Moore: RI is Too Poor To Bid For Pawsox

Moore: RI is Too Poor To Bid For Pawsox

In the end, all the talk about the sentimental value of Pawtucket Red Sox is just white noise, as meaninglessness as Lincoln Chafee's Presidential bid.

That's because from a rational perspective, state leaders really don't have a choice but to play hard ball (pun intended) with the Pawtucket Red Sox owners. The state of Rhode Island can't afford to waste money on a minor league baseball team—and the taxpayers are well aware of the fact. That's something the Pawtucket Red Sox owners apparently never considered when they began their plot to get their hands on Rhode Island taxpayer money.

News reports surfaced last week that the owners of the Pawtucket Red Sox have had early conversations with the city of Springfield, in western Massachusetts about a potential move, and have also rekindled talks with Fall River about a possible relocation there. Whether or not the city leaders intend to throw tens of millions of taxpayer cash directly into the pockets of the already wealthy Pawtucket Red Sox owners is their decision. 

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Springfield may very well have the extra revenue in its hand thanks to the construction of an $800 million casino that's currently in the works. If that's the case, God bless. Hopefully western Massachusetts residents will enjoy their 8 dollars beers.

No Money

But here's the sad truth about Rhode Island: we cannot afford to get into a bidding war with an out-of-state municipality to spend several tens of millions to build a new minor league stadium.

Let's face it: the Pawtucket Red Sox have made it clear, without saying it explicitly, that they intend to be a revenue negative proposition for whomever they happen to grace next with their presence. We don't have to like that the owners of the team aren't anywhere near as civic-minded as the Mondor family was, as evidenced by not only their ungodly financial demands from the state, but also their increases in concession prices since they've been in charge. 

It's frustrating. But that's how these guys are.

So when we get down to brass tacks, it becomes apparent rather quickly that a minor league baseball team that wants huge subsidies is something that's cool to have, but that we cannot afford. 

Cool, But Unaffordable

First of all, the state is considering implementing a massive new toll system on trucks (at first, but a betting man would say that eventually, Rhode Island drivers will be paying them), as well as borrowing hundreds of millions more, in order to fix out deficient bridges.

We can all argue about the best way to fix our bridges. I happen to agree with the Republican Policy group, led by the heroic efforts of Patricia Morgan (R-Coventry, West Warwick), that would cut spending in the state budget to fix them. But no one that I know of is believes that our bridges, not to mention our roads (and another winter is right around the corner) need to be fixed.

And we cannot make the case that we need to toll truckers to fix our bridges if we can afford to shell out tens of millions to the owners of the Pawtucket Red Sox.

Tolls, Taxes, and Debt

Meanwhile, the capital city of Providence is locked into a heated court battle with the city's firefighters union over a shift realignment that Mayor Jorge Elorza believes will save about $5 million a year in call back reductions. Naturally, the firefighters contest this figure. 

But how can the state of Rhode Island give the wealthy owners of the Pawtucket Red Sox a huge subsidy when the capital city is locked is dealing with labor unrest over an estimated savings of $5 million a  year? 

The state needs to take a lesson from former Massachusetts House Speaker (and fellow Golocal Mindsetter) Tom Finneran. 

Get Tough

When Bob Kraft bought the New England Patriots, he was looking for a government handout. He threatened to move out-of-state. Kraft considered moving to Providence, and had a deal to move to Hartford, Connecticut. But Finneran held tight and refused to finance the stadium with taxpayer dollars. He called Kraft's bluff.

Kraft folded. The rest is history. Kraft built the stadium with his own funds. (And surprise! The stadium was built ahead of schedule and under budget.)

The state would do well to emulate Finneran. Hold firm, and call the bluff of the Pawtucket Red Sox owners. If they leave, we should wish them well, congratulate them for fleecing taxpayers somewhere else. (Better those taxpayers than us, for a change.)

And then we should find some other ball club to play affordable baseball in McCoy stadium.

The world will go on. And we'll have that much extra money to fund the things government is actually supposed to do. 

Russell Moore has worked on both sides of the desk in RI media, both for newspapers and political campaigns. Send him email at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter @russmoore713