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Volume 70, Issue 89,
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Sports Pro baseball needs some big changes Smaller teams won't prosper without help from a salary cap Stat Whiz Todd Kastendiek Baseball is bigger and better than ever before. Fans should enjoy it while it lasts, because the tremendous off-season spending that goes on every year will soon cause a backlash, unless something is done in the immediate future. We all remember how Alex Rodriguez started this whole thing back in mid-December 2000, when he signed the richest contract in sports history. A-Rod inked a deal worth $252 million for 10 years. Most think he deserved it because he is arguably the best in the game right now. Then there are those who say that no athlete should make that kind of money. Others say it was his agent, Scott Boras, who played Rangers owner, Tom Hicks, like a fiddle with the next-highest bidder only coming in at around $100 million. After just three seasons, Hicks couldn't pay for A-Rod anymore and sent him to the Yankees for a much cheaper Alfonso Soriano. As all Astros' fans know, Boras struck again this winter, giving Carlos Beltran a handsome deal with the Mets worth $119 over seven years. Boras, again wanted a 10-year deal for his client, but no one stepped up to the plate. With big-market teams like the Mets, Yankees and Red Sox all able to pay big money for free agents, what does this say to the fans of small market clubs? It tells them that they had better have an extremely good farm system that will breed really good ball players who are able to come up to the majors and win immediately. If they don't, in most cases the player will take the money and run. The Oakland A's are a perfect example of this occurrence. Just think of the squad they would have if they were able to keep some of their players who choose to follow the money. They would have 2002 American League MVP Miguel Tejada at shortstop, but he went to Baltimore for $72 million over six years. They also traded away Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder, two of the big-three pitchers on their staff out of fear of eventually losing them to free agency. Jason Giambi, the 2000 AL MVP, left Oakland to go to the Evil Empire we call the Yankees for $120 million over seven years. This season, Giambi will take home $11 million of the record setting $205 million dollar payroll the Boss, owner George Steinbrenner, will shell out to try and win another World Series. Perhaps the most outrageous part in all this is the Yanks' five-man starting rotation taking in $64 million this season alone. That is more than 13 major league teams are willing to spend on their entire 25-man rosters. One possible solution that has been talked about is a salary cap. The NBA, NFL and NHL all have salary caps. OK, so the NHL was a bad example, but baseball should have a salary cap before they develop similar problems. A salary cap will help level the playing field by not allowing free agents to go to the big-market clubs. Teams like the Yankees will already have reached the cap, and the player will be forced to sign an extension with his current team or move on to another team hoping to improve itself without the Evil Empire breathing down their necks. Hopefully, one day the players will not be as greedy
as Steinbrenner, and they will choose to go with the salary cap to protect
the integrity and future of America's game. Remember guys, it used to be
a game, not a business.
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