This debate happened shortly after Buster Posey’s incredible contract extension was announced.
The Giants owners are paying out salaries that will cut into their profits. The A’s owners profit because they don’t pay out salaries.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) March 29, 2013
@timkawakami #SFGiants make $90 million more per year than #Athletics – and that’s after A’s welfare check. Giants aren’t suffering.
— newballpark (@newballpark) March 29, 2013
I never said they were. But I do not weep for Fisher and Wolff. Ever. Ever. Ever. RT @newballpark Giants aren’t suffering
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) March 29, 2013
@timkawakami No one weeps for billionaires? Then don’t make a case for them.
— newballpark (@newballpark) March 29, 2013
@newballpark Huh? What case am I making?
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) March 29, 2013
@timkawakami “The Giants owners are paying out salaries that will cut into their profits.” What is that saying?
— newballpark (@newballpark) March 29, 2013
@newballpark It’s saying they could stay around $120M in salaries and pocket the rest and they’re not. Still making a nice profit, no doubt.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) March 29, 2013
@timkawakami In #SFGiants and #Athletics cases, owners keep payroll at 50% of revenues. Per Selig.
— newballpark (@newballpark) March 29, 2013
@timkawakami This is not about loving or hating owners. It’s about properly describing the inequity. Write about that some time.
— newballpark (@newballpark) March 29, 2013
I respect everything Billy Beane does. Think A’s have a helluva roster. But if the owners can’t make it work, at some point it’s THEIR fault
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) March 29, 2013
@newballpark There are inequities, but what has this ownership done to make up for it? Horrendous TV, terrible marketing, on and on.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) March 29, 2013
@timkawakami Look, if the #Athletics took off the tarps today and sold 30k/game at the current prices, they’d net $20 million. Maybe.
— newballpark (@newballpark) March 29, 2013
@timkawakami An extra $20 million would allow the A’s to get Joe Blanton and a year’s supply of cupcakes. Inequity is bigger than you think.
— newballpark (@newballpark) March 29, 2013
@newballpark Your example is a great one. It’d be an act of competition. All I’m saying is A’s owners don’t even go through the motions.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) March 29, 2013
@timkawakami That’s where Beane comes in. Why spend money on a marginal 4-5 starter when team already has several?
— newballpark (@newballpark) March 29, 2013
@newballpark Can agree with a lot of that, but let’s say that $20M PER could be used to re-sign Cespedes. And A’s don’t. That’s my example.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) March 29, 2013
@timkawakami Regardless of how much money any team makes, they’ll all operate in terms of value propositions. Everything else is P.R.
— newballpark (@newballpark) March 29, 2013
@timkawakami Cespedes signed with the A’s because he can get early free agency after 2015. He won’t be extended before he tests the waters.
— newballpark (@newballpark) March 29, 2013
OK that A’s money chatter was fun while it was lasted. Have just been ordered to write about Buster Posey. End of chatter (for me)….
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) March 29, 2013
Good debate with Kawakami. On a related note, I made this observation when I heard the news:
#SFGiants‘ three 2018 options (Cain/Posey/Bumgarner) are worth $54.4 million. #Athletics‘ 2013 payroll: $60+ million. #Selig
— newballpark (@newballpark) March 29, 2013
newballpark.org 
That tit blocked me long ago for far less. I find him to be the worst kind of bird cage journalist. Thin skinned and completely predictable. He is part of the reason that critical thinking is a dying art in our country. He takes the easy path to agitating anyone to sell more fish wrap.
Kawakami is both stupid and ignorant, but that’s not uncommon among sportswriter. Read him if you want to know the conventional wisdom – AKA cheap gossip – on any sports-related subject. Facts do not penetrate his skull.
Thanks for posting this up ML. He banned me off of his twitter so I couldn’t read any of your back and forth with him.
Thanks RM for putting that ass hole in his place. It’s been a long time coming. I dream of the day TK stops writing for the Merc, constantly insulting the A’s and the city he supposedly writes for. I’ve often stated that if I ever see TK In public I’d be tempted to pull a John Herrera on his ass. Your smack down was satisfying enough; thanks again RM. Go A’s and Go San Jose!
