By: Mike Rifkin
If you owned a sports franchise, your goal would be to do whatever it took to win.
Over the weekend, Rockies Owner Dick Monfort spoke at a community event. He was talking about the San Diego Padres spending money. “That puts a lot of pressure on us. But it’s not just the Padres; it’s the Mets, it’s the Phillies. This has been an interesting year.” Monfort has an issue with teams that spend money. Meanwhile, he is the guy who traded his franchise player Nolan Arenado and 50 million dollars to the Cardinals two off-seasons ago and didn’t get the best return.
As an owner, your goal should be two things. One is to make your team as competitive as possible so people will go to games, and the other is to win a championship. If you don’t want to do either, why do you own a sports franchise? Monfort continued, saying, “What the Padres are doing, I don’t 100% agree with, though I know our fans probably agree with it. We’ll see how it plays out.” Fans wanting an owner to spend money, wow, what a concept. Fans only want the owners to show they care as much as they do, but why try to annoy the fans with this talk? Here’s the downside: some owners will increase payroll, by which tickets, concessions, and parking will increase prices.
Montfort said, “I look at the Padres, and they have a really talented team, but they have some holes, too. They’ve got three, maybe four starting pitchers, and then they’re like us. So I don’t know. They have spent a lot of money, and they will have to spend a lot more if they want to keep (outfielder) Juan Soto. But it does put a lot of pressure on you. Yes, it does.” Why is Monfort talking about a player currently on a division rivals roster? Are the Rockies going to make a run at Soto when he hits free agency, or is he just saying that Soto will be too expensive for the Rockies?
Montfort went on to say he thinks the Rockies can play.500 baseball this season. Last season the Rockies finished with a record of 68-94, 43 games behind the first-place Dodgers. But playing .500 baseball shouldn’t be the goal, especially before Spring Training starts. You don’t have to think you will win the World Series, but you can say your team is good enough to make the playoffs. Once again, why do you own a franchise if you don’t do whatever it takes to win a World Championship?
Montfort is an easy target, but others have been critical of Mets owner Steve Cohen and how he has spent money since he took over. But why are others so concerned with what Steve Cohen and other owners do? They are doing whatever it takes to win a championship, which should be every owner’s goal.
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