Outrageous MLB Salaries!

[camarokids]

Manny Ramirez gets $45 Million for 2 Years! CC Sabathia, A-Roid, etc....

One of the problems is certain wealthy owners in MLB allow themselves to be manipulated and end paying these outrageous salaries because they think they have to have a certain player to win.....

Or you have other owners from big market teams that want to outbid everyone else, simply because they can afford to do it....

At the end of the day when any of the owners whine about high salaries, they will have NO ONE to blame but themselves....

Also some players feel entitled, that they deserve to paid as much as the other guy..... which can you blame them????

If the owners would grow a set and refuse to pay these salaries????

Ticket prices and food and everything you buy at the stadiums would be priced somewhat reasonable???

If the Dodgers ownership would have refused to pay up and let MR sit, what kind of message would this send to players????

But then again the Yankee$ have set the precedent by paying out of this galaxy salaries.....

So, where will it stop? Salaries have been out of control and are only getting worse.....

The truly sad part is the game of baseball will end up paying in the long run...

What do you think????

Will baseball end up over pricing themselves????

When the average person cannot afford to go to the games what will happen????

I guess as long as the stadiums are filling up and people pay the ticket prices, it will be business as usual......

[gamer35]

Re: Outrageous MLB Salaries!

Manny just completed an 8 year, 160 million contract and this contract is pretty much in line with the last one. If anything, he was the biggest disappointment on the FA in terms of money as he was expecting at least 60M. Teixiera going to the Yanks killed his market.

I dont get people who complain about Manny's salary. Does Teixiera put people in the seats? Do people go "I want to see Mark Teixiera" or CC Sabathia? Heck no. But you can be sure Manny does. This guy is box office gold and the Dodgers know that. He generated an additional $25Mm alone for them during his two month stay with the Dodgers and the RED SOX PAID HIS SALARY!

[aeneas01]

Re: Outrageous MLB Salaries!

tom cruise, gerry clooney, leonardo dicaprio, a-list male movie stars, $25 million per film. reese witherspoon, cameron diaz, angeline jolie, a-list female movie stars, $15 million per film.

i'd rather see manny swing a bat for my entertainment buck....

...

[kingjammy24]

Re: Outrageous MLB Salaries!

david

you place blame on the players and the owners. where do you suppose they get all the money to pay these "outrageous" salaries? blame the fans. they supply all the money and then cry about how it's spent.

it has nothing to do with "growing a set". fans whine about high ticket prices, as they purchase tickets in record numbers, then they whine about the cost of ballpark food, as they scarf it down. if teams don't spend money, they whine about not having a competitive lineup. insane. why don't fans grow a pair and stop attending games that they feel are too expensive? if fans stopped going to games, what sort of message would that send? this all starts and stops with the real source of the revenue: the fans.

"I guess as long as the stadiums are filling up and people pay the ticket prices, it will be business as usual"

you answered your own question perfectly.

rudy.

[suicide_squeeze]

Re: Outrageous MLB Salaries!

david

you place blame on the players and the owners. where do you suppose they get all the money to pay these "outrageous" salaries? blame the fans. they supply all the money and then cry about how it's spent.

it has nothing to do with "growing a set". fans whine about high ticket prices, as they purchase tickets in record numbers, then they whine about the cost of ballpark food, as they scarf it down. if teams don't spend money, they whine about not having a competitive lineup. insane. why don't fans grow a pair and stop attending games that they feel are too expensive? if fans stopped going to games, what sort of message would that send? this all starts and stops with the real source of the revenue: the fans.

"I guess as long as the stadiums are filling up and people pay the ticket prices, it will be business as usual"

you answered your own question perfectly.

rudy.

I think you guys are all kind of missing the big picture.


Fans come to the game because they LOVE the game of baseball, and cherish their home team......and their superstars if they have any.

gamer35 had it right.........Manny is a drawer.....a gold mine to the Dodgers. But there's more to it.

It's not the fans who dictate the salaries paid as much as it is the BIG advertising dollars spent on commercials that fill the ad space during the games. It's BIG bucks, and big business. Why do you think the PLAYERS UNION became so powerful? Because Curt Flood was a stud? Because Andy Messersmith had a good trial lawyer??

No. Because they argued (successfully) the profits being reaped by the owners were obscene, and the players, the ones the fans were coming to see....therefore the ones generating the interest IN THE GAME, (whichin turn sparked BIG interest in the advertisers selling product) rightfully deserved their portion of the profits.

That, folks, is what is driving the professional sports world. It is big BIG advertising business, and the players union a LONG time ago got their hand in the pie.

Simple economics, folks.

Are baseball players overpaid? LOL......Of course! Why do you think some ballplayers want to make it so badly.......even to the point of injecting drugs in their body, with whatever consequenses follow?

Is it ever going to change (the salaries)? Probably not any measurable amount......unless baseball's popularity goes down the tubes.

And in all likelyhood......that just won't happen. It's America's greatest past time, a great game, and the history is just too deeply instilled in our heritage.

[kingjammy24]

Re: Outrageous MLB Salaries!