BTW, that Posey money is ridiculous! The case for the Giants to continue keeping San Jose hostage grows weaker everyday. They are making tons of money multiple hands over multiple fists and don’t need to keep us hostage to thrive! Time to $&@#% free us Selig/MLB! Sorry RM, but this Giants crap (WS wins, big signings, gorgeous packed Ballpark), all while MLB sits on its ass is starting to reach a boiling point…
Apparently pointing out the flaws in his argument means you “love” A’s ownership. No room for middle ground with the Bay Area sports media:
@muppet,
Even worse is Ann Killion chiming in with her stupidity. OHH the traditional, SF-slanted sports media, how I abhor thee…
TK comes from LA so he has the big market, spend like no tomorrow, mentality. While he obviously has sees things through orange lenses in this discussion, I do give him credit for actually utilizing data to critique team performances in the past. The only problem I see is that he sees (and respects) how Beane has orchestrated one of the best Wins/Dollar in MLB, yet is trying to extrapolate this out to fantasize that if they kept spending more, they would win even further. That’s a huge logical fallacy as the diminishing returns usually kicks in (see 2009 A’s). The A’s have a budget and stick with it unless they see an obvious window of opportunity where they can (and have) opened up their wallets (again see 2009 A’s).
Kawakami is PR for the Giants
re: Horrendous TV, terrible marketing, on and on.
Please, Tim, tell us exactly why the A’s TV is horrendous and its marketing terrible. W
Kawakami really puts his ignorance on parade here. He might want to think twice before ever tweeting or writing another column about sports. He ought to leave that to the knowledgeable people
Sounds like something I heard on one of the news broadcasts the other night. The guy said something about the A’s value increasing at a higher rate than any other team, then made a snide comment about how they “claim to be poor.” Then he totally skipped over the fact that still leaves the A’s as the third least valuable team and never mentioned an actual relevant piece of information in terms of their so-called cheapness: revenue. So tired of this kind of ill-informed commentary.
Kawakami’s shortcomings always show themselves when he starts talking about the business side of sports. He’s pretty good when just talking about the game itself, especially on football. But as soon as he talks about the economics, he’s totally lost. He was way off on the Niners’ stadium and he’s way off on what drives the A’s payroll.
People now equate higher payroll into my team is better than yours. If we go by that theory than we should be watching a Dodgers/Yankees WS every year until the end of time. Its one one of the reasons why I can’t stand watching Kevin Millar on the MLB channel.
TK actually lives in Oregan, only in the bay area once in a while.
Matt Barrows 49er beat writer for Sac Bee who actually lives in san jose, mentioned on KNBR Gary Radnich show that TK lived in Oregan.
TK needs to stay in Oregon if that’s the case. BTW, you know what’s really sad: some people actually think TK is an “excellent” sportswriter.
Before you pillory the man, can anyone here articulate what TK’s stance is?
He must have read your blog RM and remembered what city he writes in ;). (Still don’t care for him BTW)
…if a deal can be worked out….he should be all over the gints for not operating in the best interests of baseball and holding another franchise hostage…he is one writer who I refuse to read any of his crap- he, Monte P and big ol Ay should all hop on the same boat and sail out to sea
@ Tony – I actually think TK is a pretty good sportwriter, when he sticks to sabremetric evaluation that is. However, he has a huge ego (moreso than Mr. Sellout himself, Mychael Urban). Again, he’s pretty fact / data oriented but when it comes to opinions he can be all over the place. I read his blog a lot and he does good interviews, asking tough questions fans want to know (so much so that Singletary used to single him out a lot abd nit affectionately). Glad he is a realist after all, which many if us are….
I don’t believe in “best” and “worst.” I believe stratfication is best described in tiers. If I were to place Kawakami in a tiered rating system of Bay Area writers, I’d probably have him in the second (or third) tier of Bay Area writers. The challenge is, outside of beat writers (Jane Lee, Susan Slusser, Hank Schulman) there aren’t too many folks I’d consider in the top tier.
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That sort of makes him a top tier columnist. And that’s sad. He isn’t as bad as Lowell Cohn (who is just a gasbag). He’s better than Ann Killion, Scott Ostler, etc.
