Major League is Baseball is a multi-billion dollar business. But MLB and the rest of the professional sports world also rely heavily on corporate sponsors to boost revenue. The once mighty Pittsburgh Pirates have already felt the bite of losing corporate sponsorship, when financially troubled General Motors announced it would no longer be one of their sponsors. What dedicated Chicago Cub fan has not seen/heard our favorite Cooperstown perennial bridesmaid Ron Santo hawking Chevrolets on TV and radio?
Yet while Major League Baseball and the rest of the World is bracing for economic hard-times, it seems that the New York Yankees either did not get the Bud Selig memo to watch spending or just prefer to continue to laugh in the face of the MLB’s salary cap system. I am not sure about the wisdom in some of the Yankee historical player signing decisions, the most recent being the often injured AJ Burnett deal. The Yankees have a brand new billion dollar ballpark and the last few days have managed to spend over 240 million dollars on just two players including 161 million dollars on CC Sabathia. Plus they seem ready to spend whatever is necessary to become a contender in the 2009 season. I cannot fault them for that, winning is the name of the game. And those that claim winning is not everything, tell that to the financially struggling smaller markets teams trying to survive because they cannot afford to sign or even keep high priced salary players. Nor will all that spending guarantee a future Yankees World Series berth in 2009 or later. They may spend tons and tons of cash plus get heavily fined by MLB for going over the MLB salary cap, yet they make a profit for the Yankee organization and the rest of MLB baseball. There lies the conundrum. I am not a fan of the excessive spending on free agent baseball players. I think the excessive spending by teams like the Yankees and even my favorite team, the Cubs, is bad for baseball. It hurts smaller markets trying to survive, even with the addition of the MLB salary cap profit redistribution plan. Yet also I believe in a free market system that lets the market drive the price of the merchandise. Still if MLB continues on this spending frenzy – how long until the game can no longer financially support the absurd salaries of players, management and the upkeep of overpriced ballparks causing teams to start to go bankrupt?
OK, I’ll admit I’m out of my league here (hee!hee!) since I don’t follow sports at all, but when I read this: “how long until the game can no longer financially support the absurd salaries of players, management and the upkeep of overpriced ballparks causing teams to start to go bankrupt?” I immediately thought of the Big 3 automakers—-I smell a Congressional bailout for baseball! 😀
By: qcexaminer on December 13, 2008
at 4:15 pm
Why Not everyone else is applying. 🙄 You are spot on with your Big Three comparison. The amount of money involved in professional sports ownership, management and players salaries is staggering. In baseball the money spent is even more of a National economic hit. Many of the multi-million dollar player contracts are for non nationals and much of the money will probably end up outside the national economy.
By: thescoundrel on December 13, 2008
at 4:59 pm
the scoundrel
Rumor has it that the Yankees were either going to use the money on assisting with the bailout of the Big Three. But then Hank and George had a change of heart. They knew that their money would be better spent on Sabbathia and AJ Burnett.
Though I must admit I’m not too sure that offering Burnett $82m over 5 years is really a worthwhile option. I feel that he’s merely a shoulder injury away from being a Carl Pavano retread.
abritishman aka tophatal …………
By: abritishman on December 13, 2008
at 11:39 pm
I think Sabbathia was as good a price as the Yankees were going to get him for. I also thought of Pavano and a long string of overpaid injury prone pitchers the Yankees have signed over the years when I heard of the Burrnett signing. He is an injury reserve tag waiting to happen.
By: thescoundrel on December 14, 2008
at 12:38 am