Today’s Daily Deals ← FREE KRAUT!

Today’s Daily Deals 55

28 Mar 2011  |  andeux  |The Grill

1. Investment advice … 30% off!
2. Buy one Canseco, get the other free instead!
3. Murky News, now with extra rank speculation about contraction!
4. OF prospect, minor damage (anyone with a Scout subscription know the details?)

55 thoughts on “Today’s Daily Deals”

  1. andeux Mar 28,2011 10:49 am

    3. Some discussion over at BBTF. I thought comment 30 was interesting:

    The open secret about the MLB stadium study is that the A’s will need to pay $100M to the giants to move to the south bay and that it isn’t worth it as the south bay is not large enough to support a team long term. MLB strongly believes the A’s need a new stadium in Oakland, even if they pay for it themselves. That simply won’t happen with current ownership which is driving their image in the east bay into the dirt.

    It’s been clear for a while that MLB is still looking seriously at Oakland, but I hadn’t heard the specific price tag placed on territorial rights. Per a later comment (of Danny) that commenter is a Giants fan and may have his own agenda here (Hey, who doesn’t?), so take all of this with as many grains of salt as appropriate. In particular, even to this Oakland partisan, I find it hard to believe “the south bay is not large enough to support a team long term.”

    TINSTAAFK
    • monkeyball Mar 28,2011 11:15 am || Up

      I see a number of people have glommed onto my expand-rosters-to-27 idea, btu have yet to adopt the necessary corollary of expanding DH to both leagues to assuage MLBPA concern over loss of starting jobs.

      I do think I and other conspiracists are mostly being useful idiots for an owners’ negotiating ploy … but I do think there probably is a business case to be made for treating the buyout and consolidation as an investment balanced against the continued revenue-sharing payouts plus the delays and costs and financing of new stadia. And now that I think about it some more, buying out the McCourts and Wilpons really does make a fair amount of sense, as both (all three) parties are in increasingly desperate need of liquidity.

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
      • andeux Mar 28,2011 11:20 am || Up

        My argument all along has been that since the threat of contraction is arguably more valuable to MLB than the actuality, the fact that it isn’t even being officially floated, as it was a few years ago, means that there’s no way it’s happening.
        Unless one believes that Monte Poole (and monkeyball!) are doing Bud’s work for him.

        TINSTAAFK
    • the dogfather Mar 28,2011 12:08 pm || Up

      At first glance, $100M seems awfully high for a team (SF) whose gate receipts (Forbes) were $107M and total revenue $230M.

      Okay, so how would one go about deriving a number to compensate for the “territorial ‘rights’?”

      Howsabout an NPV of the revenue stream that they could prove comes from the SBay, reduced by some factor (maybe based on the Orioles’ experience with the Nats?) for those SBay fans who will retain their loyalty to the Gnats? Let’s say 10% of their tix and 5% of their other net revenue (merch, bcasting, etc.?) demonstrably came from Santa Clara County. That would be $11M + 12M = $23M. And roughly half those mental defectives retain their allegiance = $12M lost.

      I’m rusty, but the NPV of five years @ an 8% discount rate would be about $51M. I think. Note that the population of SCC is 1.8M, and the 6 counties of the Bay Area is 6.2M, so that’s almost 30% of the total — higher than I would’ve thought (and I’m guessing that the % of Bay Area income is higher, still).

      Alternatively, how much would it cost to bribe a sufficient number of owners into negating those ‘rights?’

      What are some other valuation bases or variaitons on this quick/dirty theme? Cost, risk and delay of litigation?

      The meaning of life is not so much found, as it is Made. -- Opus
      • the dogfather Mar 28,2011 12:19 pm || Up

        Talking to myself: there’s a further discount factor, methinks, that relates to the likelihood that the territorial rights would be negated by MLB, with no payment being made. Garbage in/out, but maybe that risk is 40%–> payment of $30M, or 60% –> of $20M?

        The meaning of life is not so much found, as it is Made. -- Opus
        • monkeyball Mar 28,2011 12:22 pm || Up

          … all the more reason for them to start with an astronomical number, right?

          I mean, say what you will about Neukom, but he’s no Obama at the negotiating table …

          you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
          • the dogfather Mar 28,2011 12:30 pm || Up

            That’s certain. I think he was downright reckless with Micro$oft’s market cap in the antitrust case — only to be bailed-out by the SCOTAI and thence the Bushies.

            The meaning of life is not so much found, as it is Made. -- Opus
            • monkeyball Mar 28,2011 12:38 pm || Up

              Why doesn’t Lew just hire Boies?

              you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
              • the dogfather Mar 28,2011 12:43 pm || Up

                ‘Cuz his law firm’s in Oakland (locally)?

                The meaning of life is not so much found, as it is Made. -- Opus
              • nevermoor Mar 28,2011 1:22 pm || Up

                Because Boies is overrated (but still good)

                "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
                • the dogfather Mar 28,2011 1:33 pm || Up

                  The trouble with being the fastest gun is that there’s ALways another, younger gunslinger a-hankerin’ for a shot.

