Although the baseball off-season has been relatively mild in terms of the number of transactions made, the impact of several acquisitions and signings in the past few months will not go unnoticed by baseball historians. Four particular signings -- two players signing as free agents and two re-signing with their ball clubs --have forced players to take a closer look at their current market value.
Earlier this fall Carlos Delgado re-signed with the Toronto Blue Jays for a then-record $17 million a season. The $68 million contract over four seasons broke Roger Clemens' previous record of $15.45 million which was negotiated earlier in the season. With a $4.8 million signing bonus, $10 million in 2001, $17.2 million in 2002, $17.5 million in 2003, and $18.4 million in 2004, Delgado became the richest man in baseball, yet it was apparent he would soon be forced to relinquish that title.
However, before breaking down the deals of the two men who would better Delgado's $17 million, let's first analyze the payoff of Houston Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell. With an $85 million, five-year contract extension through 2006, Bagwell matches Delgado's $17 million a season. Bagwell will earn $6.5 million next year in the final season of his current contract, but will receive $8 million in 2002, $10 million in 2003, $13 million in 2004, $15 million in 2005, and $17 million in 2006. Houston holds an $18 million option for 2007, and Bagwell will receive a $15 million signing bonus. Bagwell has been the cornerstone of the Astros, and this deal was well worth it for a ball club that struggled last season. Until this year, Bagwell had accrued the most National League MVP votes over the previous six years combined, beginning with his 1994 MVP season.
Naturally, $17 million seems like pocket change to most of us, but Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez signed deals that surely will make anyone's head turn. Ramirez's eight year $160 million contract with the Red Sox gives Boston a much-needed slugger. With two-time AL batting champ Nomar Garciaparra and three-time Cy Young award winner Pedro Martinez, Boston finally has the firepower that could bring home its first World Series championship since 1918. With an average of $20 million a season, Ramirez becomes the second-highest paid baseball player behind Texas Rangers' shortstop Alex Rodriguez.
Rodriguez's 10-year $252 million deal with the Rangers gives the shortstop the largest contract in sports history. Rodriguez will receive $21 million per season from 2001 through 2004, $25 million in 2005 and 2006, and $27 million per year for the remaining four seasons. With an average of just over $25 million, Rodriguez's contract is worth more than the amount for which the club was bought three years ago. When the deal was struck -- before Ramirez had signed his deal -- it was exactly double the previous record for a sports contract (Kevin Garnett's six-year agreement for $126 million in 1997).
Although it is most often these enormous figures that make most of us squirm, it is even more disheartening to compare average salaries over previous seasons. From 1990 to 2000 the average baseball salary increased from $578,930 to $1,988,034, a growth of 243 percent. From 1995 to 2000 the average salary increased 86 percent. With a 15.6 percent increase from 1999 to 2000, and inflated contracts like A-Rod's and Manny's, we can only expect that salaries become even more inflated in the 2001 season.
However, it remains to be asked whether this off-season was truly the Armageddon of baseball salaries. Will these signings force the sport into true financial distress and another lengthy strike? Many baseball execs have been left dumbfounded after the signings of Ramirez and Rodriguez. No statement was harsher than that issued by MLB executive Vice-President Sandy Alderson, who called A-Rod's contract "stupefying" and "disturbing." Alderson also maintained that "the problem with this contract is that it will force every team to operate in this system."
It is apparent that this off-season will produce changes -- whether good or bad -- in the financial operations of professional ball clubs, but it is clear that this is not necessarily a knife in the back of baseball. Every winter baseball experts are forced to consider whether one particular deal will finally break the bank, yet clubs continually manage to persist. The game will ultimately survive, but one can only hope that these contracts force Major League Baseball to reconsider and review the financial operations of ball clubs and the economic situation of the game.
