Progress is being made in improving the financials of the Memphis Redbirds while attempting to attract new events to AutoZone Park.
In case folks missed it, in August the Memphis Commercial Appeal ran an update on the ongoing sticky financial situation still tarring the feathers of the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds.
While the defending Pacific Coast League champions continue to be competitive on the field, the balance sheet of the St. Louis Cardinals’ top affiliate has been an ongoing problem.
Attendance is basically flat this year compared to last, up an average of 75 fans on a base of over 6,600 per game. Yet, unlike in recent seasons, current expenses are being paid and some of the $2.5 million left unpaid from the past is being settled as well.
One factor this year is the downward renegotiation of payments to bond holders who funded the construction of AutoZone Park. In addition, the former management of the club was cleared out last summer in favor of a facilities management firm owned by Comcast.
The team remains for sale and while tires have been kicked, there are no offers on the table, John Pontius, treasurer of the Memphis Redbirds Baseball Foundation, told the paper.
Another news item notes one direction the new management and the City of Memphis may be taking to increase use of the ballpark and therefore, revenues.
A proposal is being worked on now for an event of longer duration than the annual Civil Rights Game, which was held in Memphis in 2007-08, but subsequently relocated by MLB, first to Cincinnati the last two years and then to Atlanta for the 2011 and 2012 games.
AutoZone Park is one of five stated contenders to secure the post-season baseball tournament of the Southeastern Conference, or SEC. The annual event has been held in Birmingham, Alabama each May since 1998, but is approaching renewal for 2012 and the four years beyond. The Redbirds tried to win the event last time it came up for bid in 2006, as well, reports the Birmingham News.
While the Memphis facility is top-notch and has the highest seating capacity of the contenders, its biggest drawback may be its relatively western location with respect to the SEC member schools. A decision is expected by year-end.
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I have never attended a Memphis game, but I have always planned to go to a couple of Springfield games but haven’t gotten around to it. I used to work 1/2 block from where the stadium is. Springfield has always been a huge Cardinal town.
I recommend going to Springfield Crdswmn. That place is awesome. Those fans are the best fans I have ever been around. The experience there will have you finding the love for the game that you can lose while watching big leaguers sometimes.
Watching Memphis is like watching a beer league softball game in my opinion. The players at Memphis have already started to act like the big league cardinals…………like zombies. The players at Memphis are all business, professional acting businessmen.. At Springfield the players play the game like its fun.
Easy choice…….Springfield.
I plan on it next season. Springfield is 150 miles away, not far for a road trip.
You won’t be disappointed Crdswmn. That is the real baseball heaven.
Memphis has a good ballpark and its an economically solid area for supporting AAA franchise. As to the financial fisasco, it sounds like they built too elaborate a ballpark. The ballpark cannot be moved, so its the bondholders who are yielding.
The story shows why the Cards backed off buying the Memphis situation. It would have meant losing about $4MM per year had the Cards bought the team and park. No reason to do that.
Lineup
1. Schumaker, 2B
2. Jay, RF
3. Pujols, 1B
4. Holliday, LF
5. Rasmus, CF
6. Molina, C
7. Feliz, 3B
8. Ryan, SS
9. Carpenter
I have an out there theory of how the Cardinals can get in the playoffs. If the team can get their sh*t together ( and that is a BIG if), the scenario goes like this. Braves and Padres are currently fading so the theory relies on that continuing to happen. Braves and Pads fall into 2nd place in their divisions. Cardinals WC competition thus becomes Braves, Padres, Rockies. The team has a series with each this month. Win those series along with a couple more and ——-
I said it was out there. Be kind.
One odd thing about 2010 is why Brendan Ryan remained SS during August, while Tyler Greene has had an 825 OPS during his second full season at Memphis. Ryan’s OPS of circa 580 has to be one of the worst in baseball, meanwhile a former first round draft pick is parked in Memphis. Its like Mo cared more about Memphis than the ML squad.
One reason could be Aaron Miles. While Miles has done a nice job in his limited role, with an OPS above 700, Aaron is not a SS, nor a building block for the future. His presence on the roster blocked promotion of Greene.
Now last summer, Mo fixed a TLR problem of Chris Duncan by unloading Chris on the Red Sox. This summer, one of the names mentioned in relation to trading for Roy Oswalt was Brendan Ryan. Including Ryan in a deal for Oswalt would have helped the offense by enabling promotion of Greene.
