Machado gets $300M contract (MLB)

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

The guy is a genius...gets to spend half the season in beautiful San Diego--and he gets October's off!

[rmp]

I don't follow B-ball, one of my buddies does, and he characterizes this guy as a major pain... entitled, and lazy..

if this is true (??) to me this sort of contract just sends the wrong message and for sure sets a bad precedent for the rest of the leauge.

kind of glad I DO NOT care...

[robj144]

Originally Posted by rmp

I don't follow B-ball, one of my buddies does, and he characterizes this guy as a major pain... entitled, and lazy..

if this is true (??) to me this sort of contract just sends the wrong message and for sure sets a bad precedent for the rest of the leauge.

kind of glad I DO NOT care...

See my bubble blowing pic on the last page...

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by chistrummer

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the compensation some of these athletes receive.

While I agree with you in general principle, here are my thoughts on it...

In a "free market", the money will go to what people value. Sports seems to be everywhere. When people talk about where they are from or what school they attended, they seem to often throw in a "Go <insert name of that school or town's sports team>!". Sports bars are everywhere. Local non-PBS news seems to be a few minutes on local news, a few minutes on national/world news, and the rest is sports. People can't get enough of it. I know people who have satellite dish AND cable TV so they can get all the sports coverage.

If the company (or team) a person works for is raking it in, the employees should get their share of it since they are the ones doing the actual work.

So, to me, if enough people were feeling that these players are making exorbitant wages, then they should vote with their dollars, shrinking the team's profits, and in turn, the wages paid to the players.

However, if enough people care more about the entertainment they get from watching the sport and not about the money involved, then the teams and players will continue to get those wages because people are willing to pay for that.

Viewed from that perspective, that people are willing to pay for what they value, then there is little for me to get upset about.

Edit: I should mention that I am not a sports fan, but the market is what it is, and is therefore working as it should. A lot of people are sports fans, certainly enough to support these teams and the players' salaries. Also, I have noticed that sports fans do seem to get very emotionally involved. It is entertaining to observe sports fans.

Tony

[rokdog49]

Some of these very highly gifted athletes are and have been living in a bubble. Inside that bubble is a world where they are god-like in their stature. Many are immature and spoiled and have nothing to ground themselves to. The Pittsburgh Steelers are going to try and trade Antonio Brown for the same issues Manny Machado has. Some team will pay him as well because they perceive he will bring them money... one way or another.

[Nyghthawk]

Entitled and lazy? You don't get to the top of the game by being either. Now there ARE some entitled and lazy owners.

I don't know this guy from Adam's off ox but the amount of emotion you guys have invested in what some sports star makes is a bit silly.

[Dru Edwards]

Yea. He only hit .182 against the Red Sox in the World Series. He also said hustling to first base "is not my cup of tea". Amazing.

You think perhaps he was trying to get a $300M Hubba Bubba gum sponsorship?

Originally Posted by robj144

WAY too much to spend on a dude that would rather blow a bubble than trying to beat out a throw in a World Series:

[valleyguy]

TV rights have provided teams with a lot of money to spend. It's a "vicious" cycle, we watch, ratings go up, ratings go up, TV pays more money, teams get more money, players get more money.

Pretty simple, capitalism at its best. Everyone's happy, except those of us paying higher and higher cable rates. But, hey, I'm still watching.

[Denny B]

I haven't watched or had interest in Pro sports for many, many years now...I stopped when all I was seeing were spoiled man/child millionaires with headlines of steroids, drugs, temper rages, assaults, weapons charges and domestic violence...

Actually, if it wasn't for guitar and motorcycle forums I frequent, I wouldn't have a clue what's going on in sports now...from what I read and observe occasionally, I haven't missed anything of value to me...

Just IMO & the usual disclaimers and all...

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by Nyghthawk

Entitled and lazy? You don't get to the top of the game by being either. Now there ARE some entitled and lazy owners.

I don't know this guy from Adam's off ox but the amount of emotion you guys have invested in what some sports star makes is a bit silly.

I would disagree with you. There are examples all over the place of athletes who are so gifted they need not put but a little effort out to be enormously successful. As far as your comment on the emotions expressed, that's what we're all here for; to express our opinions, emotional or otherwise.

[Neil K Walk]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Manny Machado is one of the two big names on the MLB free agent market, the other being Bryce Harper. Machado got a $300 M contract with the Padres. Glad he's not going to the Yankees.

At what point will contracts become too large? It's one thing to sign a mega contract but it's another to perform - it's a guaranteed contract regardless of performance. What's your opinion?

I think that some of these players aren't smart enough to work at McDonald's and quite are few are certifiably crazy, yet they are commanding contracts in the hundreds of millions and not even honoring their terms if things don't go their way on a week to week basis. The inmates are literally running the asylum and as long as the agents and owners are getting fat on them it's not likely to change anytime soon.

I'm actually thinking more about football though. I actually gave up on baseball a long time ago. Here in Pittsburgh our baseball team is run by a rather frugal ownership and all the players are nobodies.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by Neil K Walk

I think that some of these players aren't smart enough to work at McDonald's and quite are few are certifiably crazy, yet they are commanding contracts in the hundreds of millions and not even honoring their terms if things don't go their way on a week to week basis. The inmates are literally running the asylum and as long as the agents and owners are getting fat on them it's not likely to change anytime soon.

I'm actually thinking more about football though. I actually gave up on baseball a long time ago. Here in Pittsburgh our baseball team is run by a rather frugal ownership and all the players are nobodies.

Yep, some don't have many brains but such incredible talent. It's the talented players who hustle, help out in the community, and are genuinely good people - they're great role models. I think Mookie Betts is one of those guys, always smiling. Scares me to think how much $ he'll ask for next year.