The Reds are valued at $1.075 billion

I’m of a mind, and I’m fairly confident most of y’all agree, that Bob Castellini and his Great Escape gang of millionaires and billionaires have been a positive influence on my favorite baseball team. They assumed control of the ball club almost 15 years ago for $270 million and this week Forbes magazine estimates their value at $1.075 billion. If you aren’t mathing at home, that means the value has increased four times since they bought it.

The really incredible thing is that the Reds are ranked only at no. 27 on that list. Every ball club aside from the Marlins, Rays, and Royals is worth more. Sometimes substantially more. Eight teams are valued at $3 billion or more and the Yankees are valued at $5 billion.

Which is all to say that Major League Baseball is making money like never before. The game - in a strictly bloodless capitalist sense - has never been healthier. Whether or not that applies more generally (and for what reasons) is a separate line of questioning.

I’m no labor attorney, but my read is that this can only be a good thing for MLBPA in the ongoing labor discussions. The owners are getting so rich that they can all easily afford getting the brand name breakfast cereal instead of the store brand and the union deserves a cut of all them profits. Let them eat Froot Loops, not Tootie-Fruities or Fruitangy Oh’s or Great Value Fruit Spins.

I guess we’ll see.