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Mark Purdy is better than Kawakami. But I don’t know that I can honestly say anyone else is.
One other quick note, related to my comments in another thread about Lew Wolff and criticism that he deserves.
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There is a reason that the local sports media is always seeming to take the giants position on things like this. It’s because the giants communications staff is pushing this opinion to the local media.
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“Hey Tim, it’s Staci. How are you. We locked Buster up long term. It’s gonna strain our budget but we felt we owed it to the fans.”
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THIS is the value of PR and Marketing Communications. The A’s absolutely suck at this.
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“Hey Tim, it’s Bob Rose. Saw your tweets. Just wanted to let you in on our thinking and chat a bit about why we think you’re right and what we think needs a little more clarity.”
@Jeffrey – i’m with you on the Public Relations. Wolff is terrible at it. That’s unfortunate, because that’s really one of his major roles as minority owner. I cringe every time he says something about the stadium issues. Repeating “No comment”, would serve him well.
re: TK – That dude has issues. He is definitely “pro-SF, SJ” and an East Bay hater. I do like that he tweets a lot. If you pick around the opinion and grasp the facts, there’s always something worthwhile hidden in every post.
The Giants lock of the B&B braintrust, sign Posey and control the narrative with the media. The A’s just react to everything. Everyone likes to hate on Andy Dolich, but he was the best PR, marketing gurus the Athletics have employed since Finley sold the team to Haas.
The question is: is it ignorance or stupidity?
Isn’t money needed for PR and Marketing communications? IMHO, new venue in corporate-rich new location = new/enhanced revenue streams = much improved PR and Marketing communications. It will happen!
Kawakami has not licked Jed York’s boots yet as promised. He vowed that if the 49ers somehow can build a FB stadium in SJ, he would on his knees and lick Yorks boots. Has not happened yet.
@ ML : you want to remind him of that challenge/vow that he made
I dismissed Kawakami long time ago. Always skip over this pieces in the Merc.
@daniel – I try not to linger on people’s quotes. Gotcha is a silly game.
The baseball beat writers are ok. I know you guys love Slusser. I think she’s a homie, but she’s smart and talented and thorough. Schulman, for the Giants is under-appreciated. Baggarly’s gonna be a star. The new Giants guy for the Merc, Alex P., is fine. Bruce Jenkins, well, we’ll just have to agree to disagree. I love his coverage of surfing, and appreciate his provocations on other sports. Otherwise, the Bay Areea sports “writers” I’ve seen all suck. I avoid TK, Ostler, Killion, et al. My loathing for Lowell Cohn goes back to the early 80s.
On the other issue, the Giants’ PR machine is a juggernaut. I’m not pleased by that fact, btw. But it’s a fact. The A’s just don’t do it. I’m definitely not pleased by that fact. Cespedes alone should be worth a ton of PR.
The A’s department isn’t totally hapless – great commercials (w/ outside firm i believe) and they adapt to the organic memes among the fans – but the day to day messaging, community outreach, corralling ownership talking points, all huge misses.
I don’t care much for the excuse about transient players. We’ve been in this state of flux w/ players for 15+ years, so that’s a failure of situational analysis leading to a poor prescription.
Slusser is a homie but Baggarly’s a star? I guess if Baggarly weren’t such an annoying asshole towards A’s fans on twitter I’d take the time to read his articles.
re: Huh? What case am I making?
…Just as we’re not supposed to raise the notion that people have not shown up for A’s games despite the A’s best efforts (A’s owners have to be at fault, that’s the only diagnosis we’re supposed to accept) we’re also not supposed to acknowledge that the Giants owners are filthy rich and getting rich, rich, richer while locking the A’s into a place where they won’t get a new ballpark. A’s owners gets lots of criticism despite rock-bottom ticket prices. Giants owners, meanwhile, are fawned over and saluted despite their outrageous ticket prices.
Lets do this people! http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fire-tim-kawakami?utm_medium=email&utm_source=system&utm_campaign=Send%2Bto%2BFriend
(It is a petition to get Kawakami fired)