                  The meaning of life is not so much found, as it is Made. -- Opus
                • monkeyball Mar 28,2011 1:43 pm || Up

                  Lew’s looking to move the team south — to Bolivia?

                  you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
                • the dogfather Mar 28,2011 2:00 pm || Up

                  “Boy, you know every time I see Hole-in-the-Wall again, it’s like seeing it fresh for the first time. And every time that happens, I keep asking myself the same question: how could I be so damn stupid to keep coming back here?”

                  The meaning of life is not so much found, as it is Made. -- Opus
                • monkeyball Mar 28,2011 2:16 pm || Up
                  you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
  2. monkeyball Mar 28,2011 10:56 am

    1. I thought “Nails Investments” was the company Mel Gibson used to self-finance Passion of the Christ

    you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
    • Soaker Mar 28,2011 11:07 am || Up
      What I discovered Blew. My. Mind. -- Pat Boone
  3. Poppy Mar 28,2011 11:17 am

    Okay, let’s try this again…

    There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
    • Poppy Mar 28,2011 11:19 am || Up

      Worked that time… so I’ll add these:

      There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
  4. monkeyball Mar 28,2011 11:19 am

    I still don’t understand why buying a radio station makes any sense at all for the A’s. Given the negotiations, I assume that the A’s figured that the station was in dire enough straits that it would be cheap enough to moot any issues.

    you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
    • andeux Mar 28,2011 11:22 am || Up

      Well, one advantage of owning your own station is not having to switch stations every year or two, sometimes days before the season starts.

      TINSTAAFK
    • FreeSeatUpgrade Mar 28,2011 11:11 pm || Up

      The possible collapse of the radio station deal on the eve of the season looks really pathetic. Expos-like. I do believe Lew may be wearing out his welcome with his employer and franchisee.

      "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
  5. danny Mar 28,2011 11:55 am

    3. Tom at BBTF has been making nonsensical arguments against the A’s moving to San Jose for a couple years. He’s even suggested Castro Valley would be a better spot for them.

    4. Taylor has a sore wrist and is iffy for AAA opening day. No mention of cause or diagnosis.

    • monkeyball Mar 28,2011 12:08 pm || Up

      3. I think the A’s should pay the Giants some nominal fee, and erect a 500-seat stadium in Hillsborough.

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
  6. monkeyball Mar 28,2011 12:23 pm

    The choice of photo to illustrate the story is genius

    you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
  7. ptbnl Mar 28,2011 1:13 pm

    Harry Coover, inventor of superglue, comes to a sticky end.

    If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
  8. andeux Mar 28,2011 1:17 pm
    TINSTAAFK
    • monkeyball Mar 28,2011 1:22 pm || Up

      Whoa. That’s right up there with the color-coded plastic bread tabs.

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
      • batgirl Mar 29,2011 5:29 pm || Up

        I knew about the gas, what the heck do the bread tabs mean?!

  9. nevermoor Mar 28,2011 1:56 pm

    I still think this is a bad idea. I’m envisioning endless wrangling over the categories, and 27% of americans believing the numbers are lies anyway.

    "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
    • monkeyball Mar 28,2011 2:20 pm || Up

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
  10. nevermoor Mar 28,2011 1:59 pm
    "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
    • ptbnl Mar 28,2011 2:07 pm || Up

      Meanwhile it only took the British Army 35 years to apologize for shooting a 12 year old Irish girl in the back.

      If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
      • monkeyball Mar 28,2011 2:19 pm || Up

        you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
  11. the dogfather Mar 28,2011 2:58 pm

    Interesting contrast in Bonds trial coverage on sfgate:

    Headline: Barry Bonds’ ex says he discussed steroid use

    Excerpt: Barry Bonds’ former mistress testified this morning that the Giants star confessed to her in 1999 that he was using steroids.

    Kimberly Bell, a former graphic artist from San Jose who said she dated Bonds from 1994 to 2003, told the jury that Bonds blamed an elbow injury on his use of banned drugs.

    “It somehow caused the muscles and tendons to grow faster than it could handle and it somehow blew out,” Bell testified in Bonds’ trial on perjury charges.

    She said Bonds told her, “he didn’t shoot it up every day like bodybuilders did.” She also said Bonds told her “other players do it.

    “That’s how they were getting ahead. That’s how they were achieving, by doing steroids,” Bell quoted Bonds as saying.

    Bell testified in a matter-of-fact voice for much of her first hour on the witness stand, describing the course of a relationship that she said began in the parking lot of Candlestick Park in 1994 and ended with a bitter breakup in 2003…

    vs. LATimes:

    Headline — Barry Bonds’ ex-mistress testifies he threatened to cut her head off

    Excerpt: The former mistress of home-run slugger Barry Bonds testified tearfully at a federal trial Monday that Bonds verbally and physically abused her after he began using steroids around 2000, seven years before he broke the record for lifetime home runs.

    Kimberly Bell, who was romantically involved with Bonds for about nine years, told the jury Bonds threatened to cut off her head, cut out her breast implants and to burn her house when he could not reach her by telephone.

    “He was just very controlling,” said Bell, her voice breaking with emotion. Under questioning by a prosecutor, Bell testified that Bonds told her he was using steroids sometime in 1999 to 2000.

