From: niepornt@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (David Marc Nieporent)
Subject: Re: A little information
Originator: news@nimaster
Organization: Princeton University
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 05:26:11 GMT

In article <of9eEDm00WB9AT9n8X@andrew.cmu.edu> Amit Likhyani <al1x+@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:

>I heard an interview with Mark Sauer on the radio and he shed a little
>bit of light on the situation.  (It is nice to have a week off between
>exams).

>It is true that they did not offer Bonds arbitration.  Sauer was not
>convinced that the Giants sale would go through.  He saw this scenerio: 
>McGwire, Sierra, Maddux will sign in the next couple of days and then
>all of the free agent money would be spent.  Then, in the event that the
>Giants deal falls through, Bonds elects to remain with the Pirates.  I
>swear, Sauer thought this was a possibility as of Monday.

Yeah, right.  They're a bunch of morons.  Let's say that he *does.*
What does that cost them?  *ONE* year of $7 million.  (And if they really
can't trade him, then they're even more incompetant than I thought.)
What do they gain?  *2* draft picks.

>He went on to say that he thinks that they can appeal the draft choice
>thing because Bonds had come to an agreement in principle on the 7th. 
>He is going to petition Bill White.  

Cute.  But as far as I know, it's when they sign, not when they agree in
principle.

>Sauer's tone gave me the impression that he really does not like Barry Bonds.
>When asked about how choked up Bonds was to wear #24 for the Giants,
>Sauer said something like "I forgot to bring my handkercheif.  I missed
>the press conference".  He added later that "He will be an adventure in
>San Francisco."

I'm sure the feeling is mutual.

>Let's say Andy Van Slyke was 28 and coming off 3 years like Bonds has
>had.  I think the Pirates would have made more of an effort to sign
>Andy.  This is not a white/black issue, but a good citizen/bad citizen
>issue and also the Pirates have been able to play Bonds off as a greedy
>guy to the city of Pittsburgh whereas VanSlyke and Jay Bell are the 2
>most popular players on the team.  Just food for thought.

Um, I almost hate to bring this up, but do you think there could be a
*reason* Bonds and Bonilla weren't the most popular while Van Slyke and
Bell are?   Notice something about Bonds and Bonilla that's different
about Van Slyke and Bell?  How do you *know* it isn't white/black?

>Keep in mind this is my account of what I heard on the radio so I am
>paraphrasing all quotes and don't hold me responsible.

No problemo.

>Sauer also again predicted that there will be a salary cap and revenue
>sharing in the next 2 years.  He went on to predict a disaster for baseball.

He then went on to claim that the sky was falling, that Communism would
take over the world if the US didn't win in Vietnam, and that the Braves
would win the World Series in 1992.

>His goal is to keep the Pirates payroll down and all of their young
>players in place.  He said that the financial situation will get worse
>before it gets better.  The host suggested that a team might have to be
>bailed out by the league to which Sauer said "that is possible".  He
>noted that the 2 expansion teams have been cautious financially whereas
>the 3 new ownerships in Houston, Frisco, and Seattle have thrown money
>around and seen where it lands.  He ripped on Seattle with its 3 owners
>in 4 years and said that they still are not a stable franchise.

Yeah.  Just because every time an owner wants to sell the team, he
manages to do it for millions of dollars more than when he bought it
doesn't mean that the teams are really worth lots of money, does it?

I wonder why he didn't sign Bonds 3 years ago if he wanted to keep their
payroll down and all their young players in place.

>The most interesting thing he said was that Bonds is going to make it
>harder for the Giants to get a new stadium.  His logic is that the
>taxpayers are not going to subsidize the left fielder.  The worst part
>is that he might be right.  That is not how I would vote, but think
>about the general population.

I don't think they've been willing to build it before; you don't need
the specious argument about Bonds and his tiny $7 million/year (compared 
with a stadium) salary to guess that they aren't likely to build one for the
Giants.

-- 
David M. Nieporent   | Is it too early to start making predictions for 1993?
niepornt@phoenix.    | Probably, but that never stopped me before.
   princeton.edu     | ALE: Baltimore ALW: Chicago NLE: Montreal NLW: Atlanta
Baltimore Orioles 93 | AL MVP: Cal Ripken  AL Cy Young: Mike Mussina