Welcome to the New World Rangers Fans

[dmc0015]

Just like Christopher Columbus (or the Vikings) changed it all, the new ownership group has changed the reality of life as a Rangers fan.

Gone are the days of trying to compete with a payroll in the $60-$70 million range. Get used to the Rangers living in the $160+ million range. A few key reasons to highlight in case you haven't noticed or don't remember:

1) Fan attendance and interest increase - I just went to a game on a Wednesday night in September that was damn near sold out. RBIA is packed every night. That's more ticket and concession revenue than this team has had since the late 90's. Probably more. Also, think of all the Rangers gear that is flying off of the shelves. I personally have bought more Rangers shirts and hats in the last year than I did the previous 5 combined. There are more Rangers fans in the stands on the road than I can ever remember seeing, and how do we know that??? They are decked in Claw and Antler shirts and ALCS Champ hats.

2) TV Deal - $80+ million per year in revenue from the new TV deal will start rolling in in 2014 I believe, but the team got an up-front bonus from FOX, and I firmly believe that they are already budgeting around the future revenue. Not sure what the current revenue is for the TV deal, but someone posted the other day the national media taking notice of it and how big of an impact it is going to have.

3) Playoff Revenue - The deeper the team goes the more revenue they get from the playoff run. If they reach the WS they get a TON of additional revenue. The result is that the team has a huge financial carrot to spend enough to keep competitive with the AL East monsters.

4) The Money Men - Remember that instead of one billionaire owner who leveraged a ton of debt in buying not one, not two but three team, the Rangers have 2 billionaire owners who also don't appear to have much debt at all. That's the great thing about Texas oil (as our governor is so wonderfully claiming credit for). It isn't running out anytime soon, and people aren't going to stop using it for many decades.

What does this mean? CJ stays, Hamilton stays, Kinsler stays, Andrus stay and Nellie stays unless someone comes up in the system that can take their place. Then the Rangers can flip one of those guys before they hit the market to retool the farm system. Darvish is within reach now too, and after watching that video on the Darvish thread I want him!!!

 

[scotsman1948]

we don't need to flip one of those guys to retool the farm system. we just need to continue drafting smart and continue to work the latin american kids. i've been trying to tell you guys about Darvish and it's nice to see people recognizing that talent

 

[fordman84]

Don't forget about advertising. The more prime time playoff games you have, the more you can sell ad space at the ballpark for. There are a lot of little bonuses that add up when you can give the opportunity for companies to be seen in prime time for the playoffs. That is when you start seeing national companies get into the game...and that is where the big money is. Don't get me wrong, I like that the little local guys can get space in the outfield or behind home plate, but the national companies can pay more.

And what about naming rights? If this team can get into the playoffs for a few straight years, the chance of selling the naming rights to the park goes way up as does the price. I love not having a corporate sponsor, but I'd also love to see Cliff Lee caliber pitchers pitching here without ticket prices going up.

 

[fordman84]

we don't need to flip one of those guys to retool the farm system. we just need to continue drafting smart and continue to work the latin american kids. i've been trying to tell you guys about Darvish and it's nice to see people recognizing that talent

Need to? Not really, but if you keep drafting well and stocking talent from latin america, then you will have redundancies at positions. Look at SS in two years when Profar is up here. What happens if one of our drafted 1B turns into another Moreland? Need? no. Ability to flip a guy for prospects? Love it.

 

[dmc0015]

Need to? Not really, but if you keep drafting well and stocking talent from latin america, then you will have redundancies at positions. Look at SS in two years when Profar is up here. What happens if one of our drafted 1B turns into another Moreland? Need? no. Ability to flip a guy for prospects? Love it.

That was more of my point. At some time you are going to run out of room for your young guys to make it at a few positions. At that point why not get the most bang for your buck? I want to see all the current guys on this team for years to come, but that's why we are fans. We don't have to make those tough decisions.

 

[dmc0015]

we don't need to flip one of those guys to retool the farm system. we just need to continue drafting smart and continue to work the latin american kids. i've been trying to tell you guys about Darvish and it's nice to see people recognizing that talent

I had seen the numbers, but had yet to see him pitch. That is some movement he has. I certainly don't think Dice-K had that type of stuff coming up.

