The Guardians are allegedly about to get a big minority owner

The Guardians may have a new minority owner.

The Dolans are apparently working on a deal that would see a new minority owner in David Blitzer come in with about a 35% stake in the team. The shares of the team would likely come from current minority owner John Sherman, who recently bought the Kansas City Royals. As Sherman can’t be the majority owner of one club and the minority owner of another, he has to sell.

Blitzer’s deal with the Indians, like with Sherman’s before him, would include a “path to control” for the Guardians. For those who don’t know who Blitzer is, he owns parts of the 76ers, New Jersey Devils, several various soccer teams in Europe and is trying to buy a part of Real Salt Lake.

According to Spotrico, the negotiations are ongoing are confirmed by current Guardians CEO and co-owner Paul Dolan;

"While I can confirm meaningful discussions with David Blitzer about purchasing a minority ownership interest in the Cleveland Guardians, we can’t comment any further’."

The Guardians may be getting some spending money this year

The Guardians are among the baseball teams that are demanding changes to the revenue stream this year. That may come, with a proposed salary floor being implemented and paid for by the more rich teams in the league. This would allow the Guardians to offer some of their better players fair extensions while still pursuing some mid-level free agents.

If this deal goes through with Blitzer it’s also very likely that the team will have yet another source of income to help bolster the team’s roster. The Guardians need help in the outfield and possibly at second base, catcher, and first base/DH. Getting a salary floor and a new equity partner in Blitzer may help Cleveland a bit more than people expected.

Then again, this whole thing could fall apart, so who really knows at this juncture. Fans should be prepared to not see much change with Blitzer, however. He owns and runs a lot of sports teams, and making money is his number one priority. So don’t expect him to take over in a few years and start spending like a Steinbrenner.

Unless a salary cap is put into place with a hard salary floor, the amount the Guardians spend will likely never really change. Not if the owner wants to make a profit.