MLB hurler seeks shareholders

[oldschooler]

[quote][size=5][b]MLB hurler seeks shareholders[/b][/size]


Randy Newsom would like you to own a chunk of his potential major-league career. It'll cost you only 20 bucks.

Here's what you get: a share of a 25-year-old, sidearming relief pitcher who was an all-star in Double-A last summer and who just threw seven scoreless innings in the Arizona Fall League. Ideally, Newsom wants to start the season in Triple-A, pitch well, then get a midseason call-up from the Cleveland Indians.

Here's what he gets: your money and, hopefully, the money of others, up to $50,000, to help him continue to develop as a player without having to work an offseason job or pray the engine doesn't drop out of his 1998 Chevy with 160,000 miles on its odometer.


It's more complicated than that, of course.

What would you expect from a St. Xavier High grad with an economics degree from Tufts? Basically, it comes down to this: Newsom and two friends have formed a company called Real Sports Investments. Their intent is to ease the financial strain on minor-leaguers who were not high draft picks. Their method is to allow the public to invest in them.

Newsom is the guinea pig. "Somebody had to go first," he said. He's offering 2,500 shares of himself, at $20 a share. If he makes the major leagues, investors start making money. No one can own more than 5 percent of the shares; RSI doesn't want people walking ledges over this.

As Newsom explains: "It's not the stock market. If you're doing this solely for financial reasons, it's probably not the investment for you. If you're doing it because you love baseball and want to know you helped a player get to the majors, it's worth thinking about."

And really, why would you play fantasy baseball when you could own a hunk of the real thing?

The idea evolved over time, Newsom said, as he saw teammates struggle financially while trying to advance professionally. If you're making $800 a month playing in Florida's Gulf Coast League, you spend your offseason driving an express truck instead of working on your game.

"First-round draft picks and major-league players can train in the offseason. They can hire nutritionists. Money isn't an issue," Newsom said. "That widens the gap."

Newsom would know. I asked him to provide a self-prospectus. "I've faced a lot of adversity. I've defied the odds," he said. "I was undrafted. I went to a Division III college. I was overlooked in high school. Six or seven guys in my class were as good or better than I was. I've been in lots of situations where I had to turn heads to have a shot."

As with any investment, the potential for loss exists. He throws sidearm. Not many sidearmers in the big leagues. His fastball tops out in the high-80s. Not many like that, either. But his fastball sinks, his slider runs, and in 208 pro innings, he has allowed just seven home runs.

You pays yer money, you takes yer chance.

"I don't think I'm a bad investment," said Newsom. "It's a high-risk deal. I mean, IBM isn't going to blow out an elbow." Neither will IBM develop a back-door slider and win a Cy Young Award and sign for $30 million. It's a simple contract between player and owner: You're buying a share of his future major-league earnings. If he never makes the bigs, you never get paid.

A $20 investor in Newsom would need the right-hander to earn $1.25 million lifetime to break even. Anything north of that, you start raking it in. OK, maybe not raking it. If Newsom made this year the $26 million A-Rod's making, your take would be $416. Still, Newsom and friends hope to attract some clients with high earnings potential. And isn't following a ballplayer more fun than following a corporation?

Newsom has navigated the proper legal channels. He has filed all the needed SEC paperwork. It's very early in the process, but word of mouth has attracted national interest, including an inquiry from the Financial Times.

Meantime, Newsom is for sale. Own your very own hunk of sidearming overachiever. Soothe your Inner Steinbrenner. Twenty bucks. What the heck.

For more information, visit

realsportsinvestments.com.

E-mail pdaugherty@enquirer.com[/quote]



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