250 million dollars for 10 years

[Jedi Master Carr]

Just wondered what everybody else opinion on Alex Rodriguez record deal with the Texas Rangers where he will get 25 million a year for the next 10 years. I find the figure stagering and wonder how much longer the sport will survive this rising salary. Now I hear the Red Sox are offering Manny Ramirez 10 years 200 million which is nearly incredible. Not looking at this from phisophically stand about that they are paid too much. My problem is that from a buisness stand point the players are getting payed too much and there is not enough income coming in and I think something sooner or later will have to give. It worries me what will happen to baseball in the next few years especially if their is a lockout in 2002.

[buff jedi 2]

ITS STUPID!







buffjedi/wookieboy

[Jedi Master Kyle]

I'm disgusted. No one is worth that kind of money, I don't care if they hit 100 homers and drive in 250 runs...by the all star break. no one is worth that kind of money. He's now making in one season, double the ENTIRE Minnesota team. How pathetic is that? At this rate, baseball will be reduced to a 10 team league in a matter of years. How can small market teams be expected to keep up? Baseball is very close to losing yet another fan because of this madness!
On another note, if Mike Hampton is worth 120 million over 8 years, what is Pedro worth?

[Jedi Master Carr]

That's what worries me if the Red Sox pays Ramirez 200 million what are they going to pay Pedro or Nomar. I think they need revenue sharring or salary cap because the league is just out of wack. For example the salaries are no where near as bad in the NFL or NBA. I just think something has to give it will probably end in a lockout and the owners are going to have sit until they get what they want.

[Jedieb]

Back when we had the World Series thread a few people complained that baseball was falling apart because of the glaring inequities between high payroll teams and small market teams. I argued against such a position but I have to say that those people were more right than I could have possibly imagined. I'm in the middle of reading Bob Costas' Fair Ball. The many reasons why the Rodriguez contract is STAGGERINGLY bad for baseball can be found in the pages of this book. Team and superstar player salaries are so out of control that the sport is in danger of imploding.

Mark my words, we are headed for yer ANOTHER strike. And do you know who actually has the high moral ground this time? The owners, that's right the owners. They had it during the last strike as well but they bungled things so badly the players basically won another labot battle. The economic problems facing MLB are so staggering that the league is on the verge of becoming a pathetic joke. By economic problems, I'm not referring to a shortage of money. MLB is raking in more money than ever. It's the DISTRIBUTION of the money. If you care about the game you really should read Costas' book, it's an eye opener.

[Hart Kenobi]

I hate AROD now. He's such a sellout. I used to like him a lot. Not after this.

[buff jedi 2]

I cant really blame anyone for getting all one can,but there are limits.Really think about it 250 million !!could eveyone in this forum spend all that money in 100 years.(within reason ofcourse).As i had said on the world series thread ,Baseball is a boring Non talent sport(except pitchers)I'd bet almost everyone in this forum could play MLB.Hell half the people I know have the ability but they will never get the chance.Do you know why?? because if you do not come out of a college Or get a 1 in a million break your SOL.(that holds true for all sports.As i have said many times I played pro soccer (very short time,very).I didnt come out of a college so I had to go to any and all tryouts that were open and preform up and above everyone else JUST to get a decent look.I had to kiss ars ,I had to be a GODDARNbuttlicker JUST to get a freaking nod.And you know the trick to it all? I was twice as good as the others BUT I didnt come out of a college And Or didnt KNOW someone.Now keep in mind thats Lowly Soccer in america.imagine how hard it is for your real sports in the states.You have all this talent who would love to play pro sports FOR a lot less but will never get a chance.So I hope baseball,football(although I love my cowboys),basketball etcGo on strike and all the big one's loose there jobs and are forced to get real jobs(because there to stupid to take care of all that money)and have to watch the one's who have struggled to make it, make all the money.I think evryone should stop going to the games ,stop watching them on TV and stop buying the T.shirts ,caps ETC.I have Except the cowboys(I still watch them )but thats it I will not and Have not bought any merchindise of any sports Since I was old enough to know the score.



BUFFJEDI/WOOKIEBOY

[Jedi Master Kyle]

I don't think we have to worry about that. Fans are turning their backs in droves because of this garbage. And Jedieb is right, there is another strike looming, I've believed that all along. And if there is a strike, Mark McGwire is quoted as saying he'll retire. What the hell is this????? Baseball is tearing itself apart, and everyone is just grabbing as big of a piece of the pie as they can before the whole thing goes bust. I would normally never say this, but I hope some of these rich, undeserving get injured and screw their teams out of tens of millions. So here's my prediction as to what MLB will be in 2005:

National League:
Mets
D-Backs
Giants
Cardinals
Rockies
Dodgers

American League:
Yankees
Orioles
Rangers
White Sox
Red Sox
Mariners

Every other team will be dissolved...just like the remnants of the old republic.

Peter Angelos will be Sidious.
A Rod will be Darth Vader.
Steinbrenner will be Jabba.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Actually I would have Steinbrenner as the Emperor, Scott Boras as Darth Vader, Peter Angelo as Jabba the Hutt. Seriously I think a lockout can be a good thing if the owners stand strong and make the players accept somekind of revenue sharring like in the NBA and NFL. I am optomistic, but I am an idealist so I could be wrong.

[Darth23]

The owners keep complaining about the ridiculously high salries, bu they continue to sign deals like this.