P-D writers mention tensions or doubts between TLR and Duncan versus Mo or Luhnow. Some of this is only to be expected, after a team slumps. There is always some fingerpointing, either real or for fans.
On the other hand, Duncan does not seem persuaded to rely on P J Walters, though Thompson used to get starts. There is a rumor Duncan still does not see eye to eye with minor league pitching coaches. TLR has not been offering enouraging public words about Rasmus.
So it is possible there is a rapport gap between TLR versus the Cards. We can see it in TLR’s preference for Ryan/Miles over Greene and possibly in Suppan over Walters, though that is less clear. Maybe it is there too in the preference for LaRue over Anderson as backup catcher.
Errors again.
Carp looks sharp today Crdswmn. I like the Cards chances when he is on…
Won’t matter if the O and D don’t back him up.
Like i said………
1-0 Cards win today…………..feeling lucky.
You’ve said that before RC. Don’t like the odds.
Carp is looking pretty good today. As Heisey goes down. Positive thoughts today..
Told you RC. I’s over.
I meant 3-2
I find it disturbing that I have become increasingly masochistic in the last few weeks.
I wonder if umps ever look at video to see their boo-boos?
That move bit Dusty in the patootey.
I’m happy for Matt right there. Bling would be so happy
11Ks Yep, Carp ain’t bad.
Please don’t take Carp out.
I felt a dominant performance for Carp coming on..
Good bunt.
You mean he hasn’t had it yet?
Let Carp finish the game.
I hope this doesn’t backfire.
so far so good. Keeping the fingers crossed.
Whew……got out of it…
Hey, I didn’t get to see Rolen ground out! Dern commercials!
it was anti climatic. 5 hop ground ball to short..
Now the emergency alert test! Grrrrrr!
I missed it. What happened?
This has been a good game all the way around by both teams. Carp dealt and that plus a clutch bomb by Holliday has been the key.
I dare to hope this is the start of something.
Phils lost, Braves lost.
The masterplan worked to perfection in the 6th powering the team to a 2-7 record in the last 9 starts by our Cy worthy co-aces.
After the team crawled back home on their belly they play in front of a packed house and a sea of red every day. I darned near didn’t get a ticket. crdswmn isn’t the only masochist.
Tony just said Colby’s dad is a ‘good source’ for Colby. Was stressing the same things with Colby that the coaching staff was. Good job RC. Maybe that cage will be available again.
I hate the media. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100905&content_id=14320700&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
Where’s WC?
Bling, The funny thing is when I work with Colby the only thing we work on is letting the ball travel and hitting it the other way. I’ll mix in some inside stuff from time to time during the session but the majority of the time its all let it get deep and hit it the other way. If he could get that kind of work every day you would see him hit it the other way with more authority and more frequently.
I posted here in late June or early July that I was done for the year and I haven’t worked with him since. Now I have mentioned a few things from time to time but no cage work.
Bling, now you have to give credit to the guy when he does do what he was brought in to do. Matt came through today. Good team win but Carp and Matt did the heavy lifting.
Crdswmn, Albert did the heavy lifting today, His comments walk tall and carry a big stick…
Matt has been doing it all year, that’s why Albert leads in homers. Winning games is another matter. Let’s hope he decides to strap one on again tomorrow.
Colby looked good at the plate.
Now that Wainy has vowed not to lose another game, lets see what happens. Wouldn’t want to be the guy who lets him down.
Listening to Hadley on KTRS and he is ripping RC a new one! It is kind of funny actually. First time I’ve ever listened to Hadley (probably the last).
Maybe September will get interesting after all. It will be interesting to see if anybody has the guts to mention that Albert’s comments are not appropriate coming from a player, whoever the player is. Tony won’t, that’s for sure. Mo? Not sure, but will be interesting to see if he minds getting his toes stepped on in the press. RC? He’s just a guy hanging around on an obscure comment board minding his own business.
Channel 5 sports had the Albert quote, and then the Tony quote. Then on to football coverage. I guess the commentary and editorializing will come soon enough.
“We need to figure out a way to get him out of here,”
I’m seeing that Albert quote all over the place already. Mo’s marching orders?
I have little problem with Albert commenting if he truly knows the whole story. IT sounds to me though as he has yet to talk to Colby so he is just going off press reports. Not a smart thing. Of course until ALbert signs an extension indicating he truly wants to be here maybe he should just be quiet.
As far as I can tell it was the club that leaked the treade request to the press not Mr.Rasmus (either one). Colby has shown nothing but class in awkward situation in my opinion. I’m not sure the same can be said for the organization.