It's not the fans who dictate the salaries paid as much as it is the BIG advertising dollars spent on commercials that fill the ad space during the games...

the only reason advertisers pay big bucks is because they know a lot of fans are watching. the only reason networks pay big bucks to acquire the right to air games is because they know a ton of fans are watching. you can't sell ad space for a premium when noone's watching. it still goes down to the fans. if fans didn't watch it on tv, advertisers wouldn't pay to air commercials and networks wouldn't pay so much to air the games.

follow the dollar backwards from manny and where's it ultimately come from? the consumer.

stop buying the MLB product in all of its forms -> watch MLB revenue plummet -> watch player salaries plummet

until fans start voting with their wallets, nothing will change. its the fans who need to grow a pair. the owners are just spending what the fans have, in some way, shape, or form, given them.

rudy.

[ahuff]

Re: Outrageous MLB Salaries!

tom cruise, gerry clooney, leonardo dicaprio, a-list male movie stars, $25 million per film. reese witherspoon, cameron diaz, angeline jolie, a-list female movie stars, $15 million per film.

i'd rather see manny swing a bat for my entertainment buck....

...

I'd rather see Reese Witherspoon swing a bat!

[godwulf]

Re: Outrageous MLB Salaries!

stop buying the MLB product in all of its forms -> watch MLB revenue plummet -> watch player salaries plummet

And that would accomplish...what, again?

That would "improve" The Game...how, exactly?

Other posters have expressed it very well, I believe - certain actors get paid as much, or far more, for a single movie (two to three months' in front of a camera, being pampered and massaged between "takes") than certain star Baseball players get for playing 150+ games and bouncing around the country for six months out of the year. Why aren't people getting all up in arms about having to pay $8-10 for a seat at the movies, and complaining about actors' salaries?

I bought a package of game tickets yesterday, for the coming season, and I paid between $12 and $17 per game, for one of my favorite seats in the ballpark. As for concessions, I would pay more for a hot dog or a soda at the movie theatre or the airport...and have you seen what they want for a soda, a beer or a bag of chips at most music concerts these days?

Again, I have to ask...how would trying to cash-starve the owners improve The Game, or our enjoyment of it, one tiny bit?

[kingjammy24]

Re: Outrageous MLB Salaries!

"And that would accomplish...what, again?"

it's right there in black and white.."watch player salaries plummet".

"That would "improve" The Game...how, exactly?"

who said anything about improving the game? the OP complained about high ticket prices. the thread is about high salaries, not improving the game. i simply explained one way to ensure a reduction in ticket prices. anyway, for many fans a reduction in ticket prices would "improve" the game.

"Why aren't people getting all up in arms about having to pay $8-10 for a seat at the movies, and complaining about actors' salaries?"

because for $8-10 you can get a front row center seat at the movies. the same seat at a ballpark would cost you $80+. maybe people see a difference between paying $8 and $80?

"Again, I have to ask...how would trying to cash-starve the owners improve The Game, or our enjoyment of it, one tiny bit?"

is it really that difficult to understand? if the owners are cash-starved, they'll reduce costs, including ticket prices. common sense says that people would enjoy The Game more if it didn't cost them so much. imagine sitting behind home plate at yankee stadium for $30. that's not an improvement? that doesn't make the game more enjoyable one tiny bit?

rudy.

[cjclong]

Re: Outrageous MLB Salaries!

It will be interesting to see if and how the economy affects the game. When money is tight people have to give up luxuries for necessities. With the Texas Rangers last year the rise in gas prices (along with a losing record, of course) caused attendance to drop. This is not only affecting people at the bottom but also many of the large companies that buy the luxury boxes. I am going to continue to go to games and enjoy baseball, but the huge salaries turn me off. If you think the salaries are not a turn off think about ARod. There are a number of reason people don't like him that have nothing to do with money, but the thing that started it was the $25 million a year salary. If he had gone to the Rangers for $12 million a year do you think he would have become the magnet for anger that he is now. It all started with the $25 million. You can at least make an argument for paying successful people money. But why we pay players who don't hit .200 or pitchers who can't get anybody out millions of dollars is beyond me. One way to fortune is to be an athlete who doesn't produce or a CEO who leads his company to bankruptcy.

[earlywynnfan]

Re: Outrageous MLB Salaries!

the only reason advertisers pay big bucks is because they know a lot of fans are watching. the only reason networks pay big bucks to acquire the right to air games is because they know a ton of fans are watching. you can't sell ad space for a premium when noone's watching. it still goes down to the fans. if fans didn't watch it on tv, advertisers wouldn't pay to air commercials and networks wouldn't pay so much to air the games.

rudy.

Did someone just mention soccer??

Ken
earlywynnfan5@hotmail.com

[kingjammy24]

Re: Outrageous MLB Salaries!

"It will be interesting to see if and how the economy affects the game."

some teams have already instituted ticket price freezes, incl. the red sox, while others have actually reduced prices.