    After he began taking the drugs, he became aggressive, impatient and abusive, Bell testified. She said his testicles also shrank and that he became unable to perform sexually….

    The meaning of life is not so much found, as it is Made. -- Opus
  12. monkeyball Mar 28,2011 3:35 pm
    you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
  13. andeux Mar 28,2011 6:01 pm
    TINSTAAFK
    • monkeyball Mar 28,2011 6:02 pm || Up

      … of Wasilla

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
      • JediLeroy Mar 28,2011 6:49 pm || Up

        Rontiago Wasilla?

        az di bobe volt gehat beytsim volt zi geven mayn zeyde
  14. JediLeroy Mar 28,2011 6:29 pm
    az di bobe volt gehat beytsim volt zi geven mayn zeyde
    • JediLeroy Mar 28,2011 6:32 pm || Up

      That should have been two separate articles. Now I can’t find the other one I wanted to post. Dang.

      az di bobe volt gehat beytsim volt zi geven mayn zeyde
    • the dogfather Mar 29,2011 12:49 pm || Up

      Thanks for that article. There was a similar, smaller-scale collaborative effort made after Katrina, so folks are starting to know how to accomplish the many tasks associated with these disaster pet-rescue situations. I am certain that JEARS owes a big part of its funding to the vid you posted earlier.

      Sounds as well like pets have moved into the family-member realm there for many folks, as they have here as some of the ‘utility’ reasons for keeping them have fallen away. There was a book a few years ago called The New Work of Dogs (Jon Katz, yes ‘Katz’) that examined that phenomenon, and worried that not all breeds are suited to the newer roles.

      The meaning of life is not so much found, as it is Made. -- Opus
  15. nanotrebuchet Mar 28,2011 9:16 pm

    My friend posted this to Facebook:

    Dear scooter, thank you for magically suppressing your clutch issue this evening

    It took my five minutes to realize he was talking about an actual scooter with an actual clutch, and not Marco Scutaro and his VMC magic.

    • ptbnl Mar 28,2011 9:30 pm || Up

      Made me laugh.

      If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
      • nanotrebuchet Mar 28,2011 10:22 pm || Up

        Speaking of which, I saw a guy riding down the street on a unicycle today. Normally, this would be only marginally noteworthy. But the wheel of this unicycle was the size of a car tire, with twice the width, and the bright purple seat was about eight feet off the ground.

        • nanotrebuchet Mar 28,2011 10:24 pm || Up

          Well, not eight feet. It seemed high but I guess it’s limited by the length of the rider’s legs. Which appeared normal.

          • FreeSeatUpgrade Mar 28,2011 10:31 pm || Up

            It could be 8 feet or much more; tall unicycles have bike chains that run vertically. But gauging heights from sharp low angles can be hard, I’d imagine.

            "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
            • nanotrebuchet Mar 28,2011 10:45 pm || Up

              I think is what I saw (in fact, this might even be *the* guy):

              But gauging heights from sharp low angles can be hard, I’d imagine.
              Think of that bit of snark the next time your legs are all crammed up in economy class.

  16. nevermoor Mar 29,2011 10:12 am

    Gershmania watch.

    Apparently the Mets are a low-budget team.

    "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
    • monkeyball Mar 29,2011 10:31 am || Up

      Apparently Gershman is applying to Dartmouth.

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
  17. nevermoor Mar 29,2011 10:26 am
    "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
  18. TJ Mar 29,2011 10:36 am

    Interesting, maybe Matsui was actually cheaper than Cust in a marginal dollars sense:

    For this season, the A’s have picked up some major Japanese corporate sponsors, including Capcom, Fujitsu and Komatsu. (Other possible deals are on hold because of the catastrophes in Japan.) The team saw an immediate increase in ticket sales when Matsui signed, Japanese tour groups have reserved ballpark suites, and the A’s sold out of Matsui jerseys at spring training.

    Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/26/MNOI1IG557.DTL#ixzz1I0jjeBKz

    • nevermoor Mar 29,2011 10:39 am || Up

      Yeah.

      I think people have underestimated that aspect. Of course, if Matsui sucks that might dry up fast.

      "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
    • lenscrafters Mar 29,2011 1:50 pm || Up

      I can’t find the link right now but it was stated that the additional revenue Matsui provided to the Angels last year totaled roughly 1 million dollars. That’s certainly a significant amount of money coming from just one player, but I don’t think it’s enough to justify signing Matsui in lieu of potentially better options. I would imagine that revenue figure being quite a ways less this year with Matsui being older, not that impressive last year, and probably worse this year and, of course, Oakland being a much smaller market than LA (while Capcom, Fujitsu, and Komatsu are nice, the Angels had at least 10 corporate sponsors from Matsui last year).

      • Leopold Bloom Mar 30,2011 2:05 am || Up

        Speaking of Matsui, Chris Townsend came out and talked to a small ** tailgate still gathered after the game tonight. It was 11:30. He said that he was normally the last one to leave the place all of last season. He said there was a posse of Japanese journalists still there tonight. Two hours after the game ended. An exhibition game.

Leave a Reply