Sternberg: Payroll will go up, team could be "playoff caliber"

Principal owner Stuart Sternberg said Thursday - as promised - the Rays payroll will go up next season, though the increase of about 20 percent he talked about would only push the Rays into the $33-$34 million range.

They figure they spent between $28-$29-million this year and Sternberg said they'd go up "20 percent, maybe even a little bit more.'' But much of that increase will be taken up by increases to their current players, so it does not sound like they plan to make any major expensive additions, though they say they always are open to possibilities.

Sternberg also said he expects the Rays, headed toward a ninth last-place finish in 10 seasons, to escape the cellar next season and push toward the top of the difficult AL East division.

"This club is capable of being a playoff caliber club next year unfortunately we are certainly hindered playing in the division that we're in and playing in the league that we play in,'' Sternberg said, "but having said that I know that there will be teams in the playoff this year, and possibily one that wins the World Series, that I would love to have crack at in a seven-game series, or know that we can play on an even or better basis during the season.  ...

"I believe that by April 1 next year if we've done our job we've put our players in a position to contend for a playoff spot. It's not a likelihood, it's not obviously going to happen, but as long as we put them in a position to succeed we'll have done our job and I believe we'll be there next year.''

Also, though not confirming that the recently leaked illustrations of the new uniform designs were correct, Sternberg said the idea of taking TAMPA BAY off the road uniforms would be done to maximize awareness of the team's new branding as the Rays.

Comments

Not so shocking if you followed the moribund front office since Sternberg assumed the reins. He just will not spend the dough needed to make the Rays playoff caliber. This team has the WORST RECORD IN BASEBALL. There are too many weaknesses besides pitching: 2B, SS, C, a decent DH. Not protecting Josh Hamilton was absolutely insane. And there's no guarantee that those minor league pitchers will be effective in the majors. There's too many holes to plug and El Cheapo doesn't want to spend $$$. Imagine any other major league team not playing a .155 hitter only because of injury.

[wiggy]

He's a callow owner with a lot of money he's not willing to spend and no experience and little knowledge of his enterprise. He was in the TV booth tonight and actually made the statement that he would not trade the pitching in his organization for any other team's. Dude, your team has baseball's worst record and the players that have the toughest time jumping to the majors are pitchers.

[Winston]

Wiggy, and untitled,

Who would you have the Rays buy?

Sternburg has shown all of us fans that he is dedicated.

Joe Maddon's low key coaching is showing up with the surge of CC, Kaz, BJ, and others.

These guys a ready to explode next year.

[Joe]

This my friends does it for me. Stuart Sternberg, you can sell this club and leave this community as far as I am concerned. Your flimsy explanation is nothing short of political and unacceptable.

The sooner you sell this club and not marketing in the name of "civic pride" sir, is flat out disgraceful to the fans like me who have waited years to support baseball in this town. And you will go to $35 million.

Mr. Sternberg, you will have to explain yourself with more clarity. My pride is personal and just paying the arb figures shows NOTHING. Now, I want you to sell and leave this area to fans and people who care about Tampa Bay more than anything. Please go back to your Charles Xavier Westchester mansion and watch your mutual funds mature.

[Joe]

Stu, this is just the start, you want to gauge fan reacion. This isn't the "no spin zone" and Bill O'Reilly. We are blue collar fans who care for the bottom line, not how much money you can pocket from revenue sharing and central fund.

You had a chance to enhance Tampa Bay's image and now you have destroyed it. Please sir, I beg you to sell and leave while you have dignity left. I am serious. I am passionate and educated and in a Darwinistic game of baseball, if you think you can just pay your arbitration elgibles and go with what you have, you are mistaken.

Stu, please leave and sell the club. Anyone who takes "Tampa Bay" off of OUR club and our pride when you don't live here, sir, you can leave.