"If you think the salaries are not a turn off think about ARod. There are a number of reason people don't like him that have nothing to do with money, but the thing that started it was the $25 million a year salary."

i agree that the initial reaction was disgust but that's happened with every big contract for the past 20 years. when canseco became baseball's first $5mm man, people expressed the same disgust as when arod became the a $25mm man. my feeling is people would've eventually gotten over the disgust if a) he would've turned out to be a likeable guy b) he would've delivered the goods (eg: world series appearance) and not continually choked in the post season. from a business perspective, im sure arod was a good investment in terms of putting fans in the stands and drawing eyeballs to the tv. but when you spend $252mm on 1 player and still can't even appear in the world series, then people are going to feel ripped off. so i think the disgust towards arod is a combination of him just naturally being a wanker and also him failing to deliver.

"If he had gone to the Rangers for $12 million a year do you think he would have become the magnet for anger that he is now. It all started with the $25 million."

agreed on both points. boras really set him up with that contract and the "highest paid player" title. of course, it's not boras who has to go up to bat for the next 5 yrs and hit 'em out of the park. boras is laughing all the way to the bank while arod desperately tries to live up to the pressure of being a yankee and the highest paid player. if arod had simply settled for $12mm a year he wouldn't have had so much pressure. of course, arod says the reason he took steroids was because of all the pressure but he's the one who signed up for it in the first place! genius. willingly signs the biggest contract in baseball and then runs to steroids because he's crying about all the pressure he got himself into.

"But why we pay players who don't hit .200 or pitchers who can't get anybody out millions of dollars is beyond me."

supply and demand. apparently it's hard enough to find a guy who can hit .230 in the majors. anyway, a guy who can't hit .200 isn't going to be in the majors long, much less make "millions". i don't see many guys hitting .190 even staying on a major league roster. but i get your point..why pay mediocre players millions...because we pay great players tens of millions? it's all relative.

"One way to fortune is to be an athlete who doesn't produce or a CEO who leads his company to bankruptcy."

amen!

rudy.

[camarokids]

Re: Outrageous MLB Salaries!

david

you place blame on the players and the owners. where do you suppose they get all the money to pay these "outrageous" salaries? blame the fans. they supply all the money and then cry about how it's spent.

it has nothing to do with "growing a set". fans whine about high ticket prices, as they purchase tickets in record numbers, then they whine about the cost of ballpark food, as they scarf it down. if teams don't spend money, they whine about not having a competitive lineup. insane. why don't fans grow a pair and stop attending games that they feel are too expensive? if fans stopped going to games, what sort of message would that send? this all starts and stops with the real source of the revenue: the fans.

"I guess as long as the stadiums are filling up and people pay the ticket prices, it will be business as usual"

you answered your own question perfectly.

rudy.

You are right Rudy!

The fans are to blame as well. It has been said before that the fans need to go on strike.

But the problem is there are MILLIONS upon millions of fans.

If any type of strike was organized I am afraid it would be ineffective.

No fans, no TV contracts, no stadium/ticket revenue.......

But, I would have to say in some cases the owners do need to just say NO....

[godwulf]

Re: Outrageous MLB Salaries!

[quote=kingjammy24;127635who said anything about improving the game? the OP complained about high ticket prices. the thread is about high salaries, not improving the game. i simply explained one way to ensure a reduction in ticket prices. anyway, for many fans a reduction in ticket prices would "improve" the game.

is it really that difficult to understand? if the owners are cash-starved, they'll reduce costs, including ticket prices. common sense says that people would enjoy The Game more if it didn't cost them so much. imagine sitting behind home plate at yankee stadium for $30. that's not an improvement? that doesn't make the game more enjoyable one tiny bit?[/quote]

I don't know about Yankee Stadium, but here at Chase Field, all the seats behind home plate are reserved for full- and half-season ticket holders. Somebody gave me a seat there once, a couple of years ago, and I took it for about three innings, and then took the elevator upstairs. Nothing but yuppies yakking about business, making cellphone calls, wait staff and vendors standing between you and the game half the time - only maybe one person in ten even watching the game. I've enjoyed root canals more. I can only imagine that in New York, it's, if anything, even worse. You can have those seats.

[ahuff]

Re: Outrageous MLB Salaries!

During my basic economics courses, in high school, I learned about supply/demand. In addition I learned how economics is basically a system of votes each time we spend our money. I got to utilize my votes just the other day. The day Cubs single game tickets went on sale I tried my best to order tickets via their website. I finally got through and found tickets. A bit of background . . . Two years ago we went to a Cub game and sat in section 201. Face value of the tickets was $20 x 4 tickets. Though, I paid around $10-15 a ticket just a day or two before the game, from an ebay season ticket holder. (Not a bad deal I must say.)

This season, I was given the choice of sitting in Section 242 (exact same seats just in right field instead of left). When all mandated fees were included, I was somewhere around $65/ticket (though I think it was actually a bit higher). That is a 325% increase in the total amount I would have spent on just tickets (and in only 2 years)!!!!! Sure, some of that is fees that I didn't incur last time, but even the face value of the ticket went to $32 (an increase of 60% in 2 years). Can you imagine if our salaries did the same thing? I can only dream. Well, I figured I would vote for food on my family's table, rather than a Cubbie game. I have a better view watching the game on my TV, anyway.