Alright, we're off to the final part of our 4 part series regarding why Omaha fans should be optimistic heading into opening day. We’ve covered the starting rotation, the returning players, and the new players. Basically, we have covered everything that happens on the field, so that leaves just the events “off the field”. That brings us to part 4. The front office.This is a 4 part series this off-season, where we look at reasons the Omaha fan base should be optimistic heading into the 2051 season.
We look at reason number 4, the team’s active off-season.
For part 1 visit: Part 1, Starting Rotation.
For part 2 visit: Part 2, The returning core.
For part 3 visit: Part 3, An active off-season.
When the Niles front office first came into focus, the franchise had missed the playoffs the past 3 years but maybe more importantly, they were coming off a 49 win season. They had made the playoffs from 2021 to 2026 each season, but the clear “window” was closing. The team had a short term GM in Nigel Laverick who took over In the midst of the 2029 season, but left just prior to the 2030 season coming to a close.
The Niles front office worked quickly and strategically, improving the team win total each season quickly until they were .500 in 2033. Each of the next 5 seasons, the team finished over .500, before falling down for 2 seasons to win totals in the mid 70s and returning with a 90 win 2040 season. In 2041, the team stepped back before winning 92 games in 2042. They followed the same pattern in 2043, winning just 72 games and missing the postseason before storming back with 5 consecutive playoff appearances, including one championship in 2046. In 2049, they were still over .500 despite missing the postseason, and last year finished with the typical 70 wins you see from a Niles era “rebuild” team.
That can only mean that in 2051, the team will at the minimum win 90 games and make the post-season. They seem to have the talent to do so thanks to an active off-season, despite the team spending much of it against the cap.
Since 2030, the Niles front office has won 1,665 games compared to losing 1,576. The team has a total attendance of 64,490,911 over those 1,620 home games, meaning an average of 39,809 fans have watched the typical game. Most importantly, from an owner's view point, the team has gained a profit of $155,716,617, including the two seasons when Omaha lost a total of $82,100,000 thanks to international free agent spending. If you remove those two seasons, Omaha has generated just under $238,000,000 in net profit for the front office. This all despite having a payroll that has averaged $98,588,000 during those 21 seasons, thanks to an average payroll of just $81M the first 7 seasons.
Long story short on this one, the Omaha front office is clearly a profitable front office which keeps an owner happy, but also knows how to win while doing so, having avoiding a long dreaded rebuild during the past 21 years and with 10 playoff appearances over the last 17 years, including 5 of the last 7 seasons.
