[CityRider]

These teams play on artificial grass because of the heat. It's to hot to maintain nice grass there (same with Rangers). Arizona's field was turning brown. Not an issue here in Toronto. MLB players still prefer natural grass.

I understand the heat issue just fine of course, but what I'm saying is that there's no real reason to undergo the massive expense of switching to grass and dealing with the drainage and water-wasting issues when the reason in favour of grass is really based on feelings and nostalgia while modern turf is easier to maintain and less wasteful. I pointed to those stadiums as examples of making it work, because clearly it can. The kind of grasses used for sports fields are non-native and require vast quantities of water. If they were able to use a strain of native or adapted grass that required less maintenance I'd be all for it. It's not an easy fix.

 

[Amare]

Yeah but he would only be in charged of the financial end of it. Shapiro would remain President.

Which is the most significant aspect since he would control all of the strings. So if he felt like spending money on the Blue Jays "was not worth it" (just like Masai was apparently "was not worth it"), then he could strip the team dry of their resources and manage them as if they were for instance the old Florida Marlins. Which would have various indirect implications for the stadium itself.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Which is the most significant aspect since he would control all of the strings. So if he felt like spending money on the Blue Jays "was not worth it" (just like Masai was apparently "was not worth it"), then he could strip the team dry of their resources and manage them as if they were for instance the old Florida Marlins. Which would have various indirect implications for the stadium itself.

In the meantime, he wanted to leverage the franchise and the real estate (which really isn't his to do anything with - much less unilaterally) to fund another telecom merger.

AoD

 

[Amare]

In the meantime, he wanted to leverage the franchise and the real estate (which really isn't his to do anything with - much less unilaterally) to fund another telecom merger.

AoD

I'd love it if Rogers spun out their sports property from their media property; then completely sold off their sports holdings so they leave the Blue Jays, Leafs, and Raptors out of their fiasco. They can handle their mess of media properties like they currently do, and let someone else who knows what they are doing handle the sports and real estate side.

Edward Rogers is a bonafide fool who has the capability of single handedly destroying the value of these teams if he ever gets his way. The only reason the Leafs and Raptors didnt turn to a dumpster fire is (ironically) because Kilmer group still holds a stake in MLSE.

 

[Richard White]

If Edward Rogers truly wants control over the team, that would be an absolute disaster for all Blue Jays fans. It would be akin to the Leafs back in the Ballard era, or Richard Peddie era (not that I particullarly care for the Leafs, they're a joke no matter who's running it).

I mean, just look at what he tried to pull with Masai Ujiri. The man who built the Raptors into a championship team:

Report: Raptors co-owner Edward Rogers badmouthed Masai Ujiri

Raptors co-owner Edward Rogers was apparently very against Masai Ujiri's contract – until getting overruled by the franchise's governor, Larry Tanenbaum.

nba.nbcsports.com

This is exactly what I thought. Ed Rogers strikes me alot like Harold Ballard and I honestly do not feel comfortable with him in control of the team. His recent boardroom antics show that with him at the helm, it will be more about his vision and tossing everyone aside who does not agree with him.

I can see alot of people leaving the Blue Jays head office if Ed Rogers takes over.

 

[JMSRead]

Ed Rogers taking over does create for the potential for Harold Ballard style nonsense, but there are also potential upsides to having a fan as owner, rather than a corporation with shareholders. It's been indicated that Mark Shapiro has won Ed over to the idea that this team should be run on a high payroll, so at least short term I think Ed assuming more control may not be a bad thing. Who knows, obviously! Andrew Stoeten is an excellent Jays blogger and has an interesting read on it here:

tinyurl.com/n4esaded

 

[JMSRead]

This is exactly what I thought. Ed Rogers strikes me alot like Harold Ballard and I honestly do not feel comfortable with him in control of the team. His recent boardroom antics show that with him at the helm, it will be more about his vision and tossing everyone aside who does not agree with him.

I can see alot of people leaving the Blue Jays head office if Ed Rogers takes over.

I think Ed Rogers is a fool as well, but I don't think you're right on the front office taking issue with this. From what we know, it seems the front office has a good working relationship with Ed Rogers. I think Shapiro has his ear, and might even prefer it if Ed had more control. Just conjecture on my part from consuming a lot of Jays stuff.

 

[EddyMCD]

I think you're right that it might actually be good in the short term as long as Shapiro is here. But it could get disasterous in the long term.

 

[asdda]

Ed Rogers has been in charge of the Blue Jays for a while now. He pissed off the Toronto media and the owners of the White Sox and Orioles by trying to dump Beeston a year early when he tried to poach Kenny Williams or Dan Duquette in 2014. It is one of the reasons the Toronto media was so hard on Shapiro after he got hired by Ed Rogers in 2015 to replace Beeston.

Rogers selling the Blue Jays to Ed Rogers just seems to reek of shuffling money around.

 

[Amare]

The thing with Edward Rogers is: one day he feels good about somebody, the next day his moodswings change and wants them out. One day he might want to raze the Rogers Centre, the next day he probably wont to invest any money into it and just let it deteriorate. Nobody knows with him.

We've seen this scenario play out over the years with the number of CEOs Rogers has had. First he loved Guy Lawrence, then he wanted him out. First he loved Nadir Mohamed, then he wanted him out. First he loved Joe Natale, then he wanted him out.

Now just imagine the scenarios above playing out over 10 years with the Blue Jays. The team would be a train wreck financially, and from a fan popularity perspective. Baseball is a whole different beast compared to Telcom, one where you cant whine and complain to the CRTC and have the government protect you if somebody "does bad to you". And from what we know, Edward Rogers loves to whine and complain: he called the NBA commissioner to try and get Ujiri terminated, he whined around the MLB to try and poach various executives from various teams, and heck he'd probably whine to the Urban Toronto founders and he read my comments about him here.

To get into the technicalities of things, Guy Laurence (former Rogers CEO) ensured that Ed and Melinda Rogers were removed from the baseball side of the business when he was put in place as CEO. This was about 5 years ago and he was smart enough to know they would meddle in the affairs of the team. Now the fool wants back in to mess around with the stadium and team.

 

[TossYourJacket]

There is no way giving Ed Rogers full control over the team goes well. Also given his increasingly petulant antics lately, it feels like he would be exactly the kind of owner who would try and force the city to entirely pay for his new stadium or he will move the Jays elsewhere. Americans are far more willing to give absurdly rich people free money than we are after all.

 

[toronto647]

Basically long story short... The Rogers Centre is here to stay at least for this decade. By the time the sale goes through, developmental proposals go in, negotiations occur behind closed doors with city council and shovels get in the ground wont be until the late 2020s at the earliest or realistically 2030!

 

[sixrings]

In baseball with no salary cap I would much prefer some rich dude who would just spend and spend on salary then a corporation who wants to put just enough in to look competitive without actually being competitive. I’m not saying Ed is the man but In baseball I can only see the upside of a individual owner versus a company.

 

[daptive]

In baseball with no salary cap I would much prefer some rich dude who would just spend and spend on salary then a corporation who wants to put just enough in to look competitive without actually being competitive. I’m not saying Ed is the man but In baseball I can only see the upside of a individual owner versus a company.

Maybe… or you end up with an owner like Jeff Loria who was unsympathetic to the Montreal fan base and ends up selling the club to Washington…

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

There is no way giving Ed Rogers full control over the team goes well. Also given his increasingly petulant antics lately, it feels like he would be exactly the kind of owner who would try and force the city to entirely pay for his new stadium or he will move the Jays elsewhere. Americans are far more willing to give absurdly rich people free money than we are after all.

Then he should just move the team elsewhere.

AoD