Major League Baseball fans not only watched owners toss out more than $1 billion to free agents this winter, but also witnessed the tragic end to the American pastime. The out-of-control spending habits of MLB owners has created an unsolvable problem that will soon demolish the league.
The league is a complete mess where only the richest survive. A team’s success no longer depends on the strength of its players but rather the wealth of its owner. Without a rich owner, a team cannot sign any above-average free agents, or even re-sign its own homegrown talent.
The Oakland Athletics were forced to trade away all-star pitchers Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder this winter as a result of the absurd salaries other pitchers of their caliber received. Oakland general manager Billy Beane knew that Hudson and Mulder would demand a salary of at least $20 million each. Instead of waiting for them both to leave through free agency, Beane shipped them off, along with any chance of making the playoffs, for some unproven minor leaguers.
The New York Yankees’ owner George Steinbrenner kicked off the insane spending by signing former Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Jaret Wright to a three-year, $21 million deal. This is the same Jaret Wright who finished 4-10, with an ERA of around eight in 2003. Wright is at best an average pitcher, and deserves no more than $3 million per year for his services.
The Yankees were also able to pay $16 million a season to Randy Johnson, who will soon be 42 years old. Johnson had an outstanding season last year, but his arm is about to fall off. The Yankees are expecting Johnson to go out on the mound and throw over 100 pitches every five days. Maybe they also forgot the surgeries that removed all the cartilage inside Johnson’s knees.
A subway ride away, the Mets forked out a combined $194 million on Carlos Beltran, Pedro Martinez and Kris Benson. The Mets’ general manager Omar Minaya must have forgotten that first baseman Mo Vaughn will be owed $17 million to sit on the bench again, eating up all the food in sight, instead of fielding the balls hit to first base. At least Vaughn will have company when the Mets discover they just paid more than $50 million to a pitcher hiding a major shoulder injury.
Although the Yankees and Mets wasted millions of dollars this winter, no team wasted its money more than the Houston Astros. The Astros agreed to pay Roger Clemens $18 million for one season, even though he will be 43 years old in August.
These crazy contracts are destroying baseball, and someone needs to stand up to commissioner Bud Selig and demand a salary-cap rule. Such a rule would establish a maximum payroll that owners could spend and therefore limit the amount of money given to players. The National Football League has adopted this strategy, and as a result, the star players are more evenly distributed and the playing field is more even. It is not fair that the Yankees can have a $209 million payroll while the Pittsburgh Pirates can only afford to pay their players $40 million. The Yankees’ shortstop Alex Rodriguez and first-baseman Jason Giambi will combine to make about the same as the entire 25-man Pittsburgh roster.
Pirates owner Kevin McClatchy took the first step by criticizing the winter’s premiere signings as “ridiculous at best.” Considering the fact that the Pirates’ best player in 2004 was Craig Wilson, I agree with his statement. Even if Wilson becomes a well-known star, it will not matter, because he will just become a free agent and get a huge payday from Steinbrenner.
Hopefully other owners will stand up, before the collective bargaining agreement expires in 2006, and put a stop to this madness.
If this chaos continues, the league could shut down and never start back up. Owners are spending money they most likely do not have. The Arizona Diamondbacks filed for bankruptcy a few years ago, but they were somehow able to shell out $33 million to Russ Ortiz and $45 million to Troy Glaus. When the players find out that they are not going to receive the money they have been conditioned to expect over the years, the players union will go on strike. When there is no baseball being played, the organizations are not making any money, and may well never be able to pay their players.
It might seem as if the players would then agree to come back for “the love of the game,” but that is very doubtful. Clemens proved this when he announced he would play one more season only if the Astros met his salary demands.
Hopefully when Clemens’ arm begins to wear down by the second month of the season, he will realize how ignorant a person he is. Maybe he will figure out that he demanded to be paid 18 times the amount of money that all the owners in the league combined to contribute to the tsunami rescue relief effort.
Thank you, Mr. Clemens, for destroying the game America loves.
