The A-Rod Deal

[KB21]

This deal is a reflection of everything that is wrong with baseball and the economic structure of the sport. With no salary cap and no salary floor, you have owners like George who basically set out to buy themselves a championship, demeaning the entire process of player development in the process and owners like MLB with the Expos who is only interested in keeping salaries down to collect luxury tax money.

This creates a severe, uneven playing field for the rest of baseball. You have teams like the Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants who attempt to be financially fiscal and rely on player development through the minor leagues, but those teams doing it the right way are overshadowed by the major market teams that attempt to buy their way to a championship.

Nothing will be done about this as long as that bafoon Bud Selig sits in the commisioner's chair.

[Admin]

While you are right to a degree that there should be a salary cap and to a degree there is.....the fact is that the Yankees and Red Sox of the league are good for baseball. First, they generate a ton of shared revenue to the small market teams. Its up to them to put that money back into the team salaries rather than just pocketing it. Jim Duqette said that exact same thing in an article I read the other day as a matter of fact. Basically he said that attendance isnt great for the Mets, but when they play the Yankees they know that it will be a 100% complete sell out every game. There is a reason why the Yankees have the highest road attendance in baseball, people want to see them play. George Steinbrenner is a brilliant man and although a bit extreme with some things, he still puts in a ton of money to have the best team that he can possibly have and there is nothing wrong with that. If Atlanta Spirit was willing to pay 20 million or more in luxury tax every year they could certainly do it and have one hell of a team. Thats exactly what Steinbrenner is doing. He has conceeded that he will have to pay a ton to the rest of the league in revenue sharing and he is okay with that because he just wants to win. If every owner in the league was willing to put most of their profits from revenue sharing and profits in general back into their teams they would gradually be able to increase their budget just as the Yankees and Red Sox have been able to do.

By the way, the Braves dont exactly have one of the lower payrolls in baseball.

[cyman3]

one of my teachers in the past talked about this... how big markets have a CLEAR ADVANTAGE in major league baseball.

i see ur concern here, but i got a few questions

1)what if they DO follow NBA with a salary cap... and then bigname players go to NY for less money (like Malone/Payton in LA)... is that still OKAY, then? Wat if someone like Bonds is tired and wants to go to the YANKEES for less money? u ok with that, since the rules allow it? but then again, the talent is still stacked on 1 team.

2)Last year's Champions did not have many BIG NAME STARS and had several no-named players... it didnt cost much to construct that team...

wat im tryin to say... Didnt last year prove that to the whole league that IT IS POSSIBLE to WIN the world series w/o big-name players?

[KB21]

The Braves payroll is sitting at $70 million right now, and they are still going to field a 90+ win team and a division championship because of guys like Rafael Furcal, Andruw Jones, Marcus Giles, and Adam LaRoche. Players they brought up through their system.

This luxury tax thing is flawed as well. George doesn't mind paying the money because he knows it reciprocates right back into his pocket.

Plus, I don't buy the line that this is good for baseball. The World Series between the Mets and the Yankees was one of the least watched World Series events ever. No one outside of New York cared about it because they knew both teams bought their way there.

Attendance is going to drastically drop league wide because fans of teams outside of the Yankess and Red Sox won't bother going to games. What's the use?

[Admin]

Look at the last 3 world series winners. Look at the teams that are in the playoffs each year. You dont have to do it like the Red Sox and Yankees to win the world series or even go to the playoffs. The Yankees have decided that in order to improve their team they would literally sell the farm for veteran players. The Yankees also help baseball by taking on large contracts that teams are trying to rid themselves of so that they can be more competitive. Also, exactly what you said George does with the Yankees is what every other team in the league can do......the problem is taht there isnt another owner in baseball willing to put as much of their own money into the team as George is. He isnt even close to the richest owner in baseball, so there is no excuse for other teams not wanting to put as much money into fielding a winner. When I was talking about the Mets attendance I didnt mean the world series...but regardless of what the Yankees and Mets payroll was of course fans in other cities wont have nearly as much interest in the world series with 2 NY teams playing each other. My point is that when the Yankeees go on the road to play another team, that game is usually a sell out or pretty close to it.

[chillzatl]

It's not good for the league. Competition is good for the league. Having a system where a few teams can buy up any player they want and laugh at any luxury tax is flawed. It allows teams with deep pockets to take advantage of financially strapped teams with poor decision makers. Now nothing is going to make teams with bad management good. But it keeps them from leveraging their entire franchise on one contract.

The other reason it's bad is because it keeps upper level talent out of reach of many of the teams. If A-rod had signed with the Rangers for an acceptable sum, they might have had enough money to get a few more quality players and become a playoff hopeful. Granted having the most talent doesn't make you a winner. But it keeps other teams from getting a shot.

[Plainview1981]

It allows teams with deep pockets to take advantage of financially strapped teams with poor decision makers."

It's not George's fault that the A's and other teams are

too cheap to keep their players. I hate small market

franchises like the A's and Panthers. Besides, nobody

cares about these small market franchises anyway.

[chillzatl]