[J]

The Times needs to do a story on how profitable the Rays are. Surprisingly, one of the most profitable teams in MLB. Mostly, because the payroll is so low. They receive quite a bit of revenue sharing, licensing and their share of the MLB baseball TV deal. Are Stu and his Wall St. buddies just sucking off cash from the Rays to cover trading losses in the stock market? What are they doing with all the cash? This is a dirty little secret that needs to be exposed. Please don't listen to the BS about attendance---that is not the main source of revenue. The Times needs to stop focusing on petty issues and look at the big picture. Unless, they are in on the scam too...

[Sal]

What a slap in the face to the area. I bet he wants to move this team somewhere out of the area, why else would he take the region name off the away jersey?

J, you will NEVER see anything critical about the Rays or Lightning ownership from the St. Pete Times. The SPT is the newspaper of record for the Rays and the Lightning play in the St. Pete Times Forum. The Rays are absolutely the worst existing sports franchise, maybe the all-time worst. Also, the SPT was instrumental in the Tropicana Park scam, a horrible location. The Lightning's "new" ownership is a sham. MacLean is a proven front office cancer. But notice how critical the SPT was of the Bucaneers AFTER ONE GAME. Why? Because their name is not attached to that franchise.

[Joe]

I am paraphrasing, but "maximizing awareness"? A Ray is three letters long?! You have two different kinds and types of Rays on the uniform! Can you see the anger and vitriol?! Can you have the dignity to tell the media of our region this sad excuse of a reason?

Ray Ray Ray, a Ray for every day of the week. What about Tampa Bay?

[GordonGecko]

Stu Sternberg=clueless in Tampa. You should have heard this putz during the broadcast of tonight's losing effort. Not even a whiff of knowledge about the game or reality. He's got MLB's worst team and thinks he's going to fill the many missing pieces with minor leaguers.

[agatha]

Stu's recent moves indicate he will move this team to New Jersey. I'm guessing Atlantic City. It's much closer to his home and will give him a natural rivalry with the Yankees. He will save a ton of money in team travel. He already has moved spring training to another city in preparation for the announced relocation. He also started to wean the diehards off the Rays by transferring 3 home games to Kissimmee.

[Joe]

I got an idea Stu, why don't you take a full page ad out in both of the papers and apologize for your sorry excuse tonight. You ruined the whole offseason and dampened thousands of fans enthusiasm by your callous line of thought.

Go ahead and ruin the identity of the club and pocket almost $100 million in revenue sharing between 2006-2008 ALONE! Leave, Stu.

[kb]

SICKENING!!! This laughable excuse of an owner "PROMISED" he'd increase payroll only one year ago. Look what actually happened -- payroll went down. Don't believe the hype, don't believe the LIES. A team full of promising young players who just want to play the game is being destroyed by Sternberg and his clueless cronies. Bring back Naimoli -- he was better than this! Tampa Bay fans deserve better than this! We waited for years for a franchise and we don't deserve to have this loser Sternberg come in and wreck EVERYTHING! He doesn't even live down here in Tampa Bay. He doesn't even own a condo, and we know how rich this guy is, so he could definitely afford it. Does that say something about him or what! He should be embarrassed for himself. We're nothing even remotely CLOSE to a "playoff" team. Does he think the fans are all idiots? Are we going to buy into this bullhonky? No! You have to invest money in order to do well as a team. This "value oriented" approach isn't worth a hill of freaking beans. Sorry Stu, that's REALITY. This guy is NOT willing to spend money on the team. It's disgusting. We the fans and the Rays deserve MUCH BETTER THAN THIS!!!

And they had better resign Pena. After this season he'll be worth at least $10 million but they won't pay that, absolutely not. Just watch, they'll come up with some idiotic excuse for trading him. Prospects and cash considerations, here we come baby! PATHETIC!!!!!!

[DJ]

Wow. This guy sure isn't a public relations genius. Clearly a majority of the fans don't like the new uniforms. Now he tells us that he is going to do almost nothing in the offseason except sign our current players. It wasn't in this blog, but he also prefaced his reason for dropping Tampa Bay from the road uniforms by say that Tampa Bay isn't really the name of a city... He probably shouldn't have made the statement about the Rays pitching, but that was more a statement about how good their minor league pitchers are. He isn't wrong about that. The Rays minor league pitching is far better than any other organization. And they have Kaz and Shields in the bigs, so I can see what he was thinking. But come on man. You always take the best major league staff with the worst minor leaguers over the worst major league staff with the best minor leaguers. Having the best major league staff right now means that you are probably in the playoffs right now... He would have been better off saying nothing today.

