Goldeyes thread

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

Goes to show he doesn't give a shit about the city of Winnipeg and that's brutal considering he was Mayor.

It's why he lives in Headingley.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

View attachment 368576 View attachment 368577

I don't know about you, but to me it looks like a nice piece of property to build a properly-sized NHL arena. If I was True North, I would be laying claim to it and making plans.

My dad was saying this long before we left Winnipeg for eight years. I came back one summer and he was complaining when they were building the park how it would've been perfect for an events centre.

Although, my uncle said how the flood was a big reason it was unlikely. But honestly, it'd make The Forks a lot more unique considering the city tends to work harder at making The Forks more tourist friendly.

 

[Jets]

Didn’t realize there’s a team called Jumbo Shrimp! That’s hilarious

My favourite is the Rocket City Trash Pandas.

 

[LucianoBorsato]

My favourite is the Rocket City Trash Pandas.

Mine is the Montgomery Biscuits, I have a T-shirt with their amazing mascot on it:

Mmmm flaky and buttery

 

[sipowicz]

listen....i'll get a bit personal here. my family has a long history with the Katz family, going back to Sammy's mom, who apparently was the sweetest person you'd find.
my personal encounters with Sammy were all positive, but they weren't business dealings. i'm well aware of Sammy's reputation, dating back to his old massage parlour thing and the Shindico crap.
i'll simply say this: on one hand, i get why Sammy moved the team. you're a businessman and your goal is to make money. if some dummy's throwing more money at you, then i can see why you'd move the team and turn your back on history, the community, etc. Sports teams relocate all the time, especially at the minor league level. On the other hand, the optics here are so f'ing gross. To be a mayor of a city and then relocate a team to another city? It's a really bad look.

there is a human behind Sammy Katz. but it's pretty sad to see profit put before community, especially a community that he was a significant part of for a number of years.

Slippery Sams legacy can be summed up with the $1 he paid for a $million dollar home in the desert, nothing done by Sam was ever done for anyone but himself

 

[GNP]

I guess Katz has milked all the money he can out of this city and now he is on to another city. With the ball park we have I am sure someone more reputable can bring a team here? Maybe True North will?

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Yeah, you really gotta tie up that Slippery Sam real good, coz as soon as he smells money, and blood in the water, there's no more loyalty or anything like that -- it's all only about money for Katz.

He wanted to sell off all the Public golf courses for peanuts to his real estate developer friends -- and he was supposed to be the Mayor looking after the best interests of the City.

 

[jetsmooseice]

I'm fine with it if the Goldeyes leave town. We can replace them with a WCBL team. And since everyone mostly goes to the games to sit outside and eat snacks, hardly anyone will notice the difference. Plus the tickets will probably cheaper than the insane $30 a pop (for indie ball, where the players earn peanuts!!!!) I paid last time I went to a game.

 

[RetroWinnipeg]

The Twins should just move their AA affiliate here. They're already in a weird spot in Pensacola and they'd be a lot closer to home here.

Plus our park is adequate for AA crowds.

The problem here is that the minor leagues aren’t looking to expand. They want to contract.

MLB could eliminate 42 Minor League Baseball teams - MLB | NBC Sports

 

[sipowicz]

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Yeah, you really gotta tie up that Slippery Sam real good, coz as soon as he smells money, and blood in the water, there's no more loyalty or anything like that -- it's all only about money for Katz.

He wanted to sell off all the Public golf courses for peanuts to his real estate developer friends -- and he was supposed to be the Mayor looking after the best interests of the City.

Don't forget when he wanted to sell the south parking lot at Assiniboine Park for condo's, the new entrance and parking for the zoo just happens to be that lot he wanted to sell, luckily a few city councilors at the time had enough brains to stop him!

And don't forget when slippery Sam's fat friends the Shindleman brothers listed a city owned parkade for sale before the city had even decided to sell it!

 

[Al Camino]

Not just that. He wants to profit off the city owned lots by the stadium. He made over $500,000 off them in 2019 and yet claims the Goldeyes lose money some years (without backing it up). It’s basically legalized corruption at this point. I’ll miss the Goldeyes and I hope someone buys the team (or brings another independent baseball team here) but Katz himself can kick rocks.

There is no way he can lose money owning this. The cap is barely over $100,000 and the players play for next to nothing. At their peak they covered their team payroll after opening weekend. The last 20-30 games are pure profit. That might have changed a bit since the Jets moved to town but I find it hard to believe.

 

[snowkiddin]

There is no way he can lose money owning this. The cap is barely over $100,000 and the players play for next to nothing. At their peak they covered their team payroll after opening weekend. The last 20-30 games are pure profit. That might have changed a bit since the Jets moved to town but I find it hard to believe.

I agree. Believe the city has been asking him to provide proof that they lose money, would probably change their considerations on a new lease. Bowman says Katz won’t provide any numbers to back up his claim that the team loses money.

 

[Al Camino]

The Twins should just move their AA affiliate here. They're already in a weird spot in Pensacola and they'd be a lot closer to home here.

