Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Here Comes the Money
The time is approaching rapidly. In an estimated 40 days Alex Rodriguez will be able to decide whether or not he opts out of his remaining 3 year 81 million dollar deal with the New York Yankees http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3055752. Reportedly Alex’s agent Scott Boras thinks that Alex will get an astounding 30 million dollars a year. There is one rumor circulating that Alex might even get part ownership of the Chicago Cubs if he were to sign there. Personally I have had enough of this money war. I feel as though Alex resembles everything that is wrong with money in America. There is no way on G-d’s green earth that any athlete should be getting paid thirty million dollars. This is absolutely outrageous. This just encourages the fact that Americans love money, and the more money the better. That’s all of what most athletes want is money. What ever happened to just playing for the love of the game. Granted Alex is almost year in and year out MLB’s best player, but it does not help the fact that he has never won a world series and is horrendous in the post season. The man is 0 for 38 with runners’ lifetime in scoring position in the playoffs. There is no way that constitutes for 30 million dollars a year. That amount of money is ridiculous and should be spent on something more constructive like issues in society like the poor and hungry. You could help a whole lot of causes with 30 million dollars. Enough is enough. The ridiculous amount of money given to players needs to stop now before it gets out of control. Sorry A-rod its just not what the society we live in needs whether you want that money or not.
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7 comments:
Mark, I agree with you on the fact that athletes today are paid way too much money. I don't really know what A-Rod is going to do with thirty million dollars a year. His playoff production is another reason he shouldn't be paid thirty millon a year. As you can see from the Cubs in the playoffs they don't need another overpaid superstar who doesn't produce in the playoffs. I don't think professional athletes realize how lucky they are in the fact that they get paid millions of dollars to play the game they love, while the rest of us have to work forty hours a week in a job you more than likely dislike. I agree with you on the fact that all the money pro athletes are paid could be used for something much more practical.
Look we all know that athletes are athletes and they will get paid whatever they want. That's just how it is. None of us will ever change that. I disagree with how much money Alex is getting paid but I honestly I really don't care because if i was in his position i would do the exact same thing. We all would and we all know it. Don't be jealous because Alex gets paid the way he does. How does that affect your life?
Bloom, you make a great point that the ridiculous and unnecessary amount of money that professional athletes make could be used for better and more important things such as providing food or shelter to the homeless or poor. I just cannt even fathom what A-Rod will do with $30 million a year. I understand that he is one of the game's best year in and year out, but that is through the REGULAR SEASON not in the post season which is what really matters. He has proved nothing in terms of being a clutch player in the palyoffs so why would the Cubs want him, to improve their regular season record by a few games? The bigger picture here is though, regardless of us regular season success or his post season failure no athlete should ever be paid that significant amount of money. This once again just shows what professional athletes are really concerned about, something that has nothing to do with the actual game itself.
Mark, I also agree that athletes today are being paid way to much. A-Rod is a prime example of an athlete that shouldn't be that much money. Not only does he struggle in the post-season, but from a managerial standpoint you are dedicating a lot of time into one player. This type of money can be spread out and more players can be purchased. Like everyone has mentioned what can people do with 30 million a year? It is a ridiculous sum of money and theres no reason to have it. Baseball seems to a history of big contracts with the Barry Zito, Beltran, and Carlos Lee ones. These are unbelivable sums of money and you're right in that it should be used for better purposes. It is a cycle that will continue though until someone makes some changes.
Whether you like it or not, Arod will get the 30mil a year or even more. Does he deserve it? Well based on his regular season stats, he certainly does. Arod is a business man, he is going to get the money no matter what. This is America, it's a business world and Arod is doing his thing and its working for him. If you had the chance to get 30 mil a year to play baseball, would you? Or would you just say, no, I don't deserve it, I'll take a paycut even though I am an MVP player.
I agree with you completely, Brian. Kobe Bryant has long been a pampered athlete who expects to get his way. When he was willing to work with Shaq, it was noticeable that they were a force to be reckoned with in the NBA. But once Shaq left and Kobe was the figurative “franchise,” things began to whirl out of control. I think he should take a step back and realize that he is not as important as he may think he is. When a player takes on that type of mentality, there will never be championships won. This goes back to the old saying that “there’s no I in team.” Kobe’s attitude and demeanor points out exactly what this saying means. He needs to reassess his impact on his team and his franchise and then he will hopefully get his priorities straight again.
Regardless if A-Rod has earned that money or not the point is someone is willing to pay him that much. If any of us were to get that much money I know we wouldn't turn it away, we may donate some of it to charity but for the most part we would keep it point blank. A-Rod is a great player and there is no denying that but you are right, he doesn't contribute when he needs to. Like you said in the playoffs he doesn't do that well and he hasn't won a world series yet so why does he make that much money? Maybe someone out there can see something we all can't but if I were a major league owner I would not offer A-Rod that much money.
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