Blame the Owners

There is a new Public Enemy in the spotlight, and no, I am not talking about the recycling of the long-forgotten rap group. After signing a 252 million dollar contract this off-season Alex Rodriguez is firmly entrenched not only as baseball's highest paid player, he is also the most hated man in baseball (Note: His agent, Scott Boras, is not technically in baseball, so I will refrain from calling him the most hated man in baseball).

Just as certain that Red Sox' trouble maker Carl Everett won't win the Humanitarian of the Year Award is the fact that Alex Rodriguez (aka A-Rod) will be mercilessly booed in every road stadium this season--especially in Seattle--but don't boo A-Rod just because he is the highest paid player in baseball. If your boss walked up to you and offered you the chance to be the highest paid employee at the company, would you say no? I know, I know. Comparing A-Rod's 25 million a year to someone's forty thousand a year is a lot like comparing the batting statistics of American League Designated Hitters and National League Pitchers, but can you really fault a man and his agent for accepting an offer that Rangers' owner Tom Hicks thinks is fair?

If you want to boo someone, boo Tom Hicks. Sure, baseball was going to big-market hell long before Hicks came around, but signing Rodriguez to a 252 million dollar contract was the act that sealed Major League Baseball's fire and brimstone fate. Hicks would no doubt justify A-Rod's contract by pointing out that Rangers' season tickets and paraphernalia are selling like hotcakes. Well, good for you, Mister Hicks. Pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Applaud yourself for paying Rodriguez more than the Minnesota Twins will pay THEIR ENTIRE ROSTER THIS SEASON.

The salary bar was set to just over 18 million a year before A-Rod pulled off a Sergei Bubka quality pole-vault. Question: Why didn't Hicks just offer A-Rod a nineteen million a year contract? Answer: Probably because Hicks wasn't the only owner willing to bankrupt Major League Baseball. The Dodgers, Braves, and Mets all claim to have pulled out of the A-Rod sweepstakes, but who honestly believes that? Tom Hicks is a damn good businessman, and there is no way that he would pay A-Rod 25 million a year if the next closest bids were five or six million a year lower.

The problem with Major League Baseball is the fact that big-market owners are applying business tactics that work in the real business world, but these tactics do not work in the world of professional baseball. Eliminating your competition in the real business world is ideal, but Major League Baseball is more than just a business. Mister Hicks, if you eliminate most of your competition in baseball, you will be left with a six-team league, at best. What kind of national television revenue could you earn if only five or six cities cared about Major League Baseball? What kind of exposure would you get from television and print media if the majority of the U.S. grew to hate baseball? A six-team league is a regional-scale operation that would only garner regional attention. Two words: Minor League.

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