Bad For Baseball

Seven years, one-hundred-and-sixty-one million dollar$. That is the contract that C.C Sabathia signed with (you guessed it) the New York Yankees today. Rumor has it that the Yankees are also prepared to offer pitcher A.J. Burnett a five-year deal in the range of $90 million dollars. Add this to the fact that last year, the Yankees had a payroll of $209 million dollars. It appears as if that total will increase significantly in 2009. Oddly enough, the Yanks finished 89-73 (1 game better than the $57-million payroll Twins) and 8 games out of first place, proving that money doesn't necessarily buy championships and that karma is real.

It appears that the news of the economic downtown has not reached the offices of the New York Yankees.

Now, I can't blame Sabathia for taking the Yankees offer. After all, it was $60 million more than the next best offer of $100 million from his former team, the Milwaukee Brewers. Part of me wishes, however, that a guy like Sabathia would say "Hey, I really enjoyed Milwaukee and we made the playoffs with a very good young team. I think I'll take the $100 mil and stay where I'm loved." This, to me, is like looking at a plate of a dozen doughnuts and saying, "I think I'll eat just 8 doughnuts instead of all 12." You're going to be full either way, and probably won't get sick.

I realize this is a pipe dream, folks. It will never happen. Sure, back in THE DAY, Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek took less to stay with the Twins, where they won World Championships and were considered local heroes. That was back when the contract they accepted was worth $6 mil rather than $7 mil that New York or Boston offered. Chump change, right? That was back in the the day in which the rest of baseball wasn't necessarily a minor league for a handful of East and West coast teams. Or the Cubs, which is irrelevant because they are cursed.

Folks, this contract is bad for baseball. I'm not saying the Yankees are guaranteed to win the next 10 World Series Championships, because that is not the issue. There are teams that draft better talent and play the game better than the Yankees. The issue is that this contract sets the "new bar" for elite free agents. And The Bar just keeps on rising. I thought Armageddon was upon us when Johan Santana was offered $130 mil for 6 years by the New York Mets. Well, one year later, that contract is eclipsed by $30 million. When is this going to stop?

Baseball is the last professional sport with absolutely no salary cap. Football, hockey and basketball have figured out that a salary cap, while not perfect, is good for their respective sports. Baseball has not been successful in implementing a cap, however, largely because the players union is second in power to only God Himself. The players union is not going to settle for a salary cap as long as teams are willing to offer players contracts like the Yankees offered C.C Sabathia today.

I believe these types of contracts will lead to another work stoppage, probably a lockout by the owners, until the situation can be remedied. Just like what happened in hockey. I understand that baseball is in much better financial shape than hockey, but I don't know if that will be true in 5 years. Particularly if the economy does not turn around. This is why teams like the Yankees are ultimately hurting baseball. You see, baseball is not a true "free market" competition. While the Yankees are trying to eliminate their competition ON the field, they actually NEED their competition OFF of the field. The Yankees NEED the Twins, Tigers, Indians, Rays, etc., just as they need the Red Sox. That is, unless baseball wants a 6-team league. In addition, a team like the Twins cannot decide to compete in the Yankees lucrative market, like other business can. They can't say, "Hey, we want a piece of that New York media pie and it's 19-million population." It's simply not "true" free market competition.

That is why I truly believe baseball needs to get with the other 3 major leagues and implement a salary cap. Otherwise, the sport is headed for big trouble.

Jeff