tazsub3
Registered User
- May 30, 2016
- 5,849
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Thanks for this . It’s a part of their history I did not really know , being too young in the 70’s and the growing up first with hockey , really picked up on baseball in the late 80’sFrom its inception through the 1980s the Expos were not “one of the poorest”, they in fact maintained top tier payroll.
Only happened in the 90s after US local cable TV revenue skyrocketed, which is why Bronfman sold the team as he saw it coming & knew Mtl has zero chance of competing w such incoming revenue stream, since Blue Jays had exclusive media rights in Canada from Belleville heading West, and of course the all important Southern Ontario horseshoe.
As for talent in pipeline, when Reggie Jackson refused to sign in Mtl as UFA in 1977, despite red carpet treatment, Bronfman quickly realized they needed a new strategy and started rewarding scouts & coaches through minor leagues with performance bonuses for finding & developing talent - something that remarkably never happened in MLB before that point
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