The Braves Are Too Good For Mark Cuban
By MJ Lloyd
Mark Cuban, owner of the reigning (maybe for two years!) NBA champion Dallas Mavericks, shows interest in purchasing an MLB team like most of us consider getting that 99 cent order of nachos to go with our Taco Bell order. Cuban was more or less shut out of the bidding for the Chicago Cubs because Bud Selig doesn’t want one of those free-thinking, loose cannon types running one of his clubs, dagnabbit. That’s how I saw it, at least. With the new CBA, Liberty Media is free to sell the Braves and the speculation assumes that is what Liberty will do sooner than later.
For those fans and writers hoping Cuban might write a check for the Braves (two thumbs pointing at this guy), I have some bad news. The Braves are too good…
"“I like franchises that need a lot of help,” the iconoclastic Dallas Mavericks owner said in an email Saturday. “The Braves have a great franchise.”*snip*A recent poll in an Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Braves blog asked fans if they would like to see Cuban try to buy the Braves. Ninety-five percent of nearly 8,000 people who responded voted yes.“I’m flattered by the fans’ response,” Cuban said via email. “While I respect the amazing tradition and history of the Braves, and ATL is a great sports town, it’s not a franchise I would pursue.”"
Bummer. I’ve been rooting for Cuban to take over a Major League Baseball team and it would be even better, for me, if it was a team I cover. Once Cuban finally gets a team, he’s going to drive Bud Selig so crazy that this face will end up sticking…
What’s that, you say? You’re right, his face is already permanently stuck in that position. Touche.
I see Cuban’s point though. He’s a competitive guy and likes a challenge. Despite the unsettling collapse to end the 2011 season, the Braves are set up for a nice run atop the National League East with a crop of young starting pitching that makes 29 other teams drool with envy.
Maybe Cuban will reconsider if and when the team is put on the market. It sounds like he isn’t very interested in the Dodgers right now either because of their window sticker. I’m rooting for some kind of change in ownership. Liberty Media and, previously, Time Warner have just viewed the Braves as an asset in the portfolio. I’d like an owner who, you know, watches baseball occasionally.