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Diamondbuck$

Big spending has helped team skip 'expansion' phase

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Posted: Tuesday October 05, 1999 12:29 PM

Randy Johnson is one of the high-priced players Arizona picked up en route to a $66 million payroll. Jed Jacobsohn/Allsport

By Tom Rinaldi, CNN/SI

PHOENIX -- The spotlights of the postseason aren't supposed to shine here.

Not on the Diamondbacks. Not already. Not on a second-year expansion team.

But is "expansion" the right definition? Let's ask around.

"I would say no," says leftfielder Luis Gonzales.

"It absolutely is an expansion team," counters team owner Jerry Colangelo. "We're only 2 years old."

"No," centerfielder Steve Finley adds. "I didn't consider it an expansion team last year really."

Looking around it's easy to see why.

The Diamondbacks committed $119 million signing pitchers Randy Johnson and Todd Stottlemyre, outfielder Steve Finley, and three other free agents before this season. Their current payroll is $66 million, seventh highest in baseball. Call it the cost of building an immediate winner, without apologies.

"We have a $350 million investment," Colangelo said. "You have people in baseball who spent $10, $12, $15 million for a franchise. That's apples and oranges. So we have to protect the investment. I only know one way to do that, that's to compete. And we did that."

And as Finley is quick to point out, the makeover was done strictly through free agency.

"They [ownership] didn't just go out and get everybody from the free agent market. I came in as a free agent, so did Johnson, Stottlemyre, Reynoso. But after that, it's all trades."

That's a fact according to Colangelo. "There's been so much said about how we bought something. The fact is, 9 of the players on the 25-man roster came via trade."

Arizona owner Jerry Colangelo paid a lot of money to turn the Diamondbacks into a playoff team. CNN/SI

Yet the trades that landed All-Stars Matt Williams and Luis Gonzales, haven't lessened the pressure for the Diamondbacks financially. Phoenix is the second-smallest market in the country to host all four major sports, so competition for fan dollars is fierce. In fact, Diamondback investors recently reached deeper into their pockets for another $24 million to handle a cash-flow problem.

Is all the spending now, risking financial failure later?

"My needs were not of an immediate nature," Colangelo says. "I was looking at where we're going to be next year, and to take care of that with one call on the partners."

According to some of the player's, they have recognized the fact that management's strategy has been to think ahead and that means the future.

"I don't think they sacrificed everything for one year," said Stottlemyre. "I think they're looking for longevity and to win for many years." "They've locked a majority of guys up to long-term deals," Gonzalez said. "People can say what they want, but as long as we play well and win, that's what the fans here want."

But Colangelo makes a point that maybe there are too many professional Teams in competition with each other in all sports. But, "If there's anyone to blame, it's me because I'm responsible for three of the major teams."

The definition of success in the modern sports environment can be elusive. Consider the Diamondbacks. They qualify for the playoffs in just their second season. Yet, after raising ticket prices at the end of their first season, average attendance this year has fallen by roughly 7,000 a game.

Success?

"That might be the million dollar question," Finley says. "I don't know. Last year baseball was new. It had never been here so a lot of people wanted to come out and see."

Manager Buck Showalter wonders what all the fuss is about?

"We get 37 or 38,000 people who show up every night. That's an attendance problem?"

That's a point the owner makes.

"Here we are talking about a franchise that will draw somewhere between 3 and 3.1 million and people want to talk about a decline," Colangelo remarked. "I want to accentuate the positive."

Winning the NL West, as a second year expansion team, certainly qualifies as success in the standings. As for long-term financial success in their ledger, that may be judged best when the word expansion no longer applies.

Expansion team, or not.

 

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