In the early days of baseball, before the MLB existed, there was the National Association of Professional Baseball Players . This is basically the same National League that exists today because after the National League came the American League and the two, over time, merged and today we have Major League Baseball (MLB). However, in the days when the National Association of Professional Baseball Players was the major destination for all baseball players, players used to just hop from one team to the next. I know this sounds crazy and some of you reading this may think, “Yea, that’s free agency.” No. Imagine if Clayton Kershaw left the Dodgers and joined the Mets when the Dodgers got down 3-1 in the playoffs last year. I’m not sure how the playoffs worked for the National Association back in the day or even if they had any, but it was that easy for guys to leave their teams when they wanted to because they weren’t under contract. It wasn’t until the National League was formed that players weren’t allowed to leave their team. But when I say they weren’t allowed to leave their team, I mean players were bound to their team for life. The rule that allowed this was reserve clause. The reserve clause basically allowed teams to keep players for life by renewing their contracts when they wanted. It went from one extreme to the next. It wasn’t until over a hundred years later when the fight against it led by Marvin Miller (creator of the Major League Baseball’s Player’s Association), Curt Flood (who sued the MLB over the reserve clause and lost in the Supreme Court), Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally (players who challenged the rule in the 70’s and won free agency for the players) was the backlash against the rule taken seriously. However, these pioneers are the reason that the MLB caught up with the other sports leagues in America and that free agency exists today. They are the reason that Ryan Braun is supposed to make $145,500,000 through 2020.
Baseball is notorious for their contracts. When you talk about the top players you talk about hundreds of millions of dollars, per player. Not just the money, you talk about the length, as well. Players get signed for close to, or in Giancarlo Stanton’s case more than, a decade. This is unheard of in any other sport. Players get a lot of money in the NBA and NFL particularly the star players or quarterbacks. However, getting committed to a contract for most of your career (let’s be honest, if you sign a contract for more than a decade, that’s most of your career, I don’t care what sport it is), sets you and your family up for life. This type of security is almost unheard of for the even the top players in basketball.
The contracts are this huge for 2 reasons: the longevity that is possible in the sport and the limited quality of star talent in sports. Baseball is not basketball. It is not hockey. It is not rugby. It is not football, neither of them. Depending on the position, the sport tends not to be physically taxing on your whole body. Pitchers have to worry about their arm (although pitchers back in the day used to pitch double headers and complete games like it was nothing, but that’s another issue). Catchers have to be in an uncomfortable position for a long time. Besides that, infielders and outfielders run every now and again. It can get physical, but it is not typically a physical game. For this reason, general managers and owners do not mind making long-term investments into their star players, even if the player might be turning 40 at the end if the contract. Now, think of sports as a capitalistic business, which it is. If a product is productive at its purpose, then the more rare it is, the more valuable it becomes. At that point, it’s about who’s willing to pay the highest price to acquire the product. Each star is one of the best at what they do and may do it differently. Basically, there’s only one Giancarlo Stanton. There’s only one Mike Trout. There’s only one LeBron James. There’s only one Aaron Rodgers. There’s only one Henrik Lundqvist. I know that it may bother a few of you reading this that I am talking about sports players like their smartphones, but when a general manager trades away a player that the fans love from a team they have been on for their whole career without notice, then you know that this is exactly how these general managers and owners see these players.
You cannot become a billionaire by playing for a team in American sports. That financial status is reserved for the owners. If the athletes made so much money, then the owners wouldn’t even bother owning the team. This is the definition of rich people problems. However, think about the principle. Do not think like a fan while reading this paragraph. I repeat. DO NOT THINK LIKE A FAN WHILE READING THIS PARAGRAPH. In baseball, the top players are not making millions, but hundreds of millions of dollars, They are the ones that are bringing in the money for the team, not the owners. There are hundreds of players and less than 50 owners, 30 teams. Yet, all the players combined are bringing in around 50% of the revenue. And, you still have guys being set for life with their 10 year/$100 million dollar contracts. This just shows you how much money baseball and sports in general are making because you have guys making near $30 million a year and that’s nothing for the teams.
These are just some of the names of the players in MLB history who never lived up to their contract. This happens a lot. As a Mets fan, I remember Jose Reyes having his best year of his career during his last year with the Mets. Once he got his money from the Miami Marlins, he stopped playing at the level that got him the money he was getting. That happens a lot, as well. You can think like a fan again. How often do you hear fans complain about how much money a guy on their team is making and about how the money spent on him could be spent on someone else, or 2 other lesser known guys. This is the state of the MLB. If you have a few good seasons, you can be set for life. Is it worth it, though?
From a business aspect, it’s worth it, but from a team development aspect, it’s overrated. With stars, you can underachieve and still have the attention and excitement around your team. Nobody wants to underachieve (unless you’re the Sixers), but being bad with players that nobody knows is a recipe for relocation. But when you look at the teams that are winning championships or are contenders every year, the Cardinals, Giants, Mets, Royals, they build their teams through their farm systems. They may sign a free agent, but they don’t really on them for success. I think that giving a guy a lot of money for a long time might be ideal for some teams, but every team doesn’t need to be committing so heavily to baseball players. As far as the length of the contracts? Unless your hitting home runs like this guy in the video below (and no steroids in 2016), then I don’t think paying someone for a whole decade of production in advance is worth it, considering how many people don’t live up to the contract. But hey, it’s the market.
The Soapbox 