Atlanta Braves and Omni Hotels Have a Deal
By Fred Owens
Braves new ballpark and surrounding entertainment complex – mixed use area in Cobb County
That’s A Wrap
Liberty Media gets a bum wrap. Fans want an activist owner like Ted Turner back in the last century. In fact activist owners have a poor track record of success. Arte Moreno personally directed the signing of Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols to contracts their play can never warrant.
Hal Steinbrenner told his GM to sign ARod after the latter had opted out of his contract. George Steinbrenner threw millions into the free agent market but his team was only consistently successful when they had a home grown core of players and a few selected lower profile hired guns. The Red Sox, Dodgers and Tigers tossed millions at players but the value returned is nowhere close to that investment. Fans accuse Liberty of being stingy but that’s not the case.
It’s true they haven’t given Terry McGuirk a blank check but they have provided help when asked. When the Braves wanted to go over budget to sign a free agent or make a trade for an expensive contract at the deadline Liberty Media stepped up. They may not have signed THE guy you are sure would have turned the tide but how many of those guys actually turned the tide anywhere? Early deals under Frank Wren were less than highly successful but Liberty still signed on to the awful deal for BJ and approved extensions for core players.
After Atlanta turned down multiple plans to improve life at the Ted and in the surrounding area, Liberty stepped up to help create the Cobb County complex. Their corporate investment, guarantee of cost overrun coverage and assistance in encouraging outside corporation to be a part of the new complex is no guarantee of success but it sure makes the future a lot brighter for the Braves and the folks in Cobb County who staked their reputation on the complex.