Now the story is out there, Albert said the right thing. If somebody does not like playing for St Louis, the team should explore a trade this winter. This is true whether Albert returns in 2012 or not.
RC has hinted Colby should be traded for 3 years now. This is not a new or spur of the moment one time opinion. Its possible reporters would not be asking either Tony or Colby about this subject and it could have stayed in the Clubhouse, if it were not for all the postings and hints.
Can you imagine Allen Craig or Jason Motte asking to be traded? No wonder it made TLR feel ill to have to give up an adult like Ludwick to land Jake Westbrook.
Star kids get big signing bonuses. They can afford to rock the boat. Its part of the landscape of the game today.
After the All Star break, the Cards were hot, winning about 8 in a row, before dropping the final game of the homestand against the Phils on a Thursday. The next afternoon, they were at Wrigley, with both Jay and Rasmus in the OF. They lost F behind Suppan. On Saturday, against the southpaw Gorzelanny, Jay was in CF and Ludwick was up from Memphis in RF. When your team is fighting for the playoffs and at Wrigley, the last thing you want to hear from a kid is he wants to wear another uniform. Ugh.
It might be possible to excuse this request as a short-term reaction of youth. Everybody makes mistakes, athletes no less than anyone else. We live and learn, as we experience more. But its not a classy thing to do, to ask to be traded while you are in Wrigley. Its classier to show respect to a longtime ML manager.
Carioca, Albert was 100% correct in his comments. That is what leadership is about and he should show this type of stuff more often. I think it speaks well to his leadership potential in that he is capable of acting like he cares for the team. If he can start showing this team love this team may have a chance to defeat the Reds next year as this year is already lost.
Again CC, you are correct, the trade request info didn’t come from Colby, and I’m sure Colby was a little baffled when a reporter told him that TLR said that Colby had asked for a trade last year and this year. I know Colby didn’t say that because it is not true.
Jumbo, To my knowledge Colby has never spoken to any player in regards to him wishing he were somewhere else nor has he ever told TLr that he wanted to be somewhere else. As a matter of fact I can guarantee you that Colby has never mentioned wanting to be traded to any player or TLR.
I agree that Albert was correct in his comments if he had the facts correct. But spouting off without the correct facts can not be correct.
Now we may see what kind of balls Mo has. He is the one that has to take control of this situation and he needs to do it now. He needs to set things right in the clubhouse and also with the press. Is he up to the job?
Only indirectly related to the situation but I dont see what the big deal is if Colby or any other player is seeking additional instruction from outside of the organization. They should be happy the player is working on his game. The fact that it came from a relative is immaterial.
Just wondering if we are playing word games. For example, a representative of the player could have made trade wishes known to the GM. Despite player and manager being aware of it, neither would have been involved directly.
Not saying that did or did not happen, but it is one way of potentially explaining varying comments that at face value seem to be in direct conflict.
There may not be enough high ground remaining to accommodate all those who are or will be soon scrambling to try to reach it.
don’t remember where (and it isn’t really important) but the account that I read said that Colby approached Mozeliak about a trade.
I have never hit with Colby without asking TLR if it was ok. But after the Strauss article I figured the positives of hitting with Colby were outweighed by the negatives comments he would get from me doing it. So we decided it was better off for him to go it alone. In hindsight that was probably a mistake. Had his numbers continued like they were heading during the month of June when we hit frequently we wouldn’t be having this discussion today.
Brian, You may be right but TLR should be smart enough and experienced enough that he should realize the difference and should have chosen his words differently if that was the case.
RC, I hope you are less politically correct next year (assuming Colby’s a Card!). If I was Colby, I’d put you on my payroll for the summer (screw those other private lessons!). A good year by him next year will make millions of dollars of difference to his pocketbook and it sounds like you’d be a good investment.
I can say for myself that I have never once in my life spoken to John Mozeliak. I wouldn’t know him if he ran over me. I’ve met Luhnow a few times but no Mo.
I feel very confident that Colby may have approached Mo about Colby’s failure to produce while trying to change his hitting approach to a opposite field approach and had a discussion with Mo about possibly working on his game in Memphis. Working on changing up an approach at the big league level is probably the wrong way to work it. This may have been talked about and Mo decided against it for all I know.
