Something is wrong in the state of baseball. NO PLAYER is worth $252 million. Can A-Rod play all nine positions? Hell No. Can he pitch? Hell no. Is it A-Rod's fault that salaries are skyrocketing out of control? Hell no. If someone paid me $252 million to play baseball I'd take it and laugh all the way to the bank. This just sickens me. The season is over months before it started. 15 or so teams, including the Stros are already eliminated from contention. Why? No freaking salary cap. How are the Minnesota's, Tampa Bay's, and Montreal's supposed to compete? The Yankees are not building a championship, they are BUYING a championship. The 1997 Florida Marlins already made a mockery of Bud Selig and Major League Baseball when they bought a championship, then cleaned house. If you want to see building a championship, look at the 1994 Houston Rockets, the 1993 Chicago Bulls, or the 1999 San Antonio Spurs; all build from the bottom up through good scouting and team chemistry. David Stern saw this crazy trend start, and he put an end to it, even if it meant losing half a season. We should all be kissing his ass, or else we'd be stuck as a "small market team" and the Knicks, Lakers, and Blazers would be buying championships every year. I have loved baseball all my life, and it's clear to me that the MLB is serious trouble. At this rate half of the teams will have to declare for bankruptcy because players cost too much. Just my $.02. ------------------ "Oh No..." -Bill Walton in 97 just before Stockton's buzzer beater
Yes, MLB does, in fact, SUCK! Like you, Baqui99, I love the game. However, I have agreed for sometime now with what you say. I have lost a lot of interest. I would be reluctant to say that all players are avaricious jerks. The thought comes to mind a lot, though. Perhaps, they can't escape the pressure from the Players Union that encourages players to seek the highest paying contract. And there's talk of another strike! ------------------ www.dsscake.com
Agreed. I have done some considerable thinking about this issue over the last year and I think it comes down to just one issue - parity. Forget player greed and owner stupidity, its all about whether the league as a whole wants a somewhat even competition. Players will quite rightly demand the maximum, fair market value salaries and some owners will always pay them. I used to feel bittter about Drayton Mclanes trimming of the Astros payroll, and to some extent I still do feel a little betrayed, but I also have to applaud his actions - we all agree that these ludicrous salaries must stop somewhere, and guess what - so does Drayton. Baseball can survive in its current state, but it cannot remain competitive. a) The smaller market teams will flounder and possibly go bankrupt b) The middle market teams will be caught forever in mediocrity with the odd good year c) The big market teams will dominate and outbid each other for all the big name free agents. d) A large proportion of the baseball watching population will be alienated and lose interest. The crux of the matter is whether the players and the really rich owners(mostly the players) can see that they must do something to promote parity. If not, they will have to accept that the will be ALL ABOUT THE TOP LEVEL PLAYERS AND THE BIG MARKET TEAMS, AND NO-ONE ELSE ------------------ Maybe all the rulers are wrong. Current Rocket's Salary & Contract Info
The salary scale is way out of control. If the owners decide to show some sack to fix the problem, we could be without baseball for a while. Perhaps this is the only way to get the players attention, since a lost season is one year of the players carrer he cant get back. Though to be effective, you would probably have to wipe out TWO seasons. ------------------
