Braves News: Business-side transition, series win, more

The Braves are set to be spun-off into an independent company along with their related properties (like the Battery) in two weeks. Along with this change, an as-of-yet unknown amount of equity in the company is set to be publicly traded on the stock market. The easiest explanation of this transition is to get a more accurate (and in Liberty Media’s view, more favorable) valuation of the franchise as a precursor to a sale. The Braves already have a pretty unique business structure, being owned by a publicly traded media conglomerate as a semi-autonomous entity within the conglomerate and a tracking stock, but this formalizes the franchises independence much more. In my view, there is significantly more downside as a fan than upside to a sale, as the absolute upside involves more spending on the team payroll, but the team already is near the top of the league in payrolls and the team performance on the field is clearly top tier in the league. The downside is that the new ownership meddles more in the operations of the club in a negative way and/or slashes budgets.

Braves News

The Braves are set to become an independent company and their own publicly traded equity stock in two weeks.

Devin previewed potential Atlanta first round target, Wake Forest’s Brock Wilken.

The Braves cruised to a dominant win to snatch a series win on the road against the Guardians.

MLB News

Zack Greinke is hitting the IL for the Royals, as Kansas City is having a really rough season.

Mike Trout got surgery for his hand fracture and is expected to miss a month or two.

The Mariners selected the contract of old friend Tommy Milone.

The Brewers made a number of peripheral roster moves.