Well as he approaches arbitration that aspect of his game will need to be way more consistent. These first three years there is wiggle room and that is why you have seen hot streaks and cold streaks. Hopefully in a few years he will be completely independent of anyone other than himself when it comes to hitting. Developing him in a way that he is a much tougher and smarter player by the age of 27/28 has been the goal all along. This year is better than the last and next year will be better than the first two and so on leading up to free agency.
all I know is that Colby was one of the better cardinal hitters in last year’s playoffs. This after a hitting session or two w/ his dad (or so it was reported).
Well if the cards reach the playoffs I feel sure his dad may sneak into St. Louis under the dark of night and find a secure location in which to tinker a little bit with Colby’s swing
That is why players have agents…
Re Brian’s comment at 7:15…
RC denies Colby asked TLR for a trade. Ok. This does not in fact conflict with the story in the P-D that Colby asked Mo for a trade, in Chicago. Someone is confirming this off the record for a P-D reporter. Pujols thinks the story is credible, hence his comments. What makes this trade request story plausible? For me, three years of posts by RCW.
The Birds can weigh their options after the season. Its par for the course. By this time of the year, it is often the case that someone is less than fully happy.
No doubt Jumbo, Colby would definitely be a different player if he were somewhere else. There is no doubting that and there is no doubt that I’ve said that. I don’t think its far fetched to think Colby has spoken to Mo at one time or another about Colby not being a good enough player to do what they are asking Colby to do hitting wise.
As for Alberts comments, If Colby did want to get traded those comments from Albert would be the best news possible because they carry serious weight. Things will work out one way or another, and most likely for the best.
The simplest way to solve the problem is for Colby to play every day. Period. With Luddy gone, there is nobody better. Whenever he is not in the lineup, the team is weaker. It may be that part of Mo’s thinking in the Luddy trade was to bring that about. In the same way he had to move out certain guys last year trying to force some sanity. Surely he is tired of the maddness. Albert may be backing the wrong horse, crazy as that sounds.
I doubt Colby would be a “different player” if he had played this year in another uniform. He had an OPS of about 715 as a rookie, while in his second year is up to 850. No sophmore slump. These numbers are good and about what could be expected, given his modest time at AAA.
Yet as TLR knows, what goes on in their coconuts matters. If Colby feels like fans have excessive expectations or TLR does, and this truly hurts his performance, then Mo will want to consider this. Mike Ivie had to give up catching because he had a mental block about tossing the ball back to the pitcher and was rolling it back. He got moved to 1B and then enjoyed a good ML career.
I agree things will most likely work out for the best.
Bling, earlier this year, you wanted to ship Colby down to Memphis.
When Colby played at Memphis in 2008, his family posted that the players did not have enough spirit or something.
For a lot of people, happiness is something you have within you or you do not. If a kid does not like one manager, there is a pretty good chance he is not going to like another one.
If true Colby asked to be traded in July, Mo decided against this for the players then available (Oswalt or Westbrook). Easy decisions. In the off season, however, it may be possible to work Rasmus into a deal that helps the Cards.
Or the Cards may decide to keep him around. Its not possible to make every player 100 percent happy all the time and you cannot run your business catering to their every whim. They earn the right to free agency after 6 years and are free to go their own way thereafter.
Jumbo, Colby should play every day. If he doesn’t play well and a center fielder in Memphis might be better, then he loses his job. That’s how the world works when you don’t play for your dad anymore. I don’t think Colby has any problem with that. Its the maddness he can’t adjust to. He seems to think he should get a chance to be an everyday center fielder until and unless he plays himself out of the job. He has played rather badly often enough, but so have Albert and Matt and Yadi. And besides, there is nobody better at hand.
Jumbo I think Colby’s family knew that Colby would not make it way back then with TLR and have hinted around that both the cardinals and Colby would benefit from a mutual separation. It wasn’t smoke and mirrors and it has been building ever since. I even said just a few weeks back that the odds were that things would get way worse if nothing changed. And this is not TLR’s fault. It is Colby’s.
Sorry about lighting the match and then vamoosing but I had to go see my mom.
I think everyone should grow the hell up.
I didn’t mean anyone on here by the way.
I was confident it was not TLR’s fault, unless Tony has gone senile.
Its too bad the Cards handed Rasmus a roster slot in spring 2009. He had a ho-hum 2008 at Memphis batting .251 and could have returned for another season of AAA. This might have improved his game, plus given him a better balanced outlook. Sigh.
The Tyrannosaurus approaches the Goat…………………. Munch!!!!!!!!!…………. no one here has identified either the goat or the T-Rex …………………. This is a terrible time to be seeking baseball security……………………why make it worse than it is………..