 

[scotsman1948]

That was more of my point. At some time you are going to run out of room for your young guys to make it at a few positions. At that point why not get the most bang for your buck? I want to see all the current guys on this team for years to come, but that's why we are fans. We don't have to make those tough decisions.

good points guys

 

[scotsman1948]

I had seen the numbers, but had yet to see him pitch. That is some movement he has. I certainly don't think Dice-K had that type of stuff coming up.

i haven't seen any pitchers coming from over there that had that kind of stuff. he used to throw a screwball but it bothered his shoulder so he dropped it. the kid has 6 pitches, he's a possible #1 on most teams' staffs

 

[Xx srs bsns xX]

Fully agree DMC... Dont think the payroll will climb to $160 million... but 120 million at least.

As for Darvish - lets not forget he also grew up with Tateyama (played ball with him)...

 

[Ginger]

First off, Congrats on the great tickets to yesterday's game. I am glad you enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I think you are wrong about the debt thing. I believe the Rangers have one of the worst debt ratio's going and are one of the nine teams not currently in compliance with the debt/ratio rule.

You are right that both guys are extremely wealthy and do have the cash to get the team out of debt; however, they haven't. I think it would be very prudent for them to continue the current payroll structure and start paying off some of that debt. They do need to balance their need to make a profit and their need to get fans into the stands. Right now the team is winning, has tons of young and marketable players and prospects galore. It shouldn't be too hard to keep this up for years without ever taking the payroll to extremes.

They've built a first rate organization and the value of that is that they may not have to overpay to get premium talent here. Having a great organization allows the team to weather injuries, setbacks, losses due to free agency and just plain bad decisions. When it is all said and done players come and go but if you have a great organization you can maintain success for extended periods of time.

 

[Al Falfa]

i haven't seen any pitchers coming from over there that had that kind of stuff. he used to throw a screwball but it bothered his shoulder so he dropped it. the kid has 6 pitches, he's a possible #1 on most teams' staffs

Six pitches? So what does the catcher do when he wants number 6? Taking off the catchers mitt so he can show six fingers may be a dead give away.

I can see a lot of trips to the mound with talking through gloves conversations.

 

[Xx srs bsns xX]

Six pitches? So what does the catcher do when he wants number 6? Taking off the catchers mitt so he can show six fingers may be a dead give away.

I can see a lot of trips to the mound with talking through gloves conversations.

Could just hold a fist down... or 2 fingers at the same time... etc etc etc...

 

[scotsman1948]

Six pitches? So what does the catcher do when he wants number 6? Taking off the catchers mitt so he can show six fingers may be a dead give away.

I can see a lot of trips to the mound with talking through gloves conversations.

six pitch arsenal: 4-seam 91-94 MPH FB, Hard-breaking 80 MPH Slurve, 2-seam FB, Curve, splitter & change-up.

that's something that a manager and pitching coach would love to have to deal with

 

[dmc0015]

First off, Congrats on the great tickets to yesterday's game. I am glad you enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I think you are wrong about the debt thing. I believe the Rangers have one of the worst debt ratio's going and are one of the nine teams not currently in compliance with the debt/ratio rule.

You are right that both guys are extremely wealthy and do have the cash to get the team out of debt; however, they haven't. I think it would be very prudent for them to continue the current payroll structure and start paying off some of that debt. They do need to balance their need to make a profit and their need to get fans into the stands. Right now the team is winning, has tons of young and marketable players and prospects galore. It shouldn't be too hard to keep this up for years without ever taking the payroll to extremes.

They've built a first rate organization and the value of that is that they may not have to overpay to get premium talent here. Having a great organization allows the team to weather injuries, setbacks, losses due to free agency and just plain bad decisions. When it is all said and done players come and go but if you have a great organization you can maintain success for extended periods of time.

Nolan has already said that the organization isn't afraid to add significant salary to the team moving forward. I don't think the debt has anything to do with the team stability. It more than likely has to do with setting things up in advance of the TV deal.

 

[AGZBASEBALL]

Gone are the Days when Tom Hicks used to LowBall Potential Free Agents to put on a Show like He was really trying to get that Player. When all the Time He Knew the Player would turn down the Contract. Like this new world of having a Team with the resources to be Serious Championship Contenders for Years to come.