Plus our park is adequate for AA crowds.

I don't think an affiliated team is worth it. The goal is development of players and not winning. Kinda like when the Moose were affiliates for the Canucks. If the AAA team is making a playoff push all the good players get moved up.

 

[snowkiddin]

I don't think an affiliated team is worth it. The goal is development of players and not winning. Kinda like when the Moose were affiliates for the Canucks. If the AAA team is making a playoff push all the good players get moved up.

Yep. I’d rather Indy ball because stuff like that won’t happen. We occasionally lose players to affiliated ball, but not at the same rate.

The Goldeyes are/were a hugely successful team. Forney and co. are great at bringing in the best. If the Goldeyes leave, id prefer another Indy team comes in, but then we’d have to start fresh with new management — who may not be as good as what we have now.

Plus, we would lose 25+ years of lineage. I know that isn’t a big deal to most, but because I grew up on Fish baseball, it would hurt me a lot.

Still hoping something gets worked out, but it isn’t looking good

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

Don't forget when he wanted to sell the south parking lot at Assiniboine Park for condo's, the new entrance and parking for the zoo just happens to be that lot he wanted to sell, luckily a few city councilors at the time had enough brains to stop him!

And don't forget when slippery Sam's fat friends the Shindleman brothers listed a city owned parkade for sale before the city had even decided to sell it!

He's a conman, more shady stories I've heard that haven't hit the mainstream. But let's not forget the fire station on Century and Portage, which is beyond a stupid place to put a fire station.

Putting condos in Assiniboine Park... that's as low as it gets.

 

[sipowicz]

Bye bye Goldeyes, don’t think anyone would even notice that they were gone!

 

[blues10]

Let’s not forget that Katz once claimed that he was bringing affiliated AAA ball to Winnipeg. Once he realized he could pay players essentially less than minimum wage and billet players with families around the city, AAA ball was never mentioned again.

If he takes his team and leaves it won’t be hard to fill dates at the old ballpark . WCBL would fit. As mentioned if you are busy eating ice cream and hotdogs On a summer evening the drop off in quality shouldn’t bother anyone.

 

[Hollywood3]

A few things:

- Katz did put in an offer for a AAA team but they did not want a cold weather city. (They start in April.)

- The AA is the best fit.

- No guarantee that another owner could be found for a AA franchise, but I wouldn't rule it out.

- Lesser leagues may not last beyond a season or two.

- Like it or not, Katz knew how to run the team.

 

[cbcwpg]

Let’s not forget that Katz once claimed that he was bringing affiliated AAA ball to Winnipeg. Once he realized he could pay players essentially less than minimum wage and billet players with families around the city, AAA ball was never mentioned again.

If he takes his team and leaves it won’t be hard to fill dates at the old ballpark . WCBL would fit. As mentioned if you are busy eating ice cream and hotdogs On a summer evening the drop off in quality shouldn’t bother anyone.

AAA would be great, but it will never happen. And its nothing to do with who owns the team...it’s again because of location. The thing that hurts Winnipeg when it comes to anything... being in the middle on North America and far away from anything else.

Actually, let’s change never to be... when Fargo gets an AAA team. It’s all about travel. And if Fargo could land a AAA team, then Winnipeg could fit. Fargo is one of the reasons Winnipeg even got the baseball it has. Teams don’t mind busing an extra 4 hours to play, but they don’t want to bus 12 or more at one time.

The closest AAA team to Winnipeg is Iowa Cubs in Des Moines Iowa.

AA is even worse. Closest AA team would be Akron Rubberducks in Akron Ohio. 19 hour drive.

 

[sipowicz]

AAA would be great, but it will never happen. And its nothing to do with who owns the team...it’s again because of location. The thing that hurts Winnipeg when it comes to anything... being in the middle on North America and far away from anything else.

Actually, let’s change never to be... when Fargo gets an AAA team. It’s all about travel. And if Fargo could land a AAA team, then Winnipeg could fit. Fargo is one of the reasons Winnipeg even got the baseball it has. Teams don’t mind busing an extra 4 hours to play, but they don’t want to bus 12 or more at one time.

The closest AAA team to Winnipeg is Iowa Cubs in Des Moines Iowa.

AA is even worse. Closest AA team would be Akron Rubberducks in Akron Ohio. 19 hour drive.

closest team in AAA is the Omaha Storm Chasers in the PCL, Omaha is 2 hours closer to Winnipeg than Des Moines.

 

[snowkiddin]

After all this it looks like the Goldeyes are staying put.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-goldeyes-shaw-park-lease-katz-1.5781759

 

[lanky]

Our city council got soft. Scared of having no tenant.

Seems like another sweet deal for Katz.

 

[snowkiddin]

Our city council got soft. Scared of having no tenant.

Seems like another sweet deal for Katz.

Yep, it sure appears that way.

 

[sipowicz]

Our city council got soft. Scared of having no tenant.

Seems like another sweet deal for Katz.

dumb azzes, another gift of a deal for the grifter and his D league ball team at city taxpayers expense!