What would change in MLB if?

Question

If all MLB players were paid the same salary, do you think it would change the game? Would it make it better or worse? Fair or unfair?
I think it would separate the men from the boys because they would
have to play for love of the game, not for money.
Also : Would everyone still hate A-Rod if he was gettting paid what all other MLB players were getting?

Answer 1

Depends on how much money was paid and if there were bonuses for winning.

Unless the salary was really high alot of players would no longer be baseball players as they could make substantially more money doing something else, other sports in particuler. It would get rid of some of the greediest players. Some would still play purely for the love of the sport. So if the pay wasn't really high you'd see sandlot level of play in the Majors. One of the reasons we attract athletes from all over the world is you can make more playing MLB than any other sport. So we get folks that would otherwise be Hockey, football, soccer or other sports.

It would eventually lead to strikes, sit outs and similer problems. Baseball players in the reall old days had a narrow salary range. Babe Ruth did the most to change this. His sit outs and constant argueing for more money opened up baseball salaries where before there was only a small gap between the top and lowest paid players. The pay today is as much an ego thing as it is for money. 2 mill or 3 mill what is the difference in lifestyle? None really. Ego there is a big difference.

A-Rod like any other superstart who changes teams would be reviled. Mariner and Ranger fans started the A-Rod hate clubs. The Mariners stung by his leaving Seatle and the Rangers fans disapointed that they did not win despite such a lavish layout of funds. Anybody with baseball knowledge could have told you A-Rod wasn't what the Rangers needed at that time. Pitching was what they needed. Now A-Rod is a Yankee and so the lightning rod for the funding jealousy so common in baseball today. Stienbrenner has money, he also has no common sense on how to use it. So Yankee expenditures have often been huge on margional players. The Mets, Baltimore and other teams have made the same mistake. All along it's been the key guys picked up in trades and from the farm system which drove the Yankees during the time Stienbrenner has owned them. In the 70s it was Munson, Nettles, Pinella, Randolf, Guidry, Rivers, Lyle, Dent, Chamblis which anchored the 70s WS teams for the Yankees. None of these guys were free agents. Most of the free agents were actually distractions which hurt the team. The 90s Yankees were built on Bernie Williams, Andy Pettite, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, Paul O'Niel, Jorge Possada and Tino Martinez. Only Tino was a free agent out of that group. He also entered after the dynasty had started. Jeter and Possada came up early in the dynasty but the tradition had already been started when they arrived. David Cone was a huge free agent aquisition. Most of the others were perm DL or ineffective. So realistically the Yankees didn't buy anything. They wasted alot of money on washed up players or guys like Strawberry who never did much to start with. By the time he hit the Yanks he was a KO looking for a place to happen between arrests and stints on the DL. So the attitude is just sour grapes really. Sure the Yanks out bid folks for Black Jack who promptly after one good season was hurt and never pitched effectively again. Lets not forget expensive Tartabull who after having his one good season his whole miserable career signed with the Yanks for big bucks and for years destroyed the middle of the Yankees order. Hitting just enough HRs to not be released but never having half the season he did the year before the Yanks signed him. So for every Cone there are 5 Tartabulls when it comes to free agent signings. Cone himself was a merc going from contender to contender until he found a home with the Yanks where he stayed despite getting better offers from other teams one year. So it was more than money that kept Cone with the Yanks.

That the wage scale has gotten out of hand is apparent. MLB should expand to include Japanese, Mexican, Puerto Rican and maybe even teams in Taiwan, China, Korea, Australia and eventually Europe. For that to happen wages have to come down. A Mexican team could sell out every game of a MLB season and still not afford the current salaries. Just no way the Peso can compete with the American dollar. I think if salaries came down a good %50 that would do the trick. I also think that if EVERY player did it that it would happen. The owners and the players association would have to do something unselfish and for the benifit of baseball. That is the hard part. Guys living on half what they get, no prob, that's still more than any other sport makes.

Answer 2

If all MLB players got the same salary, the quality of play and players would greatly decline. The best athletes would quit baseball and play other sports. A few might stay in the game for "love", but most would chase the bigger salaries of other sports. The other players would have no incentive to become better players.
Some people will always hate A-Rod whether they use his play, contract, team changing, teams, or jealousy because he's a gifted athlete for their excuse. He wasn't universally loved before he started getting big money and he isn't universally hated now. The intense media coverage in New York just magnifies everything.

Answer 3

1. To play all the players the same salary would not be fair to the players. The owners would love it though more money in there pockets.
2. You talk about love of the game but you don't want realize that pro sports is a business. Professional athletes are paid because they are some of the best in the world in their sport.
The huge salaries are generated from television revenue that Major League Baseball splits with all the teams. Add to that Licensed products — caps, shirts, cards, computer games, toys, snack food, beverages, anything with a sports logo on it are another rich source of revenue.
3.Yankee fans boo ARod because they blame him for not bringing home a championship since he arrived. Even though he is the current league MVP.
The NFL’s first national TV contract — a two-year, $28 million deal with CBS — seemed like a fortune at the time. But by 1998, the NFL had TV agreements with the four networks totaling $17.6 billion over eight years.
In other words players salaries are paid before the first fan walks in the stadium.

Answer 4

1. Eliminate the DH. Period. End. Of. Sentence. 2. Hard salary cap. For all we parity in MLB, the AL East teams are screwed by Yanks / Sox's intelligent use of big budgets. 3. Fewer days off in the playoffs. There's no excuse for Baseball in November, or "snow delays." 4. Realign the leagues into 3 divisions with 5 teams each. (Move Arizona or Colorado to the AL West, move the Astros to the NL West).

Answer 5

Major League Baseball is harmed not by the salaries paid by the Yankees, but by the difference from top to bottom. There should be a salary "floor" meaning all teams have to pay a certain amount in salaries to compete. The small market teams are able to keep the revenue share dollars paid by the big market teams as profit. They should be required to pump that back into their minor league system or major league salaries.

You are right, small salaries would seperate the "boys from the men" because the boys play for fun, the men need a salary.

If I want to see low salary players go see the A-ball minor league teams. It is very good baseball, inexpensive to see, and seats are close to the field.

Answer 6

yes.....teams with not so much money now will be able to get players with a fair shot.....so it will change the game of baseball a lot.....no more buying players if that happened......but it wouldn't happen because some players deserve more than others.

Answer 7

No everyone would still hate A-Rod