[Ray]

"Bring back Naimoli -- he was better than this!"

This is one of the funniest statements of all time. You've got to be kidding?

The Hit Show? Turning the whole area against him because of the way he treated fans, businesses in this area and the staff of the Trop?

[LongingforVince]

This isn't a PR problem; it's a very real one. The owner has a track record of being a tightwad and told fans yesterday via his overtolerant buddies at the SPT and the friendly confines of the TV booth that he would not spend but a pittance in the coming offseason. This is a typical Wall Streeter. A "capitalist" until he can collect (revenue sharing) and then he's a born-again socialist.

[Bill]

Sorry gents, Im drinking the KoolAid. There are no free agents worth a damn out there. He needs to resign the players he has, if he doesnt every one will bust his chops for trading prospects, like Josh Hamilton. Give me a break (check his numbers, I am sure the team needs another 100 game outfielder hitting 260)
They did good last year in picking up players (Aki, Pena, Harris).
You guys need to go sit on a porch somewhere, pull your pants up around your chest and complain about the Rays and the government as a group and leave the rest of us (probably two of us) alone.

[Billsatard]

That's why you're not a baseball scout, Bill. You probably suck at fantasy baseball. Harris is adequate. And you really think Sternberg is going to shell out for Pena? Aki has been a surprise but I question if he can maintain his adequate level of play over several seasons. and, Mr. Braintrust, the Rays got zero for Hamilton. They didn't protect him while they protected guys like Zobrist (.155), Glover, E. Jackson, and a slew of other dogs that populate the parent club. The fact is that Sternberg loves morons like you who will buy a ticket no matter how little he spends. And, as others here have pointed out, the would be free agents with talent won't stay here because Sternberg won't fill the holes via trades and free agency.

[Bill]

Fantasy Baseball? Grow up! Just like I called it. "A bunch of sideline whiners".

[DJ]

I hope Sternberg wasn't posturing or something, but even while complimenting Pena, he didn't sound like a guy who's itching to get keep him here for a while... You guys need to let the Hamilton thing go. He was a 25 year old former prospect who hadn't played more than a handful of games in years. The Rays were and still are overflowing with outfielders. Hamilton didn't deserve to make the Rays big league squad over any of the outfielders they have, including Dukes. The Rays had to put Zobrist, Glover, Jackson, etc on the 40 man roster because that is who they had to play SS and pitch on the big league squad. Someone had to play those positions and Hamilton can't. He's an outfielder. If you want to say that the Rays should have had a better SS, reliever, and starter to protect instead of Hamilton, that's fine. But the Rays gave Hamilton second, third, and fourth chances to prove he wasn't a loser crackhead. If they had protected him, he would have been in the minors again and quite possibly back on crack. Who knows? Good for Hamilton that he capitalized on his opportunity with Reds, who weren't expecting to keep him either but thought it was worth taking a look at.

[Anthony]

Hey Stu, sell the Rays and just renew your Mets season tickets. So you can hang out with Jeff Wilpon in his luxury box and complain about the raising costs of payrolls. It is too bad that Sternberg believes that a team that still hasn't learned how to win consistantly can be a playoff team in 2009. Hey, Joe Madden enjoy the two year extension. I am sure you got it as soon as Rays clinched their 62 win, which kept them for losing another 100 losses. Just remember Stu, next year will be a long summer if your prediction after "bumping" up the payroll doesn't produce a .500 or better winning percentage.

[wiggy]

Well, Bill, I guess Kazmir is a "sideline whiner" too. And Crawford fits your description. You think Young, Upton, and Shields don't feel the same way.

And, DJ (guess it stands for DumbJerkoff), The Rays could have gotten SOMETHING for Hamilton. Apparently at least one team wanted him. And having four outfielders instead of three doesn't mean you are overloaded at the position.