John Perricone takes note of all the money that being thrown around and wonders why the Giants aren't spending much of it.

Arizona was on the verge of bankruptcy. They put out some feelers, got a bunch of investors to pony up, and boom. Instead of being $100 million in the hole, they "find" $260 million dollars.

...

A bigger question for Giants fans, (particularly as they watch game-breaking free agents sign everywhere but here), is how come the Giants can't pull something like this off? What is preventing Magowan's partners from either getting some new investors to pony up a little scratch, or doing the ponying up themselves? Anybody got an answer to that one?

The Giants value, (according to this 2002 Forbes piece), was $333 million, and had risen 40% in the previous year. In this year's Forbes piece, we see that the Giants value has risen to $368 million dollars, an increase of over 10% in just over two seasons, and that their revenue stream has risen from $138 million to $153 million. Also noteworthy is that the team's debt/value (which includes stadium debt, a finite aspect that will end in 15 years) has dropped from 59% to 46%.

The SF Giants were purchased for $100 million dollars back in 1992. Here's the Forbes' 2004 Giants' page. That's a difference of $268 million dollars, from what Magowan & company paid for the team, and what it's worth today. If the D'backs could scrape up $260 million to land the players they feel can carry them into contention, why can't the Giants?

When A-Rod signed for $25 million a year, I told people that in a few years that would seem cheap. I was wrong about that. For the first time in the history of free agency, the market took a step backward. It hit bottom last year, but is clearly on the way up again.

And franchise value has a lot to do with it. Every so often someone writes about how the Yankees must be near the point where they can't spend any more money. Baloney. Steinbrenner's original group bought that franchise for $20 million. It's worth a billion now. The Yankees have cash flow, and they have equity. George could walk into any bank tomorrow and get a loan for $400,000,000 and no financier would blink an eye. He could turn around and sign Beltran, Delgado and trade for the Big Unit with money in the bank.

I suspect the Giants have pretty good cash flow numbers, also. They fill their park and Giants jersey's and hats have always been popular. With interest rates low, I suspect they've greatly reduced their debt service over the last few seasons. San Francisco has never had a world championship in baseball, and the franchise has not won a title in 50 years. The new Red Sox ownership knew they had an obligation to their fans to deliver a trophy to the town; the Giants, Indians, White Sox and Cubs have that same obligation to their long suffering fans. It's a good time for the Magowen and company to take out that home equity loan.