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by Digger

How will baseball owners and players react to the current declining US economy? Are owners still willing (or able) to throw money around like drunken sailors on a three day leave? Will players continue demanding incredibly high salaries? Baseball’s annual winter meetings have offered no clues other than to suggest teams will be very busy.

Baseball has entered its’ free agent frenzy period. General Managers from around the league are currently testing the trade waters and making offers to free agent players. Some of the biggest names being discussed are Manny Ramirez and CC Sabathia. Both had been expected to rake in upwards of $15M per season.

However, crashing stock markets, declining pensions, state and federal taxes on the rise, recession fears and other factors… are Major League Baseball and team owners prepared for reduced revenues? Or, are they counting on business as usual? Corporate sponsors will soon be reneging on their commitments to stadium sponsorship and slowly reducing their advertising revenues at ballparks around the country. MLB will certainly get hit. Many new stadiums have increased ticket prices making it harder for an average family of four to attend games even under normal circumstances. Our current economic climate will make it unfeasable for most families to attend games on a regular basis… if at all.

So how will teams rationalize big dollar contracts? And, how can players justify seeking multi-year $15-25M salaries. The global economy is in shambles and it would be an utter disgrace for MLB players and owners to start throwing around ridiculous amounts of underserved money.

I’ve always been mystified at how irrational some players salaries have become. Take New York Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez. Here’s a guy making over $25M per season and he hasn’t even played in a single World Series game. He’s not alone. At what point will owners realize talent isn’t only found in big name players? It takes more than just money to win championships. Tampa Bay Rays and Florida Marlins are perfect examples of winning teams who did not need to fork over crazy contracts to buy wins?

Most importantly, when more than half of our country is financially stifled… with the worst yet to come.. how can anyone justify paying (or asking for) outrageous sums of money to play a “game”. At what point is enough enough? It’s all about greed and ego’s. Players greed and owners ego’s.

MLB, as a whole, should be very careful in these trying times. They’re going to need one heck of a spin to justify paying larger than life contracts when fans struggle to make ends meet. Concession stands charging $8.50 for hotdogs will see much shorter lines. Souvenir stands charging $35.00 for t-shirts will be in for a long year.

Soon we’ll find out if MLB re-adjusts to conform with main street America…