A-Rod Contributes to Out-of-Control Sports Salaries

It's not about the money my ass. If someone offers you $200 million to go play baseball for them, of course you are going to take it, unless of course someone offers you $252 million. Two hundred and fifty-two million dollars. Tell me again that it's not all about the Benjamins.

Alex Rodriguez was signed by the Texas Rangers this past week for $252 million, yet he said in the weeks leading up to his signing he wanted to go to a team who would contend. Well, the Rangers aren't a team who contended last year. They finished last in the West this past year with the worst earned run average in the majors. Does this sound like a team that is going to contend to you? Now let me offer you $252 million: does it sound like a contender?

Just to give you a sense of what $252 million really is, here are a few facts. For that price you can buy 1,008,000,000 beers at quarter beers at the 'Sco. Or if it is too cold to walk there you could just buy about 500,000 12-packs from the Feve, minus the delivery charge.

If that's not enough, how about purchasing two Major League Baseball teams, the Montreal Expos ($89 million) and the Minnesota Twins ($91 million). And that's only $180 million, you could buy a small island with the change. Hell, you could buy Cuba. If you think of money in terms of cars, that's 4,200 Mercedes convertibles. Just as a comparison, it would take someone making minimum wage over 23,000 years to make that much money. A-Rod says he's playing for the love of the game. Hell no he's not, he is playing because he is getting paid enough to feed a small country or two.

When the average player in Major League Baseball pulls in nearly $1 million a year you can hardly say any of them are playing purely for the love of it. The same average player is out there simply because he can make a hell of a lot more money sitting and watching his teammates, who pull in nearly 10 times as much as he does. The league minimum is around $200 grand right now. Could you pay me that much to go sit on a hard wooden seat and watch other people play baseball? Most of us pay $20 or $30 to do so, and we have to sit further away. There is no doubt you could pay me that much to play, but I wouldn't be telling you I was doing it for the love of the game or because I wanted to be on a winning team. No, it wouldn't matter if I was riding the pine for the worst team in the history of baseball. I would tell you I was there because you were paying $200 g's a year to be there.

If A-Rod was playing for the love of the game then he would have either taken a smaller offer on a team that is going to contend next year or stayed in Seattle, where he got his start. But just like his former teammates, Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson, A-Rod saw the green and immediately forgot any idea of playing for the love of it, or contending. He immediately became content with playing for a loser and getting paid nicely to do so. Am I saying what he did was wrong? No, I would have probably done the same thing if put in his position. I mean 252 million big ones are hard to turn down. But I wouldn't have stressed the fact that I was in it for the love of the game or for the chance to win a World Series if I knew all along I would be sold to the highest bidder.

In the wake of all the A-Rod hoopla who can forget about Manny Ramirez, who turned down a $136 million contract from the Cleveland Indians in favor of a $160 million contract from the Boston Red Sox, even though he said if Cleveland offered him anything good he would stay. I think $136 million is good. No, great. $136 million, that would constitute winning ÒWho wants to be a Millionaire?Ó 136 times, something we know Manny could never do.

So is there anyone in baseball who is playing for the love of the game? At the major league level, no. The emphasis on money in the past few years has done everyone in. In 1980 it was unreal for Nolan Ryan, by far the best pitcher of the time, to be making a million bucks a year. It was unheard of when three years ago Pedro Martinez was signed by the Red Sox for $121 million. So should we be surprised that A-Rod got signed for $252 million? No, we should just expect that within the next 10 years someone will be pulling in a contract of at least $500 million, if not more.

If you want to talk about the corruption of American society you need to look no further than Major League Baseball. Where does having outstanding natural talent land you? Not on the team with the best shot at winning the World Series, but on the team who has the biggest pocketbook, in this case a gutter-dwelling team looking to fill the stands, even though they don't have a chance in hell at making the post-season.

Tom Hicks, the owner of the Texas Rangers, did just that when he signed A-Rod. He says he plans on winning a World Series now, but there is only one problem. They have no pitching. They certainly don't need another hitter. There is no doubt that the Rangers will put up the runs needed to win games this year, but it is highly doubtful that the pitching staff that earned the title as the worst in the majors last year will be able to keep opponents from doing the same. If Hicks really wanted to win a World Series he would have invested the $252 million, which is more than he bought the team for, on quality pitchers to supplement his already strong hitting attack. What is his ultimate goal? To fill the bleachers because that means more money for him. And what will do that? The spectacle of a man they call A-Rod.

Don't tell me A-Rod went to Texas because he thought they had a chance to win a Series and don't tell me Hicks brought him there with the intention of winning a Series. No, both had one thing in mind, fattening their pockets. For A-Rod if that means he has to step on a baseball field every now and then to do so I guess that's the price he is willing to pay.