I don’t think @hajario was suggesting this as a mechanism for financing a new stadium. It was in reaction to the notion that a team’s value was only potential until it was sold. Nope, the owner can indeed get loans collateralized by the team to support his hobby of skeet shooting Picassos, if he so chooses.
I’m not sure about that. Most teams have minority owners. Even the Steinbrenners own only 70% of the Yankees. (The evolution of the Steinbrenner’s ownership is interesting but not part of this thread. Let’s just say George did well with his initial $168,000 investment).
The Sox have declined to pick up their option on infielder Yoan Moncada, to whom they would have had to pay $25 million in 2025 if they’d kept him. Instead, they pay Moncada a $5 million buyout, and he becomes a free agent.
Moncada had been one of the Sox’s best players in 2019-21, but he’d been frequently injured since, and only played in 12 games in 2024. Even so, he still had the second-highest bWAR score (0.3) of any batter on the Sox roster last year.