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Tigers to Pay Luxury Tax

You can only spend money if you make money.

Also, revenue is put back into player development, organizational facilities, infrastructure, etc, etc. Many years ago, when they had Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, the Arizona D-Backs won the World Series and had one of the highest payrolls. They also had to take out promissory notes to cover that payroll.

Last 5 Years Averages

NYY 91.2 Wins 3.53 Mil Attendance $223.9 Mil Payroll $10.6 Mil Operating Income
STL 90.2 Wins 3.31 Mil Attendance $110.7 Mil Payroll $28.6 Mil Operating Income
DET 89.4 Wins 2.83 Mil Attendance $137.2 Mil Payroll -$8.6 Mil Operating Income
TBR 89.2 Wins 1.58 Mil Attendance $65.1 Mil Payroll $14.8 Mil Operating Income
TEX 87.4 Wins 2.96 Mil Attendance $108.7 Mil Payroll $5.8 Mil Operating Income
SFG 87.2 Wins 3.31 Mil Attendance $128.8 Mil Payroll $26.7 Mil Operating Income
OAK 86.6 Wins 1.68 Mil Attendance $69.0 Mil Payroll $23.0 Mil Operating Income
PHI 85.2 Wins 3.29 Mil Attendance $162.7 Mil Payroll -$1.7 Mil Operating Income
BOS 83.2 Wins 2.99 Mil Attendance $150.9 Mil Payroll $$22.7 Mil Operating Income
KCR 77.0 Wins 1.76 Mil Attendance $69.6 Mil Payroll $11.5 Mil Operating Income

In the last 20 years, OAK has never had more than 4.4 Mil in attendance in back to back year (2.2 Mil a year). TBR and KCR have not had more than 3.7 Mil (not including TBR inaugural season).

Two Season Total in Current Stadium

NYY 7.49 Mil (3.74 Mil)
PHI 7.46 Mil (3.73 Mil)
STL 6.99 Mil (3.49 Mil)
SFG 6.76 Mil (3.38 Mil)
TEX 6.64 Mil (3.32 Mil)
DET 6.25 Mil (3.13 Mil)
BOS 6.11 Mil (3.06 Mil)
OAK 4.42 Mil (2.21 Mil)
TBR 3.74 Mil (1.87 Mil)
KCR 3.71 Mil (1.85 Mil)

Break even on payroll can be determined by expected attendance. Winning in some cases means higher attendance. Yet, a team that is already winning (TBR or OAK) is not going to increase attendance much without a new stadium.

At their average last 5 years attendance, DET's break even mark is $128.5 Mil in payroll, hence why they have average losing $8.6 Mil a year the last 5 years. That is without paying a luxury tax. At $170 Mil payroll, DET would have to draw 3.74 Mil in attendance or significantly increase their ticket and/or concession prices. Increase costs can also lower attendance expectations, so it is a double edge sword.

From what I am tracking, PHI is the only other team that has average losing money over the last 5 years. They lost $20.9 Mil in 2014. They attendance dropped by roughly 600,000 and their payroll of $176.4 was $25.6 Mil more than 2013. They just signed a deal with Comcast which takes effect in 2016 and more than doubles their current deal. They have proved they can sustain over 3 mil in attendance. Their break even payroll currently sits at $161.1 Mil.

Bottom line. The Tigers are not generating revenue for their player development, organizational facilities, infrastructure, etc, etc. Increasing payroll is just compounding the issue and kicking the can down the road. "It isn't my money." and "Illitch can do what he wants." are flippant comments. Sooner or later, the Tigers will have to address these issues. They are NOT a top 10 media market. They are not a top 10 metro area. They have not consistently demonstrated top 10 attendance. Thus, they cannot maintain a top 10 payroll without winning the World Series from time to time. Playoff success adds to revenue. But paying and falling short will catch up.
 
This problem isn't going away any time soon. The Tigers have the worst farm system in baseball & a top heavy payroll consisting of older players. This team will be in last place in the central within a few years. The bigger problem is once they get to the basement...with their farm system...they will be down there for a while!
 
This problem isn't going away any time soon. The Tigers have the worst farm system in baseball & a top heavy payroll consisting of older players. This team will be in last place in the central within a few years. The bigger problem is once they get to the basement...with their farm system...they will be down there for a while!



This is another example of tomdalton22 just throwing things at the wall. Who cares if they are true or not.

"Tigers have the worst farm system in baseball" - Where is your evidence ranking the Tigers 30th out of all MLB teams?

"Top heavy Payroll consisting of older players" - Well, duh. Older players are usually the only ones who really get paid much. If by older you mean player who are not fresh out of the minors. Even Mike Trout wont get paid top money until he is over 25. It's also not like Verlander or Cabrera are old men either, 31 is still pretty much in prime.

"This team will be in last place in the central within a few years" - How do you know this? It's likely we wont be on top in a few years, but there is a big difference from not winning the Central to being at the bottom of it.


You are going to need to change your name to ChickenLittle22 soon.
 
Most teams that win consistency, with higher payroll have bad ml systems. I wish it was better but its the name of the game, trade what you have to continue to win games. Lose draft picks for signing FA etc. Detroit, NYY, LAA etc. have traditional poor ml systems. Even a team like Oakland doesn't much down on the farm..
 
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This is another example of tomdalton22 just throwing things at the wall. Who cares if they are true or not.

"Tigers have the worst farm system in baseball" - Where is your evidence ranking the Tigers 30th out of all MLB teams?

"Top heavy Payroll consisting of older players" - Well, duh. Older players are usually the only ones who really get paid much. If by older you mean player who are not fresh out of the minors. Even Mike Trout wont get paid top money until he is over 25. It's also not like Verlander or Cabrera are old men either, 31 is still pretty much in prime.

"This team will be in last place in the central within a few years" - How do you know this? It's likely we wont be on top in a few years, but there is a big difference from not winning the Central to being at the bottom of it.


You are going to need to change your name to ChickenLittle22 soon.

Keith Law ranked all 30 farm systems...the Tigers were 30th.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2015/01/28/detroit-tigers-keith-law-espn/22479711/

When I said top heavy...I was mostly talking about Miggy and JV. $58M a year for 2 players. Stupid!

From Free Press article.

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sp...-focus-present-future-getting-dicey/18942117/

The Tigers, obviously, remain in win-now mode.

As for the future? Well, let's not go there. Actually, let's.

Like a college kid who's maxed out every credit card in his wallet, the Tigers are on a spending spree for which the big bill eventually will come due. But they'll worry about that another day.

Today, they have star slugger Victor Martinez back in uniform, on a four-year, $68 million deal that came together in hurry Wednesday night at the general managers' meetings in Phoenix.

That was a pivotal move for the Tigers' 2015 success, given if Martinez walked, there were exactly zero internal replacement options, and really not many more available on the free-agent market.

But long-term? Well, the Tigers are starting to seriously handcuff their payroll flexibility in future seasons.

Take 2018, for instance. That will be the last year of Martinez's deal, that will pay him $17 million a season. Combined with the money owed that year to Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez and Ian Kinsler, plus the $5 million they will be sending the Rangers to help offset Prince Fielder's deal, the Tigers already have committed at least $90 million to that year's payroll ? and as much as $108 million, if options are picked up for Sanchez and Kinsler.

All of the players will be in their mid- or upper-30s in 2018, theoretically well past their prime.

So...shitty farm system (maybe not 30th but no doubt...shitty), old players with two making almost $60M...how can anybody think the future is bright with this organization?
 
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