes and try again to break through"

[Slateman]

My biggest question is does Leonsis understand the amount of money required to run an entire MLB organization. Basketball and hockey dont have a lot of development when compared with baseball. And the Nationals are in bad need of player development

[HalfSmokes]

My biggest question is does Leonsis understand the amount of money required to run an entire MLB organization. Basketball and hockey dont have a lot of development when compared with baseball. And the Nationals are in bad need of player development

Remember, the Wizards were one of the last teams to have a G/D league team. There is no reason to think he wouldn't run an MLB team on the cheap

[Natsinpwc]

Remember, the Wizards were one of the last teams to have a G/D league team. There is no reason to think he wouldn't run an MLB team on the cheap

The only thing Ted is on the cutting edge for is gambling.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

6
I still think making the playoffs most years gives you the best odds of winning a World Series.   If you have the Dodgers 300 million dollar tv deal, then you can maybe buy yourself a super team, but for everyone else, contending every year is probably the best bet vs trying to go all in with a small window team relying on some expensive stars to all be healthy and good in October.

I'm trying to think of the teams that folks wouldn't have picked on a short list of the strongest who actually won a world series recently.  It's not necessarily the wild card teams.  I think the 2006 Cardinals are probably the most extreme "just make the playoffs and see what happens" team.  The 2019 Nats had a meh record and probably were not the strongest Nats team of the decade on paper, but they also had the core of super talent in Trea, Rendon, the first full year Soto, and the big 2 in the rotation.  Maybe the 2010 Giants are another.  Maybe the 2013 Red Sox (other than Ortiz, that was a thin-talent team with a lot of veterany grit - Victorino, Gomes, Napoli, Lester plus a bunch of 4 IP starters).  I do buy that its easier in baseball to just make the playoffs and see what happens more than most other american professional sports (NHL is maybe the only one more, if you have a hot goalie).

[DPMOmaha]

So, obviously Ted is going to go into this with the experience of owning pro sports teams but it kinda seems like Rubenstein is the one that is actually making this thing viable. I wonder if he’d be pulling the strings just as much or more than Ted if they win the bid. It’s be a different dynamic than he with the Wizards and Capitals.

[Five Banners]

I'm trying to think of the teams that folks wouldn't have picked on a short list of the strongest who actually won a world series recently.  It's not necessarily the wild card teams.  I think the 2006 Cardinals are probably the most extreme "just make the playoffs and see what happens" team.  The 2019 Nats had a meh record and probably were not the strongest Nats team of the decade on paper, but they also had the core of super talent in Trea, Rendon, the first full year Soto, and the big 2 in the rotation.  Maybe the 2010 Giants are another.  Maybe the 2013 Red Sox (other than Ortiz, that was a thin-talent team with a lot of veterany grit - Victorino, Gomes, Napoli, Lester plus a bunch of 4 IP starters).  I do buy that its easier in baseball to just make the playoffs and see what happens more than most other american professional sports (NHL is maybe the only one more, if you have a hot goalie).

2014 Giants

[Senatorswin]

Before the Dodgers won the world series in the shortened 2020 season they hadn't won it since 1988. The Yankees have won the world series twice in the 2000's. The Nationals won as many games as any team between 2012 and 2019 except maybe the Dodgers but didn't win the world series until 2019. Even getting in every year it's extremely difficult to be the last team standing. It's almost impossible to catch lightning in a bottle and be a one hit wonder. Whoever is owner will have to build a Caps like organization where they're in the playoffs every year.

BTW, I see the top 3 Nationals prospects are all guys they got from the Padres.

[HalfSmokes]

Before the Dodgers won the world series in the shortened 2020 season they hadn't won it since 1988. The Yankees have won the world series twice in the 2000's. The Nationals won as many games as any team between 2012 and 2019 except maybe the Dodgers but didn't win the world series until 2019. Even getting in every year it's extremely difficult to be the last team standing. It's almost impossible to catch lightning in a bottle and be a one hit wonder. Whoever is owner will have to build a Caps like organization where they're in the playoffs every year.

BTW, I see the top 3 Nationals prospects are all guys they got from the Padres.

It’s easier to build a caps like organization in a league where the highest paid player makes $13 million a year and payrolls are under $100 million

[UMDNats]

My biggest question is does Leonsis understand the amount of money required to run an entire MLB organization. Basketball and hockey dont have a lot of development when compared with baseball. And the Nationals are in bad need of player development

the caps are an elite drafting and development team at this point, so while the scales are smaller (minor league hockey tends to run itself mostly), he has been pretty consistent with the thesis for the org being drafting and development (around ovy of course)

[Slateman]

the caps are an elite drafting and development team at this point, so while the scales are smaller (minor league hockey tends to run itself mostly), he has been pretty consistent with the thesis for the org being drafting and development (around ovy of course)

Uh ... no, the Caps are not. And Wizards are possibly the worst in basketball

[Natsinpwc]

Uh ... no, the Caps are not. And Wizards are possibly the worst in basketball

The Caps have dropped four straight first round series. And making the playoffs in hockey is still easier than baseball. Team is getting old. So can’t see them sustaining their success. They have difficult situation. Need to rebuild but Ovi will be around to catch Gretzky.

[UMDNats]

Uh ... no, the Caps are not. And Wizards are possibly the worst in basketball

The Caps absolutely are. They used to be one of the worst, but since 2007-08 or so they redid their process and now they pump out NHL players at one of the best rates in the league, at one point they had produced like 5 NHL starting goaltenders playing concurrently (Varly, Neuvirth, Holtby, Grubauer, Samsonov/Vanecek). All this despite trading picks every year for NHL players. Having Ovechkin helps but they've sustained success because they are never in a situation like the Nats are now.

[DPMOmaha]

My biggest question is does Leonsis understand the amount of money required to run an entire MLB organization. Basketball and hockey dont have a lot of development when compared with baseball. And the Nationals are in bad need of player development

I think this is in line with my other post. If this group wins the bid, I presume it won't be Ted that has full authority like he does for he other franchises, at least that's how it seems. It'll be Ted and Rubenstein, or maybe more accurately, Rubinstein and Ted and a group of others. They've seen the books so they should know how much will be required to run the whole operation.

[Natsinpwc]

It’s easier to build a caps like organization in a league where the highest paid player makes $13 million a year and payrolls are under $100 million

It’s different.  But the hard cap makes it very difficult to stay on top in hockey. In contrast in baseball you have multiple minor league and development teams and need to invest in that.

[Senatorswin]

It’s easier to build a caps like organization in a league where the highest paid player makes $13 million a year and payrolls are under $100 million

True. But baseball generates about twice the amount of revenue as a hockey team and about twice the total team salary so it's relative. A large market helps but  the Nats of 2012-2019 and currently the Brewers, Rays and Oakland (although not this year) has shown a good organization can be a consistent winner in MLB without being LA or NY.