I don't think A Rod 'deserves' a quarter of a BILLION dollars any more than I think those CEOs of huge corportions deserve their mega-million dollar bonuses.

But hey! That's Capatalism (or something). The reason why so much money is possible is because of the tv revenue, which comes from AD revenue. As long as fans continue to watch and go to the games, the salaries will continue to skyrocket. It's kind of a shame that these same pro sports teams that signing players to these huge contracts keep going to local governments demanding that they build new sports arenas, or at least help pay for them and give big tax breaks to the teams - using the threat that the team will move to another city as leverage.

It's even more of a shame that most of the tiem the local governments fall for it.

[jjwr]

I'm just hoping when they strike rolls around something will actually get done and both a salary cap and revenue sharing are implemented in baseball, thats the only way the league is going to be any good. The sad thing is if it does happen and they strike and its resolved then odds are there's not going to be another Sosa/McGwire battle to help save the game, I think that was huge and helped a lot of people forget.

I personally don't care for baseball, but I do follow football and basketball and I think the salary caps in the leagues are a good thing, it guarantee's every team can spend only so much, if you drop 25Million on one player then that means you've gotta get a bunch of scrubs to fit in under the cap.

[DvdJervs]

Well I'll just say this:

I hope cricket doesn't go this way (I doubt it though, at least in Australia).

[Jedieb]

Darth23 made an observation about ARod's deal and capitalism. I use to feel the same way, but that argument doesn't work with baseball or ANY other major U.S. league. That's because leagues by their very nature are socialist enterprises. The NFL, NBA, and MLB are NOT capitalist constructs. Teams don't exist in the same reality that business do. Here are a couple of things things that you find in these leagues that you don't find in the business world;
Drafts
revenue sharing
In a league, you're not suppose to want to drive another club out of business. Your goal is to beat them on the field, not the gate. In fact, your goal isn't even to make a profit, it's to WIN a championship. That's not very capitalistic is it? In a free market you can go work for ANY company that will hire you. That's not the case in ANY major league sport. Only the teams that draft you can pay you. Every league has restrictions and rules regarding free agency.
Why are these socialist conditions in place? Because they have to be to insure fairness and a level playing field. Championships don't have legitimacy if the same 4 teams in a 30 team league are the only ones that can win year after year. Leagues cooperate and work together for the benefit of the EVERYONE in the league. No one is suppose to go out of business.
I know I've done a poor job of explaining this. I'll mention Costas' book Fair Game again. He devotes an entire chapter to this subject and does an excellent job of explaining why leagues aren't capitalist instituitions.

Poor baseball, poor baseball fans.

[Doc Milo]

I agree and disagree with Jedieb's assessment.

I agree that leagues themselves are not capitalist constructs. I disagree that they are socialist constructs however.

I believe, to understand what I'm saying (and I used to feel the same way as Darth23, but am now leaning toward Jedieb's opinion) you would have to separated the business from the sport. Which has become increasingly difficult, but it can be done.

Sports teams compete against each other on the field, as Jedieb has said, and they compete against each other for players. But they are also dependant upon each other at the same time, for if there is no level competition, then interest in the sport wavers. The consumer looks to other sports to keep their interest.

Which brings us to the business aspect of the sport. The Sport itself is the business that competes in a capitalist setting. It competes for fans and consumers. Even though most sports play at different parts of the year, they still compete against each other because most fans have a fixed amount of money they will spend on entertainment (which is different for each individual fan) so if they spend more on football merchandise, they have less to spend on baseball merchandise. Thus they are competing for that dollar. So, the sports are competing against themselves in a capitalist fashion, and it would benefit that sport if the other sport actually went under... But two teams in the same league (MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA) while they want to compete against each other within the sport, would not benefit from a team going under.

Is the answer revenue sharing and a salary cap? I don't know. But I do know that we can't define the inner workings of a league in the broad economic concepts of capitalism or socialism.

[Jedieb]

Again, leagues exist in a seperate reality from business. The NFL may be competing against other sports, but the teams within the league operate under far different rules than business in a free market. Without salary caps and revenue sharing you have the mockery that is MLB. ARod's yearly salary is now greater than teams like the Expos. And Arod isn't the only Allstar on that teams. They've also got Ivan Rodgriguez for goodness' sakes! How can the Expos even hope to compete?
Something MUST be done or another strike is inevitable. They players are going to have to cave in the way the NBA players did during their last strike. If they were smart they'd settle on the following;
Superstar salary limits (The NBA did this)
Revenue sharing;(gate receipts, TV revenue, merchandising, etc.)
Team salary caps.

What these 3 things will do is allow for money to be more evenly distributed amongst both players, owners, and teams. You can then get a sense that your local team actually has a chance to compete for a title. It's one thing to suck because the people in the front office are idiots (The Baltimore Orioles) but it's another thing to suck year after year because you can't afford to field a decent team (the Expos, Twins, Royals, etc.) Even when these small market teams do it right and develop a great player through their farm system they lose him to free agency as soon as he's eligible. So they get penalized for doing things right! Is that a level playing field?

Right now the NFL has as close to a perfect economic system as you'll find in sports. There's a reason the Rams came out of nowhere last year. There's a reason the Saints are doing so well this year. Everyone has a decent shot to put a winner on the field every 3-4 years. Why?
REVENUE SHARING
Listen up MLB, before it's too late!