I moved this reply from "AL Central" to here as I feel the response to it fits perfectly here:
OK, HD...let 'er rip...In your best thoughts and observations when and why did it change with the Dolan ownership? Was no one from this ownership around even when you almost made the WS 2 years ago? How could they talk Pronk, Grady, Victor, etc. into long-term commitments and then pull this?
KCK,
Things changed well before our 2007 ALCS Loss.
Late Richard Jacob's owned the team through the rip-roaring 90's. In his reign, the team won 5 Division Titles and went to 2 World Series'. During our hey-dey, Jacob's wasn't afraid of spending. He brought in veterans such as Dave Justice, Dave Winfield, Oral Hershiser, Dennis Martinez, Robbie Alomar, etc. to add to the team during their run.
In 2000, Jacob's sold the franchise to Larry Dolan for $323 million. Jacob's, the savvy business man with deep pockets, made out like a bandit while Dolan overpaid by roughly double what they are now worth. The year after Jacob's sold the team, we had the highest payroll in franchise history of $92.6 million. Today, 8 years following, we are at $81 million. Before I get into specifics, what does that tell you?
The year Dolan took over (2001), the Indians failed to resign Manny Ramirez and Sandy Alomar Jr. They still won the AL Central that year, but lost in the first round of the playoffs.
In the 2001 offseason, GM John Hart resigned and Mark Shapiro took the reigns. Shapiro, under direction from Dolan, proceeded to trade Robbie Alomar for Matt Lawton and prospects (none notable). With the team out of contention in 2002, Shapiro fired Charlie Manual and traded Bartolo Colon for Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee and Brandon Phillips. (Good trade, I'll give him that). After the season, Jim Thome left for a larger contract.
Since 2001, we've only been to the playoffs one other year in the Dolan/Shapiro/Wedge era, which was 2007.
In 2008, the year following our ALCS exit, we still had Sabathia and Lee turned into Cy Young that year. We locked up Victor Martinez and Grady Sizemore to fairly reasonable contracts before they became too star-studded, which was good foresight by their part. Unfortunately though, injuries and regression set in that year and we fell too far back in the standings early in the season to compete. Later that year we traded Sabathia. Then Lee this year.
See the trend yet? We've developed a ton of talent over the years, only to see them walk for more money. Lately we've been trading them because ownership already knows they won't be able to make a competitive offer. There needs to be some sort of happy medium. Personally, I think we need deeper pockets to consistently succeed.
The anti-salary cap proponents will spout off teams like the Rays and Twins, but fail to realize that these teams don't compete for a World Series Title for decades at a time like the Big-Boppers are able to do. When their young stars out grow their rookie contracts, ownership hast to make a decision to make. Most likely that decision will involve them leaving for more money and the team starting over with prospects.
In conclusion, if imposing a salary cap isn't the answer, I want a owner with deeper pockets because I'm sick of seeing our talent leave during the pinnacle of their careers.
