Several months ago when we were hearing that the company named Liberty Media wanted to purchase the Braves in some sort of convoluted tax swap, I think most fans moaned and slumped in their chair and thought, "here comes another 'corporation' looking to try and cash in on the Braves at the possible expense of staying competitive." At least that's what I thought. I wasn't too thrilled about the team being "the player to be named later" in a larger corporate deal.

But all that is changing as the weeks pass and we see a return to the style exhibited by the Ted Turner owned Braves of the early `90s. Gone are strict budget caps. Gone are corporate approvals for big deals. Gone are the shackles which Schuerholz and company have apparently operated under for much of the last seven or eight years. Braves team president Terry McGuirk lays it out in this very reassuring notes column by Mark Bowman:

That should put a smile on the fact of every Braves fan. Apparently we have Uncle Bud to thank for much of this newfound flexibility and freedom. During the complicated corporate exchange the Braves endured, Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig made sure that they wouldn't be left in the lurch. He made sure that one of the signature baseball franchises of the past two decades wouldn't be chopped up and skimmed for profit.

The result it seems is that through all the angst and controversy surrounding the sale of the team, the Braves are actually much better off. They shed their uncaring corporate parent for what seems like a trust fund style arrangement which leaves the baseball decisions entirely up to baseball people. In that way, we may have one of the best arrangements in all of sports - a completely unmeddlesome owner. And the fruits of that arrangement were seen last week when the Braves made the biggest moves they ever had at the trade deadline.

Every GM on every team is dedicated to winning it all, but far too often they are shackled by the limitations placed on them by higher-ups. The Braves have freed themselves from much of what may have shackled them the last several years.

Here is some breakingish news from the Braves PR Department:

I'm not sure how to feel about this. We've known it was coming, and now that it has come and gone I'm glad that the "brain trust" will remain in place - that's Liberty Media making good on its first promise about the team. Now we'll see if they keep payroll stable or decrease it (or increase it - which would be nice). I guess my overall feeling is, "yippee, out team is moving from one corporate entity to another, how exciting!?&%?" There's really not much else to say! Only time will tell how they are really going to operate/manage the Braves.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Time Warner has "finally" reached a deal to sell the Atlanta Braves to Liberty Media. ESPN has the story here, but there is as yet no mention of it at WSJ.com. The story cites "an unnamed person familiar with the deal," so let's hope deep throat is right about this and a deal has been reached.

While this at least removes the cloud of who will own the team this season, it replaced it with another cloud of what will Liberty Media and CEO John Malone do with the team. We can only hope that when they finally officially announce the deal, Liberty will accompany that announcement with another detailing what they have in store for the budget and operation of the Braves - mainly so we don't have bloody speculate for days or weeks.

It's gonna be an interesting next couple of days...

Update [2007-2-13 9:51:0 by gondeee]:

From the AJC:

So it looks like we are in another holding pattern. Who knows how Selig and the owners will react to this type of deal – it is rather unprecedented for baseball. I’ll post more when we know more, but for now it’s just guess work.

Title of this post: Braves Sale Nearing Completion

Other title I could have used: Braves Sale Nearing Completion?

We finally get some minor inkling that the deal between Time Warner and Liberty Media may be nearing completion, this comes to us from the New York Times (hat tip: Rowland's Office):

Yes, we know, it's been dragging on for what seems like ever. For those of you who don't know what's at stake in this "swap" here are the particulars:

It feels like the Braves are "the team to be named later;" the Crash Davis among the throngs of doubloons changing hands. One can almost see the topic of adding the Braves to this deal coming up over brandy one evening.

Time Warner Exec: Yes John, we'd love to have $1.8 billion dollars worth of our stock back.
John Malone: Keep in mind I want plenty of cash in return, but I also don't want that damned IRS to take any of it. It's my money, mine.
Time Warner Exec: Would you like one of our networks, perhaps you'd enjoy the Cartoon Network.
John Malone: No, they're all a bunch of damned terrorists.
Time Warner Exec: How about HBO? You like movies right?
John Malone: No, I'm more of a Skinemax kind of guy.
Time Warner Exec: Hummm.
John Malone: I like hot dogs...
Time Warner Exec: Hey! What would you say to a whole bunch of hot dog stands?
John Malone: Really! What are these stands called, where are they?
Time Warner Exec: They're called the Ted and they're in a stadium thingy we own in Atlanta.
John Malone: Oh really, Atlanta. Could I move it to somewhere nicer like Milwaukee?
Time Warner Exec: No actually, this stadium is where this team plays called the Braves. They're a baseball team, perhaps you've heard of them.
John Malone: Have they ever been on Skinemax after dark?
Time Warner Exec: I don't think so, but they're a baseball team, they play baseball...
John Malone: Is that like foosball?
Time Warner Exec: Um...yes.
John Malone: Sweet!
Time Warner Exec: Hell yeah it's sweet!
John Malone: Okay, so I get the cash, those hot dog stands, and this Braves thingy, and I'm not paying any taxes, right?
Time Warner Exec: Yep. But it's going to take a lot of lawyers to figure this one out.
John Malone: Well, how much am I saving on taxes with this?
Time Warner Exec: Probably something like $200 million.
John Malone: Well, there you go; spend that on lawyers.
Time Warner Exec: That's a lot to spend on lawyers.
John Malone: Hey, if they can make it so I don't have to pay any taxes then they're worth-it.
Time Warner Exec: Right, but...
John Malone: Shh, they're worth it.